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What If You Hadn't Gotten Married? 'Dark Matter' Imagines An Alternate Life

7:55am July 24, 2016

by NPR Staff

Blake Crouch's new science fiction novel tells the story of Jason Dessen, a father and physics professor who suddenly finds himself in a parallel universe — in which he's unmarried and famous.

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Gay Talese Stays Too Long At 'The Voyeur's Motel'

7:00am July 24, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Gay Talese conflates the journalist and the voyeur in his new book about a motel owner who spied on his guests. And he makes the readers voyeurs as well: We watch him watching the unwary motel guests.

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Comic-Con Fans Continue The Epic Battle Between Science And Fiction

5:03pm July 23, 2016

by Glen Weldon

Fans of science fiction have long wrestled with the question of just how much science should be in their fiction. Advocates of different approaches met at San Diego's Comic-Con.

Heroes of the Frontier book cover detail

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In Dave Eggers' Latest, A Mother Moves Her Kids To The Alaskan 'Frontier'

8:37am July 23, 2016

by NPR Staff

Alaska's a state that's "not too precious about itself," Eggers says. In Heroes of the Frontier, he follows an out-of-work dentist as she moves her small family to an unfamiliar home.

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3 Books To Take On Your Summer Getaway

4:32pm July 22, 2016

by NPR Staff

Bookseller John Evans recommends three vacation reads: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sport of Kings by C. E. Morgan and Under the Big Black Sun by John Doe and Tom DeSavia.

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Graphic Novelist Marjorie Lui On How Rejection Shaped Her Writing

4:32pm July 22, 2016

by Mallory Yu

Author Marjorie Liu is nominated for two Eisners, the most prestigious awards in comics. She writes young adult fantasy books that cover topics that include war, women and steam punk gadgetry.

Susan Faludi had been estranged from her father, Steven Faludi, for two decades when she learned he had had gender reassignment surgery and was going by Stefánie.

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In 'The Darkroom,' A Writer Comes To Grips With Her Dad's Gender Transition

3:02pm July 22, 2016

by NPR Staff

Susan Faludi says that, growing up, her father was a "domineering, hyper-masculine patriarch." In her new book, she tries to understand his past and his decision to become a woman.

Queue Listen Now

To The Secretary By Mary Thompson-Jones.

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'To The Secretary' Tries To Unwind The Tangles Of Diplomacy

7:00am July 21, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

State Department veteran Mary Thompson-Jones sifts through a few choice WikiLeaks cables and parses them for a lay audience in To The Secretary, a fascinating primer on a complex and difficult field.

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Steinbeck Is An Influence — And A Character — In 'Monterey Bay'

6:20pm July 20, 2016

by Jean Zimmerman

Lindsay Hatton makes a bold move in her new novel: She lifts a character from John Steinbeck's 1945 classic Cannery Row -- and then the author himself — for a tale of thwarted romance by the sea.

'The Battle For Home' Traces Syria's History Through Architecture

6:00pm July 20, 2016

NPR's Kelly McEvers speaks with Homs-based architect Marwa al-Sabouni, about her new book The Battle for Home, which traces Syria's past, present and possible future through the lens of architecture.