Books

Books
Arts

Adolescent Friendship Fades Away In Claire Messud's Gothic 'Burning Girl'

2:11pm September 12, 2017

by Maureen Corrigan

Messud's novel centers on best friends from different class backgrounds who begin to drift apart in 7th grade. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls The Burning Girl a story of "betrayal and isolation."

Queue Listen Now

A Disappearance in Damascus, by Deborah Campbell

Books
Arts

In 'Damascus,' A Chilling Mystery With A Personal Connection

12:06pm September 12, 2017

by Deborah Amos

Deborah Campbell's A Disappearance in Damascus is both a taut detective story and an intimate account of friendship during war — and that's before our reviewer discovered her own part in the story.

Len Wein, Co-Creator Of Wolverine And Storm Comics, Dies At 69

8:16pm September 11, 2017

Len Wein, co-creator of iconic comic book characters such as Wolverine and Storm, has died. He was 69 years old.

Queue Listen Now

Wold Without Mind by Franklin Foer (Emily Bogle/NPR)

'World Without Mind': How Tech Companies Pose An Existential Threat

6:31pm September 11, 2017

by Ari Shapiro

From Facebook's algorithms to our reliance on phones instead of our memories, tech giants are taking us to a future that's either utopian or dystopian, author Franklin Foer says.

Queue Listen Now

In the 1950s, the poultry industry began dunking birds in antibiotic baths. It was supposed to keep meat fresher and healthier. That's not what happened, as Maryn McKenna recounts in her new book.

'Big Chicken': The Medical Mystery That Traced Back To Slaughterhouse Workers

11:42pm September 10, 2017

by Maryn McKenna

In the 1950s, the poultry industry began dunking birds in antibiotic baths. It was supposed to keep meat fresher and healthier. That's not what happened, as Maryn McKenna recounts in her new book.

Gorbachev: His Life and Times By William Taubman

Books
Arts

'Gorbachev' Is A Gripping, Sympathetic And Detailed Portrait

9:38pm September 10, 2017

by Mark Katkov

In Gorbachev: His Life and Times, biographer William Taubman makes a convincing case that the former Soviet leader's decency — the word appears throughout the book — is key to understanding him.

Books

He Wanted To Be A Soldier But Became A Bank Robber

8:26am September 10, 2017

A good kid just out of high school gets swept up into a plot to rob a bank. Ben Blum tells Linda Wertheimer the true story of his cousin Alex in Ranger Games.

The Riviera Set: Glitz, Glamour, and The Hidden World of High Society by Mary Lovell

Books
Arts

Take A Dip Into The Glittering Past Of 'The Riviera Set'

10:00am September 09, 2017

by Jacki Lyden

The fabulously louche social scene of the mid-century French Riviera — where socialites and stars mixed with the likes of Winston Churchill — comes alive again in Mary S. Lovell's The Riviera Set.

Books

Books By Hemingway, Kerouac And Bukowski Are Stolen Most Often

8:06am September 09, 2017

Scott Simon speaks with David Sandberg, owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass., about all the Hemingway, Kerouac and Bukowski books that have kept getting stolen over the years.

Books

A Mother And Daughter Upset Suburban Status Quo In 'Little Fires Everywhere'

7:39am September 09, 2017

by Scott Simon

Novelist Celeste Ng knows Shaker Heights, Ohio well. Writing about your own hometown is "like writing about a relative," she says. "You love them dearly, and yet you also know all of their quirks."