Books

Patrick Strickland discusses his story collection "A History of Heartache." These are stories set in North Texas that chart the small moments of grace, and the almost insurmountable mistakes boys inherit. These are gritty, sometimes violent stories, but there is a tenderness, too, and the knife’s edge here bends toward a kind of hope.

When author Bruce Handy's son was young, he loved and lost an orange balloon. He and illustrator Julie Kwon talk about a child's singular devotion to a lost object in their nearly wordless kids' book.

In "The Tea Ceremony" by Gina Berriault, protagonist, Delia, struggles with wanting beautiful things. Her family's hardscrabble life doesn't measure up. She isn't the most beautiful girl in her class. While she is liked, she doesn't have any friends. Beauty becomes closely linked to her ability to imagine her future. But somehow, perhaps, she will finally see that there was always a kind of beauty closer to home.

Laurie Hertzel's memoir is an open, frank rumination on a brother's death and its reverberations throughout a family.

Historian Ian Buruma chronicles the lives of ordinary Berliners — including his own father — during World War II. Stay Alive is about the past, but has powerful lessons for the present.

John Sayles launched an independent film movement with his film "Return of the Secaucus 7." His new novel tells of Henry Ford's social engineering of both his workers and Detroit.

This is a special episode of "The Lonely Voice." Hosts Yvette Benavides and Peter Orner welcome guest host Alex Gordon to discuss "Train Dreams" by Denis Johnson — and the Oscar-nominated film adaptation of that novella.

This week on "Texas Matters," the life and writing of Larry McMurtry and how he refined the myths of being a Texan. David Streitfeld has written a biography of Texas writer Larry McMurtry — “Western Star: The Life and Legends of Larry McMurtry.”

Yvette Benavides and Peter Orner discuss Roberto Bolaño' short story " Gómez Palacio." A young writer travels to a desolate northern Mexican town to interview for a teaching position during a particularly grim period of his life. Telling the story in hindsight allows us to see the ways the place was actually unforgettable.

Dan Simon discusses his debut novel, "Ashland." Six characters tell their story about living in this mill town in New Hampshire. They share resonant, unforgettable stories about the place they all have in common. They grapple with life’s mysteries and reveal to readers the sheer beauty in their struggle and their will to live life with meaning.