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This week in fiction, Lydia Davis conveys an entire story with a sentence or two, while Jodi Picoult gets under the skin of Asperger's. In nonfiction, take your pick of "denialism," the night shift on the psych ward, or a successful emergency landing on the Hudson River.

Known for a groundbreaking TV comedy and a string of hilarious films, Judd Apatow has edited a new collection of humor writing, Things I Found Funny. He joins NPR's Liane Hansen to talk about what makes for good comedy — and just plain good writing.

In a new biography of the famously reclusive author J.D. Salinger — and the first since the author's death — Kenneth Slawenski admirably tries to mine the writer's secrets for answers. But without much material to work from, the book doesn't offer many new revelations.

Veteran short-story writer Alice Munro and novelist Elizabeth Kostova contemplate lovers and losers, while international human rights activist Greg Mortenson, comedian George Carlin, and musician and avant-garde icon Patti Smith reflect on their lives in new memoirs.

Literary theorist Stanley Fish is obsessed with Frank Sinatra — and he's not afraid to admit it. For his Ol' Blue Eyes fix, Fish reads James Kaplan's lengthy biography Frank: The Voice. The story isn't new, but he can't resist imagining himself in the high-flying world of the legendary crooner.

Today, people easily cross the Atlantic Ocean by plane and cavalierly refer to the great body of water as "the pond." But author Simon Winchester says we're forgetting the majesty of the high seas. He chronicles the second-largest ocean's origins, history and cultural influence in Atlantic.

Dennis Lehane is renowned for the gritty realism of his authentic Boston crime novels, including best-sellers (and hit films) Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. In his new novel Moonlight Mile, he dives again into Beantown's mean streets.

As the year winds down, so do new paperback releases, but don't overlook these three gems. Historical novelists Alison Weir and Melanie Benjamin explore the stories of two enigmatic women, while fiction writer Chitra Divakaruni weaves nine lives together as an earthquake hits with full force.

Susan Stamberg first broadcast her mother-in-law's "sounds terrible, tastes terrific" relish recipe on All Things Considered in 1972. This year, she asked rapper and chef Coolio to taste the Pepto-Bismol-hued Thanksgiving dish: "The color is a little weird, but it was actually quite good," he reports.

Poet and critic Meghan O'Rourke selects her favorite poetry collections of the year, celebrating the "acrobatic glee" of lyrical language.