Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two new books: the short story collection Nice Big American Baby by Judy Budnitz and the novel Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh.
Maureen Corrigan, book critic for NPR's Fresh Air, is The Nicky and Jamie Grant Distinguished Professor of the Practice in Literary Criticism at Georgetown University. She is an associate editor of and contributor to Mystery and Suspense Writers (Scribner) and the winner of the 1999 Edgar Award for Criticism, presented by the Mystery Writers of America. In 2019, Corrigan was awarded the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing by the National Book Critics Circle.
This week, Wait Wait is live at Carnegie Hall with special guest Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and panelists Paula Poundstone, Joyelle Nicole Johnson, and Mo Rocca
NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali about the fall of the dictatorship in Syria and his hopes for his homeland's future.