Books

'The King is Always Above the People' by Daniel Alarcon

Books
Arts

'The King Is Always Above The People' In More Lands Than One

8:09am October 28, 2017

by Melissa Block

Daniel Alarcón's new collection of short stories follows a young man living in a capital post-revolution and includes an Abraham Lincoln love story, set in modern-day Chicago.

Books
Arts

'I Can't Breathe' Shows Us Eric Garner's Life — Not Just His Death

7:00am October 28, 2017

by Alex Gilvarry

Garner's death at the hands of police on a Staten Island street in 2014 sparked nationwide protests. Matt Taibbi's new book traces his life, and the policing policies that brought him to that moment.

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Arts

'Ghosts of the Tsunami' Shows How 2011 Event Transformed Japan

4:50pm October 27, 2017

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to journalist Richard Lloyd Parry about his new book, Ghosts of the Tsunami, that documents life after the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

Who Says You Can't Train A Cat? A Book Of Tips For Feline-Human Harmony

1:53pm October 27, 2017

Feline behavior specialist Sarah Ellis explains how you can train your kitty to come on command, take medicine and stop waking you up in the middle of the night. Originally broadcast Sept. 12, 2016.

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A detail from the cover of Ken Greenhall's Childgrave, painted by Lisa Falkenstern.

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These 'Paperbacks From Hell' Reflect The Real-Life Angst Of The 1970s

5:44pm October 26, 2017

by Kelly McEvers

Author Grady Hendrix's new book is a celebration of the lurid horror paperbacks of the 1970s, books that gave already frightened readers an endless supply of things to fear, from jellyfish to clowns.

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'Ghosts Of The Tsunami' By Richard Lloyd Parry

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'Ghosts Of The Tsunami' Examines The Disaster That Haunts Japan

7:00am October 26, 2017

by Michael Schaub

Richard Lloyd Parry looks at the aftermath of Japan's 2011 tsunami in this brutally honest new book, which refuses to mitigate the full horror of the events with feel-good recovery stories.

Alexis Okeowo speaks at the 2017 New Yorker Festival at Gramercy Theatre on Oct. 6 in New York City.

Alexis Okeowo Finds God In The Brave Acts Of Ordinary Africans

3:23pm October 25, 2017

by Meghan Sullivan

The journalist, fatigued with stories of hopelessness and despair, writes a book about people who have the courage to resist extremism — sometimes just by playing basketball.

Journalist Chronicles Ordinary People Fighting Extremism In Africa

2:01pm October 25, 2017

by Dave Davies

New Yorker writer Alexis Okeowo wanted to get past standard journalistic narratives of war and tragedy and show people as flawed, complicated individuals in her new book, A Moonless, Starless Sky.

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Arts

'Her Body and Other Parties' Charts Dark Territory With Enormous Style

2:01pm October 25, 2017

by John Powers

The eight stories in Carmen Maria Machado's new collection feature women in extremis — physical danger, psychological meltdown, treacherous love or close encounters of a ghostly kind.

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'The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau: A Historical Thriller,' By Graeme Macrae Burnet

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Arts

'Adèle Bedeau' Is A Delightfully Macabre Mix Of Text And Subtext

12:15pm October 25, 2017

by Bethanne Patrick

Graeme Macrae Burnet's stylish, atmospheric mystery can be read just as a dark little detective story — but it's worth paying attention to the novel's playful found-manuscript framing device.