Books

Books

Simon Han Explores The Immigrant Experience In His Debut Novel

7:56am November 21, 2020

Simon Han's debut novel is set in the Texas suburbs he grew up in. NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Han about his book chronicling the immigrant experience, Nights When Nothing Happened.

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'These Violent Delights' Transports Romeo And Juliet To 1920s Shanghai

7:00am November 21, 2020

by Caitlyn Paxson

Chloe Gong's new novel has some of the important aspects of Shakespeare's famous tragedy — but more than anything else, it's a rich portrait of a time and place not often seen in literature.

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'To Be A Man': Book Of Stories Filled With Small Estrangements

5:02pm November 20, 2020

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with author Nicole Krauss about her new book of short stories, To Be A Man.

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The CIA's Secret Quest For Mind Control: Torture, LSD And A 'Poisoner In Chief'

1:45pm November 20, 2020

by Terry Gross

Journalist Stephen Kinzer reveals how the CIA worked in the 1950s and early '60s to develop mind control drugs and deadly toxins that could be used against enemies. Originally broadcast Sept. 9, 2019.

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"It is said that when those warriors jumped from the cliff tops, Apache women cried, and their tears were transformed into black stones. At the Apache Tear Caves, tourists hunt for these so-called Apache Tears. Some claim the obsidian nuggets possess heal

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'Oak Flat' Tells The Story Of An Apache Tribe Fighting To Save Its Land From Mining

10:20am November 20, 2020

by Lily Meyer

Artist and writer Lauren Redniss mixes art, design, and rigorous research with a prose style that is at once assertive, journalistic and poetic to create a book like no other.

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U.S. Marine Veteran Discusses His New Memoir And What It Means To Serve

5:04am November 20, 2020

NPR's Noel King speaks with Frank "Gus" Biggio about his memoir, The Wolves of Helmand: A View from Inside the Den of Modern War.

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Paris' Iconic Shakespeare And Company Bookstore In Trouble Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

5:04am November 20, 2020

by Rebecca Rosman

Famous English-language Paris bookstore Shakespeare and Company has lost nearly 80% of its revenue since the first pandemic shutdown in France. The owner of the shop is pleading for help.

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'Shuggie Bain,' Douglas Stuart's First Novel, Wins 2020 Booker Prize

4:50pm November 19, 2020

by Rose Friedman

Shuggie Bain is "a moving, immersive and nuanced portrait of a tight-knit social world, its people and its values," the judges wrote. Stuart based the book on his childhood in Glasgow, Scotland.

Former President Barack Obama speaks at a Biden-Harris drive-in rally in Miami on Oct. 24. In his first interview with Terry Gross, Obama talks about what he misses most about being president and reflects on the turmoil of the Trump White House. Obama's n

Democracy Is 'Strained' But Not 'Broken,' Former President Obama Tells 'Fresh Air'

12:00pm November 19, 2020

by Terry Gross

In his first interview with Terry Gross, Obama talks about what he misses most about being president and reflects on the turmoil of the Trump White House. Obama's new memoir is A Promised Land.

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Arts

'Alex Rider' Novelist On The Joys Of Reading (And Writing) Mysteries

2:31pm November 18, 2020

by Sam Briger

Anthony Horowitz's novels about a reluctant teen spy have been adapted into a TV series for Amazon. Horowitz is also the author of Moonflower Murders, a mystery for adults.

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