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Remembering novelist, screenwriter and memoirist Paul Auster

1:37pm May 03, 2024

by Terry Gross

Auster, who died April 30, rose to fame in the 1980s with The New York Trilogy novels. His memoir, Winter Journal, focused on the history of his body. Originally broadcast in 1997, 2004 and 2012.

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Illustation of a sad pregnant woman who needs prenatal care and support. A young woman expecting a child is depressed. Psychological and medical vector illustration. A pregnant woman wearing blue looks downcast. Her hair spreads behind her, filling the frame.

In 'The Unexpected,' Emily Oster tackles the emotional toll of difficult pregnancies

10:14am May 02, 2024

by Scott Detrow

The economist made a name for herself using data to challenge the accepted rules of pregnancy. Now, she's returning to the topic with a book on how to navigate its complications.

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Rachel Khong explores genetics, race and the idea of being American in new novel

5:01pm May 01, 2024

NPR's Juana Summers talks with author Rachel Khong about her book Real Americans, a multi-generational new novel about coming of age and defining who you are.

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What the 'Dawn of the Civil War' can tell us about today's acrimonious politics

2:07pm May 01, 2024

by Dave Davies

In The Demon of Unrest, author Erik Larson chronicles the five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the start of the Civil War, drawing parallels to today's political climate.

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A poet searches for answers about the short life of a writer in 'Traces of Enayat'

1:09pm May 01, 2024

by Lily Meyer

Poet Iman Mersal's book is a memoir of her search for knowledge about the writer Enayat al-Zayyat; it's a slow, idiosyncratic journey through a layered, changing Cairo — and through her own mind.

"You think it will never happen to you," Paul Auster wrote about aging and mortality in his 2012 book Winter Journal. He's pictured above in New York in April 2007.

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Bestselling novelist Paul Auster, author of 'The New York Trilogy,' dies at 77

9:12am May 01, 2024

by Tom Vitale

A leading figure in his generation of postmodern American writers, Auster wrote more than 20 novels, including City of Glass, Sunset Park, 4 3 2 1 and The Brooklyn Follies.

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Christian author, warning of domestic terrorism, speaks directly to her community

5:08am May 01, 2024

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Elizabeth Neumann about the rise of Christian extremism. Neumann served as a Homeland Security official in the Trump administration. Her new book is Kingdom of Rage.

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Fantasy writer Leigh Bardugo on magic, miracles and her version of hell

1:42pm April 30, 2024

by Sam Briger

Bardugo is best known for her YA Shadow and Bone series. Her adult novel, The Familiar, centers on a young woman in 16th century Spain who must hide her identity as a Jew who converted to Catholicism.

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AI is contentious among authors. So why are some feeding it their own writing?

8:16am April 30, 2024

by Chloe Veltman

Many authors are concerned about the use of their copyrighted material in generative AI models. At the same time, some are actively experimenting with the technology.

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'Real Americans' asks: What could we change about our lives?

6:00am April 30, 2024

by Rhoda Feng

Many philosophical ideas get an airing in Rachel Khong's latest novel, including the existence of free will and the ethics of altering genomes to select for "favorable" inheritable traits.