Ronan Farrow stands by his reporting

Also this week: Edna O'Brien, Elton John, Julie Andrews and more [Ronan Farrow]( A. J. Chavar for NPR In an interview with NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Ronan Farrow stands by the assertion in his new book, Catch and Kill, that NBC News leadership worked to kill the reporting that ultimately broke open Harvey Weinstein's alleged history of sexual assault — and that it is tied to a broader pattern of networkwide harassment and abuse. "No journalist who looked at this had any doubt that it was newsworthy," [Farrow told NPR](. "It kept me up at night that I was sitting on criminal evidence that suggested people were getting hurt in an ongoing way, and that maybe if I wasn't able to get this on air more people would get hurt." Critic Annalisa Quinn calls the book a "measured but damning" portrait of NBC's failures -- [read her review here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Girl, by Edna O'Brien]( Edna O'Brien is 88 now, and published her first novel nearly 60 years ago in her native Ireland -- but she made two trips to Nigeria to research her new novel Girl, a harrowing story based on the 2014 kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by the jihadist group Boko Haram. "I've always written about girls and women, both as victims and as fighters, combined," [O'Brien tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly](. "That duality: They've been through hell, and somehow they come through." Critic Michael Schaub [calls Girl]( "a painful read, but an absolutely essential one." [Me, by Elton John]( It's been a busy year for Elton John -- and a revelatory one for his fans, with the release of the biopic Rocketman, a tour, and now a wide-ranging memoir, called simply Me. In the book, John pulls back the curtain on his storied career -- including some wild moments like a coked-up encounter with Bob Dylan at an L.A. barbecue. "How I had the nerve to tell Bob Dylan how to dress, I don't know," John tells Lulu Garcia-Navarro, "But that's what drugs do for you. And I didn't care." [Find the whole conversation here]( and a longer conversation with Fresh Air's Terry Gross [here.]( [Home Work, by Julie Andrews]( Julie Andrews says she knows she's been lucky -- that her success is the result of hard work, talent and the chances she got early in her career that changed everything, including performances in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. And yet, she still feels insecure about those movies sometimes. "I do happen upon [my past work] once in a while," [she tells NPR's Rachel Martin](. "And I will stop and think: 'God, I wish I'd done that better.'" She writes about those early years in a new memoir, Home Work -- and the ups and downs that followed. Finally this week, Elizabeth Strout makes a long-awaited return to Crosby, Maine and the world of her beloved, ornery school teacher Olive Kitteridge. Critic Heller McAlpin says Olive, Again is [just as wonderful as the original book](. (And you can find Scott Simon's conversation with Strout [here]( Andrew Ridgeley (don't dismiss him as just the other guy in Wham!) has a new memoir out, called Wham! George Michael & Me, and reviewer Maura Johnston says [Ridgeley is a charming writer.]( And critic Gabino Iglesias says poet and author Saeed Jones' new memoir How We Fight For Our Lives "[manages a perfect balance between love and violence, hope and hostility, transformation and resentment.]( [Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout]( [Wham! George Michael & Me, by Andrew Ridgeley]( [How We Fight For Our Lives, by Saeed Jones]( — Happy reading! --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [books@npr.org](mailto:books@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Pop Culture, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Books emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy](