Maureen Corrigan
Remembering Pete Hamill, A Journalist With A Whitman-esque Embrace Of NYC
Book critic Maureen Corrigan remembers the veteran NYC newsman, who died Aug. 5, as "a tenement kid and high school drop out who never lost connection to where he came from."
A Is For Appreciation: How Sue Grafton Helped Transform The Mystery Genre
Book critic Maureen Corrigan who was a fan of Sue Grafton, has an appreciation of the mystery writer who died at the age of 77 on December 28th. And then we hear an excerpt of Terry's 1989 interview with Grafton.
Remembering Ruth Rendell, Master Of Smart And Socially Aware Suspense
The British novelist set shocking crimes in mundane settings -- always adding a dash of social criticism. Critic Maureen Corrigan says she is forever giving Rendell's books to friends.
Decades Later, Laurie Colwin's Books 'Will Not Let You Down'
A digital publisher has released a bounty of Colwin's books: four novels, three short-story collections and a collection of cooking essays. Colin, who died in 1992 at age 48, had an "elusive magic."
After WWII, A Letter Of Appreciation That Still Rings True.
Recently, Fresh Air contributor Maureen Corrigan found a letter from then-Secretary of War James Forrestal that had been sent to her father after he had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1945. In that letter, she found an expression of gratitude that could serve us well today.
How A 'Madwoman' Upended A Literary Boys Club.
The National Book Critics Circle has announced that two feminist literary scholars, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, will receive a lifetime achievement award. Critic Maureen Corrigan says their groundbreaking 1979 book, The Madwoman in the Attic, changed the way we read.
The Sad Lesson Of 'Body Snatchers': People Change.
Science-fiction writer Jack Finney would have turned 100 this month. Critic Maureen Corrigan says he had a knack for tapping into our shallowly buried psychological anxieties. At its core, Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is about how our loved ones inevitably change — and it is as sad as it is scary.