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"Mister hit Josephine with the palm of his hand across her left cheek and it was then she knew she would run." So begins Tara Conklin's debut novel, The House Girl, which links the stories of an artistically talented 19th-century slave and an ambitious 21st-century lawyer.

A new book chronicles the antics of hard-partying literary giants like Jack Kerouac and Dorothy Parker. But underneath the misbehavior there is a quieter — and much more admirable — story of perseverance.

In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower appointed John Foster Dulles as secretary of state, and Allen Dulles as director of the CIA. In his new book, The Brothers, journalist Stephen Kinzer says the Dulles' actions "helped set off some of the world's most profound long-term crises."

Lucas Mann's new memoir pieces together family memories to create a portrait of his heroin-addicted older brother, who died of an overdose. Critic Heller McAlpin calls it difficult but necessary.

U.S. soldiers are trying to deal a crippling blow to the Taliban in the eastern Afghan province of Ghazni. It's one of the last major Taliban strongholds, but the American forces are trying to do the job on a short timetable.

A group of CEOs wants the Obama administration to backtrack on efforts to regulate workplace wellness. The programs have ballooned in popularity, but there's little evidence they work.

The great Sanskrit epic The Birth of Kumara details the heavenly lovemaking of Shiva and Parvati. Author Aatish Taseer tells how reading the fifth-century epic connected him to classical India. What work of literature brought you closer to home? Tell us in the comments.

A new survey from the Pew Research Center finds wide gaps in how different generations view politics. Older voters are more conservative and less hopeful about the future of the country. Younger voters lean left and believe the nation's best days are yet to come. But they are less engaged.

Hispanics are disproportionately enrolled in community colleges and two-year schools. Experts say this partially explains why they are much less likely than other groups to attain bachelor's degrees.

The president exercised his veto for only the third time, sending the proposed law back to Congress, where Democrats lack the numbers to override it.

Nearly one in five Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within a month, and a new effort under the Affordable Care Act wants to change that by penalizing hospitals with high readmission rates. But hospitals say it will be counterproductive.

It's hard to imagine two styles more different than jazz and punk rock. But as these songs demonstrate, the spirit of adventure has been a part of both genres' musical trajectories. Hear the Lounge Lizards, John Zorn and Garage a Trois.