Arts & Life

Books
Arts

Love, Violence And Lou Reed, On Display In 'The Water Museum'

3:30pm April 08, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Things rarely end well for the people in Luis Alberto Urrea's new story collection, but there are flashes of humor. Critic Michael Schaub calls Urrea "a master storyteller with a rock 'n' roll heart."

Arts

'Louie' Hits Its Mark While 'The Comedians' Hasn't Yet Fully Succeeded

3:25pm April 08, 2015

by David Bianculli

Louis C.K.'s comedy and the new mockumentary The Comedians start Thursday on the FX cable network. Both are unusual and ambitious, says critic David Bianculli, but only one hits the ground running.

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Books
Arts

'Displacement': The Frustrations, Fears And Absurdities Of A Cruise Upended

3:25pm April 08, 2015

When Lucy Knisley agreed to go on a Caribbean cruise with her grandparents, she didn't know she'd spend 10 days basically keeping them alive. She writes about it in her new cartoon memoir.

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Books
Arts

Memoir, Perfectly Punctuated In 'Between You & Me'

11:22am April 08, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

New Yorker copy editor Mary Norris' new book is part life story, part grammar guide. Reviewer Heller McAlpin says the book is delightful, and Norris is a "stickler who can't resist schtick."

Masha Gessen grew up in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was 14. She returned to Russia to work as a journalist. Her earlier books are about Vladimir Putin and Pussy Riot.

Books
Arts

Tracing The Roots Of 'The Brothers' And The Boston Marathon Bombing

7:32am April 08, 2015

As jurors deliberate whether to convict Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Masha Gessen says there are still some "gaping holes" in the case. Her new book is The Brothers.

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Bill Nighy is starring a revival of David Hare's 1995 drama Skylight. "I adore it. It's probably my favorite play," he says.

Arts

Bill Nighy And David Hare Team Up Again In 'Skylight' Revival

7:54pm April 07, 2015

by Jeff Lunden

"Our paths haven't crossed — we've beaten a path towards each other," says playwright David Hare. "Bill is my favorite leading man." Nighy is now starring in a revival of Hare's Skylight on Broadway.

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Voltaggio sprinkles sugar on granola pancakes, a dish from his new cookbook, Home.

Books
Arts

Busy Chef Strives For Balanced Mix Of Home Life, Culinary Ambitions

6:24pm April 07, 2015

by NPR Staff

Restaurant owner and Top Chef finalist Bryan Voltaggio tries to find the right recipe for blending work, family duties and the pressures of being on the road.

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A worker stacks matzo wafers at Streit's matzo factory on the Lower East Side of New York in 2012.

How The Matzo Crumbles: Iconic Streit's Factory To Leave Manhattan

3:47pm April 07, 2015

by Joel Rose

It's the end of an era: After nearly a century, the Streit's matzo factory is leaving Manhattan's Lower East Side. This Passover will be its last there. Streit's plans to move to a new factory.

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Maria Altmann fought her way to the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Austrian government to give back this painting by Gustav Klimt of her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer.

After Nazi Plunder, A Quest To Bring Home The 'Woman In Gold'

3:43pm April 07, 2015

by Nina Totenberg

A new movie tells the true story of Maria Altmann, who fought her way to the U.S. Supreme Court to force the Austrian government to return a painting of her aunt.

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Remembering Phyllis Klotman, Who Amassed An Amazing Collection Of Black Cinema

3:17pm April 07, 2015

by Rigoberto Hernandez

The archivist made it her life's work to find and preserve black films. She found more than 3,000 films that might otherwise have disappeared.