Books

Undermajordomo Minor is Patrick DeWitt's third novel. He's also written Ablutions: Notes for a Novel and The Sisters Brothers, which earned a spot on the Man Booker Prize shortlist.

Books
Arts

From Dive Bars To Gothic Castles: A Career With The Arc Of A Fairy Tale

2:30pm September 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

Patrick DeWitt, a former barback, once saw his hopes for a writing career teeter on a trash can's edge. Now an acclaimed author, he's dissecting folk tales in his newest novel, Undermajordomo Minor.

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Columnist Mary McGrory holds court among reporters and observers at the 1973 Watergate hearings.

Don't Call Her 'Doll': How Mary McGrory Became 'The First Queen Of Journalism'

2:25pm September 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

The columnist could write like an angel — and bite like an asp. In a new biography, John Norris recounts McGrory's first big break and the proposition she received from a Democratic president.

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In Kevin Henkes' new picture book, all of the figurines on the windowsill are waiting for something. "It's really about the concept of waiting," he says.

Books
Arts

Some Kids' Books Are Worth The Wait: 'They Do Take Time,' Says Kevin Henkes

7:39pm September 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

The Caldecott and Newbery award-winning author says he won't publish anything he isn't proud of. His new picture book is about five figurines on a windowsill who are all waiting for something.

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Surgeon Seeks To Help Women Navigate Breast Cancer Treatment

3:51pm September 22, 2015

Thirty years ago no one uttered the words "breast cancer" in public. Now there's no shortage of information, but the glut can make it hard for women to make choices about care.

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Arts

'Fates And Furies' Offers A Tour-De-Force Plot, Minus Compelling Characters

1:45pm September 22, 2015

by Maureen Corrigan

Lauren Groff's new novel paints a portrait of marriage from the clashing viewpoints of a husband and wife. Critic Maureen Corrigan says Fates and Furies is "a marvel" — but that it could be better.

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Joyce Carol Oates, pictured above on Easter, 1949. It is strange, she says, to live so long that you are older than your own parents were when they died. She uses the word "vertiginous" to describe the dizzying sensation of looking back on your life from

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Arts

Joyce Carol Oates' Memoir Revisits The Farm And The Family That Shaped Her

10:35pm September 21, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Oates grew up on a farm in upstate New York. In The Lost Landscape, she describes how her parents, her grandmother, and her school experiences made her into the writer she is today.

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Assessing The $100 Million Upheaval Of Newark's Public Schools

1:55pm September 21, 2015

In 2010, Mayor Cory Booker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg devised a plan to improve Newark's failing schools. Dale Russakoff recounts their efforts in The Prize.

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Arts

Author Jackie Collins Remembered For Impact On Steamy Fiction

1:49pm September 20, 2015

Jackie Collins, best-selling author of pulpy fiction, has died of breast cancer at the age of 77. Freelance journalist Annalisa Quinn tells NPR's Linda Wertheimer about Collins' influence.

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Arts

Finding Love And Self-Acceptance 'Under the Udala Trees'

6:55pm September 19, 2015

by NPR Staff

Chinelo Okparanta's new novel follows a Nigerian girl as she grows up during a violent civil war and struggles to come to terms with her sexuality.

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In 'Intro To Alien Invasion' College Students Transform Into Insectoids

6:00am September 19, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Owen King and Mark Jude Poirier's new comic is a B-movie type portrait of college life interrupted by the arrival of alien beetles who feed on the shallowest kids.