Lynn Neary
Lynn Neary is an NPR arts correspondent covering books and publishing.
Not only does she report on the business of books and explore literary trends and ideas, Neary has also met and profiled many of her favorite authors. She has wandered the streets of Baltimore with Anne Tyler and the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains with Richard Powers. She has helped readers discover great new writers like Tommy Orange, author of There, There, and has introduced them to future bestsellers like A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.
Arriving at NPR in 1982, Neary spent two years working as a newscaster on Morning Edition. For the next eight years, Neary was the host of Weekend All Things Considered. Throughout her career at NPR, she has been a frequent guest host on all of NPR's news programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, and Talk of the Nation.
In 1992, Neary joined the cultural desk to develop NPR's first religion beat. As religion correspondent, Neary covered the country's diverse religious landscape and the politics of the religious right.
Neary has won numerous prestigious awards including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award, an Ohio State Award, an Association of Women in Radio and Television Award, and the Gabriel award. For her reporting on the role of religion in the debate over welfare reform, Neary shared in NPR's 1996 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton Award.
A graduate of Fordham University, Neary thinks she may be the envy of English majors everywhere.
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Grisham is returning to the world of his first novel, A Time to Kill, with a sequel called Sycamore Row. The book comes out at the same time as the stage adaptation of A Time to Kill opens on Broadway. NPR's Lynn Neary profiles Grisham, who says he loved writing the new book so much, he didn't want to hand it to the publisher. -
In 1931, Harry Powers killed two women and three children at his home in Quiet Dell, W.Va. Writer Jayne Anne Phillips learned about the murders from her mother, who was a child when the deaths became a media sensation. Phillips' new novel retells the tragedy through the eyes of a young reporter. -
Tom Clancy built his fascination with military hardware and history into a best-selling career writing thrillers — beginning in 1984 with The Hunt for Red October. His books were turned into Hollywood blockbusters and popular video games. NPR's Lynn Neary has a remembrance of Clancy, who died this week at 66. -
India's politics and history play a central role in Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland. In the Booker Prize-nominated novel, an Indian radical is killed, and his wife and brother start over in America. Lahiri tells NPR's Lynn Neary that the story was inspired by true events, but very unlike her own life. -
When most people think "NBA," they think of the National Basketball Association. This year, in an attempt to maximize coverage, the National Book Foundation is releasing "long lists" of NBA nominees in different genre categories, one day at a time for a week. -
For nearly a century, Daniel Woodrell's hometown of West Plains, Mo., has been haunted by a dance-hall explosion that killed dozens of the town's young people in 1928. Woodrell explores the disaster — and his Ozarks roots — in his new novel The Maid's Version. -
A federal judge has decided against Apple in the e-books price fixing case. Apple was the only remaining party in the case brought by the Department of Justice that originally included five major publishers. Those publishers had previously settled.
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Have you ever found yourself in the library or a bookstore, about to go on vacation, with no idea what books to bring? NPR's Lynn Neary talks to three book critics about the best reads of the summer. -
Novelist Colum McCann decided to write about the ties that bind his homeland, Ireland, with the United States, where he now lives. But he wanted to stay far away from cliches about being Irish-American. The result? His new novel, featuring historical figures searching for freedom, adventure and peace. -
Philipp Meyer's second novel is a centuries-spanning family saga that chronicles the growth of Texas. Many hands are bloodied in the novel's conflicts: between settlers and Native Americans, between Texan ranchers and Mexicans, and finally, between ranchers and the oil men who take over the land.
