Books

The "elephant in the room" is something obvious that can't be overlooked, even if no one is talking about it. The phrase was in use as early as 1935.

Books
Arts

Dictionary Of Idioms Gets Everybody On The Same Page

12:04pm February 28, 2013

by NPR Staff

From "dead cat bounce," which originated in the 1980s, to "cold fish," which was coined by Shakespeare, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms explores the origins of more than 10,000 nonliteral sayings.

Queue Listen Now

In his new book, The Vatican Diaries, John Thavis draws on his nearly 30 years of reporting on the Vatican.

Books
Arts

'Behind The Scenes' At The Vatican: The Politics Of Picking A New Pope

1:54pm February 27, 2013

John Thavis covered the Vatican from Rome for nearly 30 years while working for the Catholic News Service. In his new book, The Vatican Diaries, he describes a place much less organized and hierarchical than the public imagines.

Queue Listen Now

How The Food Industry Manipulates Taste Buds With 'Salt Sugar Fat'

12:46pm February 27, 2013

by Nell Boeschenstein

From food scientists who study the human palate to maximize consumer bliss, to marketing campaigns that target teens to hook them for life on a brand, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss' new book goes inside the world of processed, packaged goods.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Under Ogawa's Macabre, Metafictional Spell

7:23pm February 25, 2013

by Alan Cheuse

Fiction is reality and reality fiction in Revenge, Yoko Ogawa's absorbing cycle of interlinked, eerie tales. Readers may detect the shadows of Murakami, Borges and Poe, but, says critic Alan Cheuse, Ogawa's delicious tales cast their own singular spell.

Queue Listen Now

Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy are reporters for The Boston Globe.

Books
Arts

Whitey Bulger Bio Profiles Boston's Most Notorious Gangster

1:38pm February 25, 2013

Reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy, who covered Bulger for years for The Boston Globe, have a new book out about the career criminal. Bulger was wanted for 19 murders when he was captured by the FBI in 2011. He faces trial in June.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Historical Fiction Gets Personal In 'Philida'

5:44pm February 24, 2013

by NPR Staff

Philida, a slave, is promised her freedom by her owner, who is also the father of her children. But the promise is broken and she takes the matter into her own hands, in this novel by acclaimed South African novelist Andre Brink that was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Craving Solitude In 'Ten White Geese'

6:40pm February 23, 2013

by NPR Staff

In Gerbrand Bakker's mysterious — and often menacing — story, a Welsh woman seeks refuge from her past. But as she hopes of strength, she is also quickly reminded of her own mortality. Ten White Geese, which was translated from Dutch, has become an international best-seller.

Queue Listen Now

The SciFri Book Club Visits "Gorillas in the Mist"

1:03pm February 22, 2013

The book club regulars visit Gorillas in the Mist, Dian Fossey's memoir of her years studying mountain gorillas in a remote African rainforest. Gorilla expert Annette Lanjouw joins the club to give an update on how this endangered subspecies of gorilla is faring.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Karen Russell's 'Vampires' Deserve The Raves

2:39pm February 21, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

The author of Swamplandia! has a new collection of short stories called Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Critic Maureen Corrigan says the stories are daring and devastating, and with them Russell establishes herself as one of the great American writers of our young century.

Queue Listen Now

Dr. Sam Parnia researches the experiences of cardiac arrest patients who are brought back to life.

'Erasing Death' Explores The Science Of Resuscitation

2:39pm February 21, 2013

Dr. Sam Parnia researches the experiences of cardiac arrest patients in the time between when their hearts stop and when they are brought back to life. Parnia thinks of these experiences as actual-death experiences as opposed to near-death experiences.

Queue Listen Now