Books

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Arts

Looking For Thor's Hammer: Neil Gaiman On 'Norse Mythology'

7:00am February 13, 2017

by Petra Mayer

Author Neil Gaiman first encountered the Norse gods in the pages of old Marvel Comics reprints, when he was 6 years old. Now, he's written his own versions of these ancient tales of gods and monsters.

Monk Spreads Buddhist Philosophy With 140-Character Tweets

6:00pm February 12, 2017

Buddhist monk Haemin Sunim became Twitter-famous with his tweets about faith and mindfulness. His book, a compilation of tweets, went viral in South Korea, and the American edition is out now.

Books

How A Jane Austen Character May Have Looked In Real Life

7:45am February 12, 2017

What would Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy have looked like, had she been able to cast the movie? Emeritus professor of modern English literature John Sutherland thinks he might know.

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Arts

'Next Door' Neighbors Gradually Learn To Get Along In Post-Apartheid Cape Town

7:45am February 12, 2017

by NPR Staff

Yewande Omotoso's new novel follows two South African widows in their 80s: Hortensia is black, Marion is white and both are set in their ways.

Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders

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Arts

'Lincoln In The Bardo' Pictures An American Saint Of Sorrow

10:58am February 11, 2017

by NPR Staff

George Saunders — acknowledged as a master of the short story — moves into novel form with Lincoln in the Bardo, a supernatural tale of President Lincoln grieving the death of his son Willie.

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Horror Tropes And Human Sadness In 'Universal Harvester'

7:00am February 11, 2017

by Carmen Maria Machado

Musician and author John Darnielle's new Universal Harvester follows three connected stories in three different eras, in an unsettling fairy tale about mysterious images that appear on video tapes.

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Arts

Fires Burn — At A Distance — In Unnerving 'Separation'

7:00am February 11, 2017

by Annalisa Quinn

Katie Kitamura's new novel follows an unnamed narrator who tails her estranged, disappeared husband to Greece — while keeping the ominous surroundings and disquieting emotions at a cool remove.

After A Stroke At 33, A Writer Relies On Journals To Piece Together Her Own Story

5:24am February 11, 2017

by NPR Staff

The stroke left Christine Hyung-Oak Lee unable remember things for more than 15 minutes. As she slowly got better, she was surprised to find that grief and recovery were inextricably linked.

Viet Thanh Nguyen is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. His new short story collection explores the refugee experience — and draws from his own.

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'The Refugees' Author Says We Should All Know What It Is To Be An Outsider

6:35pm February 10, 2017

by NPR Staff

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen fled Vietnam with his family when he was 4 years old. His new short story collection explores the refugee experience — and draws from his own.

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American writer, abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass edits a journal at his desk, late 1870s. Douglass was acutely conscious of being a literary witness to the inhumane institution of slavery he had escaped as a young man. He made sure to document

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Frederick Douglass On How Slave Owners Used Food As A Weapon Of Control

12:26pm February 10, 2017

by Nina Martyris

Hunger was Douglass' constant companion as a boy. As a young man, he escaped slavery and became a heroic abolitionist who revealed how food was a key tool in the immoral mechanics of slavery.