Books

Books
Arts

'The Chimes' Is A Post-Apocalyptic Hymn To The Power Of Memory

1:44pm May 03, 2016

by Jason Heller

Violinist and author Anna Smaill's musical training shows through in her debut novel. The Chimes is set in a post-apocalyptic London where a mysterious order controls the population via music.

Exene Cervenka and John Doe perform in Hollywood in September 2004. "The first person I ever saw jump into the audience was me," Cervenka tells Fresh Air.

A Personal History Of L.A. Punk: 'It Was A Free-For-All For Outcasts'

12:08pm May 03, 2016

John Doe, Exene Cervenka and Dave Alvin of X join Fresh Air to discuss punk's early days. "Anybody could belong to punk that wanted to be there," Cervenka says. "[It] didn't matter how old you were."

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'Missing Man' Examines Ex-FBI Agent Robert Levinson's Mission To Iran

7:04am May 03, 2016

Steve Inskeep talks to New York Times reporter Barry Meier about his investigation into Robert Levinson's disappearance, chronicled in his book Missing Man: The American Spy Who Vanished in Iran.

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Cairo's Tahrir Square (seen here in January) isn't actually a square — it's a traffic circle. And today, years after it was the site of anti-government demonstrations, it's a beautifully manicured, sterile space.

From Tahrir To Tiananmen, 'City Squares' Can't Escape Their History

12:07pm May 02, 2016

by Lynn Neary

Governments have tried to erase the evidence of some squares' troubled pasts, but that doesn't mean they've been forgotten. A new book gathers writers' thoughts about famous squares around the world.

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'Becoming Wise' Is A Meditation On Meaning

5:06pm May 01, 2016

On Being host Krista Tippett talks about her new book Becoming Wise, which explores what she has learned from a career discussing faith, science and spirituality.

Forget Talent, Success Comes From 'Grit'

10:04am May 01, 2016

Rachel Martin talks with Angela Duckworth, the psychologist who brought the idea of "grit" as a marker of success into the American mainstream. Her book posits that achievement is about persistence.

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Books
Arts

Camille Perri Talks Breaking The Rules To Get Ahead In Debut Novel, 'The Assistants'

10:04am May 01, 2016

When the assistant at a multinational corporation skims a tiny fraction of the company's billions, it sets off a chain of unexpected events. Camille Perri tells Rachel Martin about her new novel.

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Books
Arts

No Pink, But Plenty of Red, In Hack-N-Slash 'Fairyland'

10:00am May 01, 2016

by Etelka Lehoczky

Skottie Young's comic may horrify (or delight) the parents of princess-obsessed kids. It's the story of a not-so-little girl who's gone a little violent after 27 years trapped in a sparkly fairyland.

Books
Arts

The Mathematics Of Magic And Loss In 'Square Root Of Summer'

7:00am May 01, 2016

by Caitlyn Paxson

Teenaged math whiz Gottie knows a little too much about subtraction; her fractured family is spinning apart sfter the death of her beloved grandfather — and that's before the time wormholes appear.

Books
Arts

Weeping For All That Is Lost: A Harsh Migration Out Of India

10:00am April 30, 2016

by Nishant Dahiya

Sunjeev Sahota's new novel follows three men who journey from India to England, looking for a better life. But NPR's Nishant Dahiya says that life turns out to be a complex, and often dangerous one.