THE POWER OF LOVE from NPR: Selected Shorts

The Hungarian author and activist Tibor Dery must have drawn on his experiences as a political prisoner when he wrote "Love," which powerfully depicts a prisoner's return home. The reader is Keir Dullea. The second story on this program, Amy Bloom's "Silver Water," combines hilarity and heart-breaking sorrow in portraying a family with a schizophrenic daughter. The reader is Linda Lavin.

Download the podcast here. See also: Niki: The Story of a Dog (New York Review Books Classics), Love and Other Stories, Karoly Makk Collection - Love & Catsplay

Women at bay from NPR: Selected Shorts

Author Antonya Nelson is a vivid portraitist of the trials and triumphs of contemporary American women. Her ironically titled "Happy Hour," is the chronicle of a hectic love affair, given a subtle reading by Mia Dillon. Some mild sexual content. There were book clubs long before Oprah, and American master Edith Wharton skewers the self-important society ladies who make up this reading club, and their pompous celebrity guest, in "Xingu." The delicious reading is by multiple Emmy-winner Christina Pickles, who also had a word with us backstage at Wharton's Massachusetts home, The Mount.

Download the podcast here. See also: Xingu: And Other Stories