Books

Books
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How A Stolen Backpack In Casablanca Inspired A Novel About Shifting Identity

3:29pm June 30, 2015

The main character in Vendela Vida's new novel is alone in Morocco when her bag with her passport and credit cards is stolen. Vida says The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty was inspired by her own travels.

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Drawn And Quarterly: Twenty-five Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels

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After 25 Years, A Comics Publisher Pauses To Collect And Reflect

2:56pm June 30, 2015

by Glen Weldon

A massive new anthology collects the impressive and varied work of the Montreal-based publisher Drawn And Quarterly, whose comics and graphic novels represent a deeply human kind of storytelling.

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Arts

A Lyrical Coming Of Age Tale In 'Bird Hill'

10:03am June 30, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Naomi Jackson's first novel follows a pair of Brooklyn sisters sent to live in their mother's small Barbados hometown. Critic Michael Schaub says "it's not a perfect book, but it's a lovely one."

A drawing of two clinking martini glasses.

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Pop Culture Happy Hour, Small Batch Edition: Audiobooks

2:37pm June 29, 2015

by Linda Holmes

We have a conversation with one of our favorite regular-book enthusiasts about the special matter of the audiobook.

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Marvel has put half-African-American, half-Latino teen Miles Morales in the Spider-Man suit.

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Marvel's Half-Black, Half-Latino Spider-Man Is Going Mainstream

2:34pm June 29, 2015

by NPR Staff

"It won't be [that] Miles is Spider-Man with an asterisk or some kind of adjective or adverb attached to it," says writer Brian Michael Bendis. "He is going to be Spider-Man — just Spider-Man."

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Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White

1:31pm June 29, 2015

As a biracial child growing up in Philadelphia, writer Mat Johnson identified as black – but looked white. His new novel is about a man who returns to his hometown after inheriting a run-down mansion.

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Cover detail of Scott Sherman's Patience and Fortitude.

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'Patience And Fortitude' And The Fight To Save NYC's Storied Public Library

12:55pm June 29, 2015

by Maureen Corrigan

In his new book, Scott Sherman describes how bottom-line business logic nearly gutted New York's preeminent public library. Maureen Corrigan calls it a "slim, smart book" full of colorful characters.

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Ben Mezrich at the premiere of 21, the film adaptation of Bringing Down the House.

Books

A Bar, Blackjack And Best-Sellers: One Author's Big Break

8:20pm June 28, 2015

by Becky Sullivan

Ben Mezrich had been a struggling author, without a regular job and knee-deep in debt. But that all changed at a dive bar in Boston, when Mezrich saw a local college student whip out a $100 bill.

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Raised By 5 Different Families, 7 Siblings Are Reunited In 'Bastards'

10:44am June 28, 2015

by NPR Staff

In her debut memoir Mary Anna King tells the story of her fractured upbringing and how — in the face of poverty — love and hard work were not sufficient to keep her family together.

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Arts

Like Seinfeld, 'Festival' Is About Nothing... And Everything

7:03am June 28, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Milan Kundera's new novel is short on plot, but don't mistake that for dullness. Reviewer Jason Sheehan says the book is slim, funny and stunningly profound.