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12:30 pm
Mon August 27, 2012

In 'The Brontes,' New Details Of Family's 'Strange World'

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Credit Helen Burrow / Pegasus Books
Juliet Barker received her Ph.D. in history from Oxford University, and was curator of the Bronte Parsonage Museum at Haworth for six years.
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Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 3:13 pm

In the new, updated edition of her landmark biography The Brontes, Juliet Barker tells a sad story about Branwell, the infamous brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne.

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Author Interviews
11:48 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Stories Reach Below The Surface Of China's Growth

Credit Ye Rin Mok
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Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 8:00 pm

The word "haunting" could be used to describe many of the short stories in Gold Boy, Emerald Girl. The collection is by Yiyun Li, who emigrated from Beijing to the United States in the 1990s, and received the prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant in 2010.

With the backdrop of a nation moving from isolation to openness, Li's characters deal with universal struggles such as loneliness, regret, love and loss. And often, they're not who they may appear to be.

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Three Books...
7:03 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Fanciful Fauna: 3 Tall Tales Of Clever Critters

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Originally published on Tue September 11, 2012 12:45 pm

Some people suffer from recurring nightmares about being naked on stage, or not having revised for their exams. My bedtime terror is different — I'm gripped with fear that I haven't fed or watered my childhood budgie, with potentially devastating consequences. I loved that bird, Joey, so much, despite the fact that she unmasked herself as female after I'd named her, I still have a tiny box filled with her discarded green feathers. I've never owned a pet as an adult. I prefer animals in novels to avoid the horror of finding two cold, clutched feet in the air.

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Crime In The City
3:24 am
Mon August 27, 2012

Michigan Author Dreams Up A Deadlier Ann Arbor

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Credit Vasenka via Flickr
In Very Bad Men, Seva is Sen. John Casterbridge's favorite restaurant. Dolan won't say if he's a good guy or not, because "that would be giving it away."
Credit Steve Pepple/AnnArbor.com / AP
The University of Michigan's carillon bells ring out from the Burton Memorial Tower every day that classes are in session.
Credit Noah Adams / NPR
Harry Dolan got his big break after entering his Bad Things Happen manuscript into Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
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Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 11:32 pm

Ask Harry Dolan to take you for lunch at a restaurant he's written about, and he won't disappoint. In downtown Ann Arbor, Mich., on Liberty Street, the vegetarian restaurant Seva serves mushroom sliders and yam fries that both the crime writer and his characters are quite fond of. With any luck, you'll also catch the perfect song playing in the background — "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads.

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Author Interviews
2:44 pm
Sun August 26, 2012

'A Contest Of Wits': A Former Forger Recalls His Art

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Credit Courtesy of Pegasus Books
After John F. Herring by Ken Perenyi, circa 1989.
Credit Courtesy of Pegasus Books
Ken Perenyi made millions of dollars from paintings he forged.
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Originally published on Mon August 27, 2012 10:11 am

Next time you're admiring a 19th century American master painting at a museum or auction house, take a closer look. What looks like an authentic creation complete with cracks and yellowing varnish could actually be the work of forger Ken Perenyi.

Perenyi made millions of dollars over 30 years with more than 1,000 forgeries, allowing him to jet set around the world. His highest earning work was a Martin Johnson Heade forgery that sold for more than $700,000.

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