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How Twitter Star Kelly Oxford Makes Everything 'Perfect'

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By NPR Staff

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Kelly Oxford is a little bit wicked and a whole lot wild and funny.

In no time, she went from being a housewife and mother of three in Calgary to Internet fame through her blog — and later, through Twitter, where her popularity exploded.

There, she shared zips like:

And:

Oxford's been retweeted by Jimmy Kimmel, John Mayer, and even the late Roger Ebert — one of her earliest supporters. Her secret? "The simpler they are, the better they hit," she tells weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden.

10:23 am

Thu April 4, 2013

Former Mormon Missionary Describes The Experience Of 'Elders'

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Credit Brinn Willis / Crown Publishing Group

Ryan McIlvain is pursuing a Ph.D. in literature at the University of Southern California. Elders is his debut novel.

By editor

Originally published on Thu April 4, 2013 1:47 pm

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As a Mormon missionary, Ryan McIlvain spent two years ringing strangers' doorbells, even as he experienced doubts about his own faith. McIlvain left the church in his mid-20s. His debut novel, Elders, is based on the experiences he had trying to convert people to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "Elder" is the term used for a young Mormon on his mission.

2:48 pm

Wed April 3, 2013

The Botched NY Real Estate Deal That Lost 'Other People' Billions

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The Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town apartment complex is seen from Waterside Plaza in 2006, the same year it was sold in a record-breaking real estate deal.

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Stuyvesant Town is littered with basketball courts, playgrounds and jungle gyms.

By NPR Staff

Originally published on Wed April 3, 2013 5:50 pm

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The middle-income housing projects Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village sit on an 80-acre patch of Lower Manhattan. In 2006, they came to epitomize the lunatic excess of the housing boom when their 11,232 apartments sold for $5.4 billion. They were bought at a competitive auction by Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty.

8:28 am

Tue April 2, 2013

In 'Life After Life,' Caught In The Dangerous Machinery of History

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By Meg Wolitzer

Originally published on Tue April 2, 2013 6:56 pm

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Flannery O'Connor said short stories need to have a beginning, a middle and an end, though not necessarily in that order. But what about novels? Kate Atkinson seems to believe there can be a beginning, a middle and an end, and then another beginning, plus several more middles ... and why not have a beginning again?

8:14 am

Tue April 2, 2013

Minks, Perfume And Beastly Beauty In 'Shocked'

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Credit Random House

Patricia Volk is an essayist, novelist and memoirist. She grew up in a restaurant-owning family in New York City.

By Heller McAlpin

Beauty can be a beast. That's one message from Shocked, Patricia Volk's smart, fascinating book about her complex relationship with her beautiful, elegantly attired, hypercritical mother.

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2:20 pm

Sat April 6, 2013