Books

Robert Silvers, Longtime Editor Of 'The New York Review Of Books,' Dies At 87

6:09pm March 20, 2017

by Glen Weldon

Silvers co-founded the journal with Barbara Epstein in 1963. It quickly became a leading forum where authors and critics grappled with cultural issues — and with each other.

Author Ron Powers describes the heartbreak of having two sons with schizophrenia in his new book No One Cares About Crazy People.

Father Of 2 Sons With Schizophrenia Talks Of His Struggle To Save Them

1:28pm March 20, 2017

"There is no greater ... feeling of helplessness than to watch two beloved sons deteriorate before [your] eyes," says Ron Powers. His new book is No One Cares About Crazy People.

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Anyone who has read or seen Victor Hugo's masterpiece knows the plot of Les Miserables turns on the theft of a simple loaf of bread. There was no sharper barometer of economic status in 19th-century France than bread.

Let Them Eat Bread: The Theft That Helped Inspire 'Les Miserables'

11:34am March 20, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Anyone who has read or seen Victor Hugo's masterpiece knows the plot turns on the theft of a simple loaf of bread. There was no sharper barometer of economic status in 19th-century France than bread.

Books
Arts

Rum-Soaked, Bloody, Sprawling 'Heretics' Is A Romp Through Centuries

10:00am March 19, 2017

by Jason Sheehan

Leonardo Padura returns to one of his favorite characters — broken-down Cuban gumshoe Mario Conde — and puts him on the trail of a missing Rembrandt in his gorgeously written new novel Heretics.

Books

Authoring An Author's Life In 'Mikhail and Margarita'

7:52am March 19, 2017

Julie Lekstrom Himes talks about her novel Mikhail and Margarita. It is a fictional account of the life of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov, who wrote the classic The Master and Margarita.

Books

A Reading Of Derek Walcott's 'Love After Love'

7:52am March 19, 2017

Poet Derek Walcott died this past week. Actor Tom Hiddleston reads his poem, "Love After Love."

Books

Egyptian Political Satirist Bassem Youssef On Media And The Arab Spring

7:52am March 19, 2017

Bassem Youssef is often compared to Jon Stewart as a political satirist. He talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro about his new book, Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through The Arab Spring.

Books

'Beauty And The Beast' Follows A Tradition Of Animal-Human Love Stories

7:52am March 19, 2017

by Lynn Neary

All over the world there is folklore about animals and humans falling in love. Some think it could represent how people could value character more than appearance.

Books
Arts

In '2140,' New York May Be Underwater, But It's Still Home

7:00am March 19, 2017

by Genevieve Valentine

Kim Stanley Robinson envisions a future that's closer than we like to think in New York 2140. Sea levels 50 feet higher have swamped Manhattan, but there's a tiny thread of hope that we might float.

Books

Chronicling Ernest Hemingway's Relationship With The Soviets

8:12am March 18, 2017

CIA archivist Nicholas Reynolds discusses his new book, Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingway's Secret Adventures. It describes Hemingway's relationship with Soviet intelligence.