Fiction Picks for Your Mental Getaway

Fresh Air | By Maureen Corrigan

Published May 19, 2008 at 10:38 AM EDT

There are beach books full of sun and cotton candy and beach books dappled with shadow and sardonic humor. The very different beach books I'm about to recommend, however, all have one thing in common: They carry a reader far beyond the familiar. So, even if you can't afford a beach vacation in this summer of recession and sky-high gas prices, you can still revel in these mental getaways.

Maureen Corrigan

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.

See stories by Maureen Corrigan

Experts comb CEO shooting suspect's comments posted on social media

Odette Yousef

There are big unknowns about what might have led a suspect arrested for the shooting of the UnitedHealthCare CEO to allegedly commit the crime. Many experts are looking at the suspect's digital trail.
Hope for Ukraine is gathering thousands of gifts to send to Ukrainian children

Hosts

The nonprofit Hope for Ukraine is launching two initiatives this holiday season: holiday gift-giving events and a solar-powered Winter relief program.
Following fall of Assad regime, Israeli strikes targeted airports, military sites

A Martínez

NPR's A Martinez talks to Jonathan Panikoff of the Atlantic Council, about Israel's bombardments of Syria as the country grapples with selecting new leadership following years of brutal dictatorships.