Maureen Corrigan

Critic Maureen Corrigan gives us her family's version of how to celebrate St. Patricks Day, and recommends the novel "Motherland" by Timothy O'Grady as perfect St. Patrick's Day reading.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews a new book, "Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born." It examines creativity and how to nurture it by talking to some MacArthur Prize winners. The MacArthur Prize is an award of approximately $50,000 over 5 years to people who have demonstrated genius in their work.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reflects on the television show, "thirtysomething," and how the illness of one of the characters has affected the show.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on David Lodge's "Souls and Bodies."

Commentator Maureen Corrigan recently attended the annual conference of the Modern Language Association in Washington D.C. She reports on what the academics are discussing and it's relevance to the rest of us.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan looks at the Nancy Drew mystery series. The venerable series of girls' books have been updated for the 90s.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews an English translation of the novel, "The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman," by Polish writer Andrzej Szczypiorski. Although it was a bestseller in Europe, the novel was banned in Poland because of the writer's involvement with Solidarity. With the recent political changes, Szczypiorski's book is now published in Poland and in July he was elected to the Polish Senate.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture" by George Lipsitz. The book examines how our collective memory has been shaped by popular culture since World War 2.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan takes a look at the book reviewers bible, "Publishers Weekly." She examines how PW has often hawked new books that went nowhere, while barely mentioning books that went on to become classics.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two new novellas by Jane Smiley, "Ordinary Love" and "Good Will."