Arts & Life

Tom Brokaw served as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 until 2004.

Books
Arts

Tom Brokaw Reflects On Cancer, 'Nightly News' And His 'Lucky Life'

4:08pm May 13, 2015

The former NBC anchorman says his multiple myeloma diagnosis two years ago made him "more conscious of the fact that the days are more numbered." His new memoir is A Lucky Life Interrupted.

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Books
Arts

Myth, Fantasy And Sci-Fi Dovetail In 'Archivist Wasp'

3:36pm May 13, 2015

by Jason Heller

Nicole Kornher-Stace's new novel follows Wasp, an Archivist tasked with hunting ghosts to scavenge information about the past for her primitive post-apocalyptic society — where all is not as it seems.

United States Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant, 2013, from The Notion of Family (Aperture, 2014).

A Rust Belt Story Retold, Through Portraits Of The Women Who Lived It

3:18pm May 13, 2015

by Shereen Marisol Meraji

LaToya Ruby Frazier's photography tells the story of the black community living in the shadow of Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill through portraits of her grandmother, her mother and herself.

De Kooning made dozens of drawings, sketches and paintings of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Arts

For Artist Elaine De Kooning, Painting Was A Verb, Not A Noun

1:59pm May 13, 2015

by Susan Stamberg

One of de Kooning's friends once asked her what it was like to work in the shadow of her husband, Willem de Kooning. She replied: "I don't paint in his shadow, I paint in his light.'"

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Raúl Castillo, Jonathan Groff and Russell Tovey from HBO's Looking.

Arts

Jonathan Groff And Raúl Castillo: 'Looking' Ahead

1:07pm May 13, 2015

Ahead of the season finale of HBO's Looking, the co-stars who play on-again, off-again couple Patrick and Richie talk about redefining gay life on television and play a game about other TV romances.

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Books
Arts

Remembering A Troubled Brother In 'Lord Fear'

1:05pm May 13, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Lucas Mann's new memoir pieces together family memories to create a portrait of his heroin-addicted older brother, who died of an overdose. Critic Heller McAlpin calls it difficult but necessary.

Books
Arts

'Zombie Wars' Documents An Apocalypse Of Bad Decisions

12:06pm May 13, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Aleksandar Hemon's darkly hilarious new novel follows a sad-sack Chicago teacher whose screenwriting dreams lead to catastrophe. Critic Michael Schaub calls it "crazy in the best sense of the word."

Arts

Picasso Painting Breaks Record For Most Expensive Artwork Sold At Auction

12:31am May 13, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

One of Pablo Picasso's later paintings in his series, "Les Femmes D'Alger" ("Women of Algiers"), was sold for $179.4 million, including the Christie's Auction House fee, at auction on Monday night.

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Books
Arts

Exclusive First Read: Naomi Novik's 'Uprooted'

6:39pm May 12, 2015

by NPR Staff

Naomi Novik leaves behind the Napoleonic War setting of her previous books for a new stand-alone tale of a village girl, taken by a mysterious magician, who learns she's more than a match for him.

Books
Arts

The Artistry Fails In 'Trompe L'Oeil'

6:15pm May 12, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Even talented artists have trouble creating the illusions known as "trompe l'oeil." Critic Michael Schaub says Nancy Reisman's tragic new novel of the same name never jumps into three dimensions.