Arts & Life

Books
Arts

The 1970s, Warts (And More Warts) In 'Inner City Romance'

7:03am February 25, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

Underground cartoonist Guy Colwell's dyspeptic chronicle of the 1970s captures a decade when idealism was out of style. Reviewer Etelka Lehoczky says Colwell's style is uneven but at times beautiful.

Philip Connors' first book Fire Season was about how he spent a few months every year for eight years as a fire lookout, living in a cabin and scanning the horizon with binoculars atop a 45-foot tower in a remote region of New Mexico.

Books
Arts

After His Brother's Suicide, Writer Seeks Comfort In 'All The Wrong Places'

8:35pm February 24, 2015

In his new memoir, Philip Connors writes about "living in the shadow of a suicide." Wracked by guilt and haunted by what-ifs, Connors investigated his brother's death and learned a terrible secret.

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Arts

Amid Declining Ratings, Cable Networks Speed Up Reruns To Make Room For Ads

7:16pm February 24, 2015

If you've been noticing that cable reruns of your favorite sitcom sound a little strange, you might be on to something. We'll look at the trend of compressing shows to make room for, of course, more commercials.

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Writer Edwidge Danticat at around 10 years-old with her brother Bob and cousin Nick in Haiti. She joined her parents in the U.S. a couple of years later. She describes it as a tough landing.

Becoming American: Immigrants Tweet Their Stories

4:51pm February 24, 2015

by Michel Martin

Entrepreneurs and engineers, performers and professors are among those who are sharing their stories about becoming American on Twitter.

Books
Arts

Family Secrets — And Mango Chutney — In 'Don't Let Him Know'

2:56pm February 24, 2015

by NPR Staff

Longtime Morning Edition commentator Sandip Roy has written a new novel, propelled by family secrets, which crisscrosses back and forth between the two "Cals" in his life: California and Calcutta.

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Michael Kitchen stars as Foyle, a widowed police superintendent in the coastal city of Hastings in England. His sidekick is his driver, Samantha Stewart, a vicar's daughter played by Honeysuckle Weeks.

Arts

Fair Warning: Watch One 'Foyle's War' Episode, And You'll Want To Watch Them All

2:41pm February 24, 2015

by John Powers

The British series is set during and after World War II. Detective Foyle tackles crimes connected to the war — murder and spying, black markets and profiteering. It's "terrifically entertaining."

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Nelson Rockefeller examines a painting at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 1939. Rockefeller was 23 when he hired Diego Rivera to paint a mural in the newly built Rockefeller Center.

Arts

Daughters Back An Artful End To The Rivera-Rockefeller Rivalry Story

7:48am February 24, 2015

by Carrie Kahn

Capitalist Nelson Rockefeller and painter Diego Rivera clashed over a political mural in the 1930s. Now their daughters have teamed up to preserve both their fathers' legacies and the art they loved.

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Books
Arts

'Lucky Alan' Thumbs Its Nose At Convention

7:03am February 24, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Jonathan Lethem's darkly comic sensibilities are on full display in his slim new story collection, Lucky Alan. Reviewer Michael Schaub says it isn't Lethem's best — but it's still a solid read.

Books
Arts

Struggling Writer's Debut Novel Gets Coveted Oprah Winfrey Nod

7:53pm February 23, 2015

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Oprah Winfrey has named Ruby, a novel about a beautiful, abused woman in Texas, as her March book club selection. That could make first-time novelist Cynthia Bond into a literary star.

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Michael Keaton is up for an Academy Award for his performance in Birdman. The movie's original score, despite receiving critical acclaim, was declared ineligible for Oscar consideration.

In Oscar Nominations For Best Score, Some Hear Sour Notes

6:46pm February 23, 2015

by Joel Rose

The distinctive music in the movie Birdman will not win an Oscar — in fact, it wasn't even nominated. Like other acclaimed film scores from years past, it didn't comply with academy rules.

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