Books

Books
Arts

'This Mortal Coil' Will Get You All Twisted Up

7:00am November 09, 2017

by Amal El-Mohtar

Emily Suvada's debut novel — a high-tech young adult dystopia — is bursting with ideas (and exploding viruses). And while it might seem like a conventional thriller, it's got a twist to reckon with.

The man known universally as FDR, pictured here in 1936, is the subject of historian Robert Dallek's Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life.

'Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life' Examines The Personal Traits That Marked FDR For Greatness

3:00pm November 08, 2017

by Ron Elving

NPR's Ron Elving says historian Robert Dallek's latest tome "emphasizes the human scale of FDR's life, his interaction with the people around him and the interplay among his intimates."

An organic market on Boulevard des Batignolles in Paris.

'A Taste Of Paris': How The City Of Light Became The City Of Food

12:39pm November 08, 2017

by Eleanor Beardsley

In his new book, food historian David Downie takes readers on a gourmet jaunt through time to reveal how the French capital became a gastronomic powerhouse. (Hint: You can thank Rome.)

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Lou Reed performs in New York City in 2004. "I wanted to write a book that took Lou ... seriously," says biographer Anthony DeCurtis.

Biographer Sought To Write The Kind Of Book Lou Reed 'Deserved'

12:01pm November 08, 2017

by Terry Gross

"It wasn't like I had to go looking for the drugs and the sex," Anthony DeCurtis says. "Lou wrote about it ... so I felt it was fair game." DeCurtis' new book is Lou Reed: A Life.

Books
Arts

'Mrs. Osmond' Presents A Portrait Of A Lady As Mopey Schemer

10:00am November 08, 2017

by Jean Zimmerman

Author John Banville makes a valiant imaginative leap with Mrs. Osmond, his attempt to craft a new ending for the heroine of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, but he doesn't quite land it.

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Arts

'Radio Free Vermont' Offers A Modest Proposal For Resistance

7:00am November 08, 2017

by Jason Heller

Activist Bill McKibben answers his own call for topical fiction with Radio Free Vermont, a gently surreal tale about a septuagenarian troublemaker who inadvertently sparks a secession movement.

Bo, the first dog, boards Air Force One for a weekend trip to Chicago on May 27, 2010.

Photographer Pete Souza Reflects On 8 Years (And 1.9 Million Photos) Of Obama

4:11pm November 07, 2017

by Terry Gross

As the chief official White House photographer for President Obama, Souza sometimes shot more than 2,000 photos a day. "I was there all the time," he says. His new book is Obama: An Intimate Portrait.

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Arts

'Spineless' Dives Deep Into The World Of Jellyfish

10:00am November 07, 2017

by Brian Castner

Part memoir, part travelogue, part science tome, Juli Berwald's book is thoroughly entertaining, and makes the case for the jellyfish as both fascinating animal and a bellwether for climate change.

Books
Arts

Alan Bennett's Inimitable Voice Just Keeps 'Keeping On'

7:00am November 07, 2017

by Heller McAlpin

His new 700-page omnibus of collected bits and pieces shouldn't be read all at once — but taken in careful sips, it's a cheeky, crotchety, sometimes serious, sometimes satirical delight.

Books

We Have No Idea What We're Doing With Money

12:57pm November 06, 2017

We've all experienced buyer's remorse at one point or another. It can be tough to make clear headed choices with our hard-earned cash. But is this just human nature, or is it something we can learn to control?