Books

Scott McClanahan's bizarre and often funny short fiction has earned him many fans.

Books
Arts

'The Sarah Book' Is An Unsparing Primal Scream Of A Book

11:35am June 21, 2017

by Michael Schaub

Scott McClanahan's semi-autobiographical novel is packed with loss, pain and existential anguish, but his narrator — also named Scott — refuses to give up, no matter how often he's knocked down.

Books
Arts

Eddie Izzard: Coming Out Gave Me The Confidence For Everything Else

4:44pm June 20, 2017

by Kelly McEvers

Fair warning: There are no actual jazz chickens in Eddie Izzard's new Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens. But it does provide insight into what makes the acclaimed comedian tick.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, by Theodora Goss.

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Arts

'The Alchemist's Daughter' Is No Frankenstein's Monster

2:41pm June 20, 2017

by Jason Heller

Theodora Goss's novel takes bits and pieces from several different monstrous mythologies — Jekyll and Hyde, Dr. Moreau and more — but she makes something new and deceptively intricate out of them.

"When you tell the truth, it's naturally going to offend people afraid of the truth, afraid of what the truth might force them to do," says writer Sherman Alexie.

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Arts

Sherman Alexie Says He's Been 'Indian Du Jour' For A 'Very Long Day'

1:53pm June 20, 2017

by Terry Gross

Alexie is excited for a new generation of Native American writers to come on the scene, "so I don't have to answer all the questions," he says. His new memoir is You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.

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Books

Sherman Alexie's New Book Is An Emotional Memoir About His Mother

8:18am June 20, 2017

Sherman Alexie has often turned to his childhood on the Spokane Indian Reservation for inspiration. Now, he looks at the life of his mother in a memoir called You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.

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Bookstore Owner Sues California Over Law Regulating Autographed Items

4:33pm June 19, 2017

by Mandalit del Barco

A new California law regulates how autographed items may be sold. Originally intended to cover sports memorabilia and an apparently thriving market in fake autographs, bookstores are worried it will shut down popular author book signings. Now one of them has filed suit.

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Linda Fortune's family was forced out of District Six when she was 22. Growing up, the family often ate crayfish her father caught as a hobby. "If you had an overabundance of fish, you would share it with the neighbors," she recalls.

South Africa's District Six Cookbook Helps Preserve A Lost Community

2:33pm June 19, 2017

by Alan Greenblatt

By the 1980s, 60,000 people had been forcibly removed from this mixed-race section of Cape Town. But the area's food traditions reflect the spirit of helpmekaar, an Afrikaans term for mutual support.

Roxane Gay is a novelist and short story writer. Her previous books include Bad Feminist, Difficult Women and An Untamed State. She teaches English at Purdue University.

Books
Arts

Be Bigger, Fight Harder: Roxane Gay On A Lifetime Of 'Hunger'

1:28pm June 19, 2017

by Terry Gross

Gay has finally written the book that she "wanted to write the least." The moment she realized she "never want to write about fatness" was the same moment she knew this was a memoir she had to write.

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Unlike most presidents, who keep the public at arm's-length, President Trump appears to let us into his head with his constant tweeting.

President Donald Trump, Unreliable Narrator

8:03am June 19, 2017

by Danielle Kurtzleben

Why can't we stop reading Trump's Twitter feed? The same reason we can't put down The Catcher In The Rye or Pale Fire.

Ben Falcone's advice for fathers is "love your kids and show up." His dad, Steve, says, "Don't sweat the small stuff."

Books
Arts

Actor Ben Falcone And His Dad On The Funny Side Of Fatherhood

5:01pm June 18, 2017

by Michel Martin

Ben learned a lot about fatherhood from his own dad, Steve Falcone. In honor of Father's Day, they spoke to NPR about their most memorable father-son moments. Ben's new book is Being a Dad is Weird.