Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading by Maureen Corrigan

Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading by Maureen Corrigan

In this delightful memoir, the book critic for NPR's Fresh Air reflects on her life as a professional reader. Maureen Corrigan takes us from her unpretentious girlhood in working-class Queens, to her bemused years in an Ivy League Ph.D. program, from the whirl of falling in love and marrying (a fellow bookworm, of course), to the ordeal of adopting a baby overseas, always with a book at her side. Along the way, she reveals which books and authors have shaped her own life--from classic works of English literature to hard-boiled detective novels, and everything in between. And in her explorations of the heroes and heroines throughout literary history, Corrigan's love for a good story shines.

NPR's Fresh Air has a book critic, Maureen Corrigan. The New York Times, Newsday, The Nation, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, and other newspapers have published her reviews and essays. Corrigan, a critic who has won an Edgar Award, also writes a mystery column for The Washington Post and teaches literature at Georgetown University. Her husband and daughter, both enthusiastic readers, reside with her in Washington, D.C.