Arts

Books
Arts

Forget Big Sky And Cowboys: 'Crow Fair' Is Set In An Unidealized Montana

8:07pm March 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

"I think there's only one interesting story ... and that's struggle," says writer Thomas McGuane. Loners, outcasts and malcontents fill the pages of his new short story collection Crow Fair.

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Jonathan Banks' character Mike Ehrmantraut (left), a hit man and fixer, was a natural to bring back to Breaking Bad's prequel Better Call Saul. Co-creator Peter Gould says he was the right contrast with Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk (right).

Arts

'Better Call Saul' Breathes New Life Into 'Breaking Bad' Characters

7:58pm March 09, 2015

The new show's co-creator says it became a writers' room joke on Breaking Bad that if something didn't fit it would go on the Saul Goodman show, or what is now AMC's Better Call Saul.

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Happy Lovers (c. 1760-65) by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, is one of about 800 objects that American art collector Norton Simon purchased from Joseph Duveen. Over the years, Simon sold most of the collection off, but about 130 objects remain at the Norton Simon

Arts

Meet Joseph Duveen, The Savvy Art Dealer Who Sold European Masterpieces

3:52pm March 09, 2015

by Susan Stamberg

Duveen once observed: "Europe has a great deal of art, and America has a great deal of money." A new exhibit explores the relationship between Duveen and American mega-millionaire Norton Simon.

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Sidney Poitier smolders — and swelters — in In the Heat of the Night.

Arts

The Good, The Bad And The Hot: Movies To Warm Winter's Bite

3:18pm March 09, 2015

by Bob Mondello

As much of the country shivers in the grip of a nasty winter, NPR movie critic Bob Mondello ponders cinematic heat — the movies that smolder, swelter and sizzle no matter what the mercury says.

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Books
Arts

Author Explores The Ripple Effects Of A Kidnapping In Mexico

9:52am March 09, 2015

by NPR Staff

In his collection Barefoot Dogs, Antonio Ruiz-Camacho offers varying perspectives on the kidnapping of a Mexican patriarch. He asks: "How do you reach closure when someone you love has disappeared?"

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Vatican Says Ransom Sought For Missing Michelangelo Letters

9:31am March 09, 2015

by Sylvia Poggioli

In a development reminiscent of a Dan Brown thriller, the Vatican confirmed a report that it has received a ransom demand for the return of two stolen letters written by the renaissance master Michelangelo. It's the first time the theft has been revealed. A spokesman said the Vatican refused to pay.

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Arts

Cave Wall Press Poet Meg Kearney to Read at Scuppernong

8:48am March 09, 2015

by Bethany Chafin

Rhett Iseman Trull and her husband Jeff Trull are the Editors of Cave Wall Press, a literary journal of poetry and art.

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Don't try this at home: Critic Juan Vidal experiments with reading on the roof.

Arts

Reading On The Roof? Now That's Punk Rock

10:46pm March 08, 2015

by Juan Vidal

In The Savage Detectives, Roberto Bolaño invented the "visceral realists," a group of wild writers who read anywhere and everywhere — causing critic Juan Vidal to ponder the weird places we read.

Arts

No Joke: Hollywood Comedy Producer Finds Career In Prison Reform

10:03pm March 08, 2015

by NPR Staff

Scott Budnick hit it big in Hollywood as an executive producer of the Hangover movies. Then, in 2013, he decided to leave it all behind and focus full time on helping young people in prison.

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Ellie Kemper, right, stars alongside Tituss Burgess in Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which follows a former doomsday cult member as she adjusts to life in New York.

Arts

'Kimmy Schmidt' Finds Optimism (And Jokes) In Dark Premise

8:45pm March 08, 2015

by NPR Staff

The new Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, co-created by Tina Fey and starring Ellie Kemper, offers a harrowing twist on the "small-town woman moves to the big city" story.

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