Annalisa Quinn
Annalisa Quinn is a contributing writer, reporter, and literary critic for NPR. She created NPR's Book News column and covers literature and culture for NPR.
Quinn studied English and Classics at Georgetown University and holds an M.Phil in Classical Greek from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Cambridge Trust scholar.
-
In her third outing as crime novelist Robert Galbraith, J.K. Rowling hits her stride with a fluid, complex mystery. Reviewer Annalisa Quinn says she excels at depicting evil, ordinary or otherwise.
-
Jeanette Winterson's retelling of The Winter's Tale includes hedge fund managers and a New Orleans setting. But critic Annalisa Quinn says the book doesn't quite stand on its own.
-
There are different kinds of fat people in literature — funny or comforting, sometimes despicable. But Sarai Walker's Dietland gives us a new fat protagonist — complex, compelling and dangerous.
-
Anna Lyndsey's pseudonymous memoir of her severe light sensitivity is full of rich, sensuous language, all grounded in the ever-present limits of a body that keeps her to the margins of normal life.
-
Miranda July's new novel The First Bad Man defies neat summaries; reviewer Annalisa Quinn calls July "a master of the intimate weirdnesses of human thought," who treats dusty mental corners with care.
-
Amanda Palmer's new The Art of Asking outlines a well-intentioned but hazy philosophy of asking for help. Critic Annalisa Quinn says Palmer glosses over societal realities of who has access to help.
-
Charles D'Ambrosio's new essay collection wanders through topics journalistic and personal; reviewer Annalisa Quinn says it delivers a primal pleasure of reading: the feeling of being understood.
-
Lindsay Hunter's novel follows best friends Perry and Baby Girl as they shoplift, ditch school and steal cars. But critic Annalisa Quinn says Ugly Girls has more shock value than substance.
-
Dunham presents a charming, bumbling, confessional front in her new memoir, but critic Annalisa Quinn says it's only a partial portrait that skimps on revealing Dunham's true talent and ambition.
-
How do you dig deeper into someone who's already so open about her life, her hopes, her fears? NPR's Annalisa Quinn talks to Gay about her writing, and about not acting happy if you don't feel happy.
