Books

Books

As General Electric completes a series of spinoffs, a look back at its historic past

8:34am April 06, 2024

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with writer William Cohan, author of "Power Failure," on the history of General Electric, once one of America's largest companies. It finished a series of spin-offs this week.

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Arts

'The Wide Wide Sea' revisits Capt. James Cook's fateful final voyage

1:39pm April 03, 2024

by Dave Davies

"A lot of things started going wrong from the very beginning," historian Hampton Sides says of Cook's last voyage, which ended in the British explorer's violent death on the island of Hawaii in 1779.

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John Barth, innovative postmodernist novelist, dies at 93

11:41am April 03, 2024

by The Associated Press

John Barth, the playfully erudite author whose darkly comic and complicated novels revolved around the art of literature and launched countless debates over the art of fiction, died Tuesday.

Stephen King's first novel, Carrie, turns 50 years old on Friday, and in honor of her birthday we asked you to share your favorite King stories with us. Above, Sissy Spacek stars in the 1976 film adaptation.

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'Carrie' turns 50! Here are the best Stephen King novels — chosen by you

10:29am April 03, 2024

by Beth Novey

King's first novel, Carrie, turns 50 on Friday, and in honor of her birthday we asked you to share your favorite Stephen King story. More than 1,000 replies poured in in just a few days.

'There's Always This Year' reflects on how we consider others — and ourselves

9:57am April 03, 2024

by Michael Schaub

Hanif Abdurraqib's latest book is about hoops, sure, but it's also about so much more. It's another remarkable book from one of the country's smartest cultural critics.

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Author's memoir details her struggle to accept she's a sociopath

7:32am April 03, 2024

Author Patric Gagne speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about her memoir, Sociopath, and the misunderstood diagnosis bearing the same name.

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Black girls have the spotlight in horror anthology 'The Black Girl Survives This One'

4:24pm April 02, 2024

NPR's Juana Summers speaks with Desiree Evans and Saraciea Fennell about their anthology of horror stories from Black writers with the racial and gender representation they've longed for in the genre.

Amor Towles checked in to the Beverly Hills Hotel to edit new novella

4:24pm April 02, 2024

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author Amor Towles about his new short story collection Table for Two and how his novella picked up Eve's story where he left off in Rules of Civility.

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Arts

'Lilith' cuts to the heart of the gun debate and school shootings

12:02pm April 02, 2024

by Gabino Iglesias

Eric Rickstad's novel is full of sadness and rage; it forces readers to look at one of the ugliest parts of U.S. culture, a too-common occurrence that is extremely rare in other countries.

Books

Pulitzer prize finalist Lydia Millet publishes her first nonfiction book

5:11am April 02, 2024

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with climate change advocate and novelist Lydia Millet about her first nonfiction book: We Loved It All: A Memory of Life.