Author Interviews

Arts

Kirkus Changes Review After 'American Heart' Draws Outrage As 'White Savior Narrative'

8:28am October 21, 2017

by Lynn Neary

Young adult novel American Heart has been at the center of a storm on Twitter and the recommendation engine Goodreads. Kirkus Reviews had originally given the book a star, but after a controversy, removed it.

Author Philip Pullman — pictured at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, England — is resurrecting his famed fantasy world for a new trilogy.

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Arts

Philip Pullman Returns To The Dark Materials Universe In A New Prequel — Er, 'Equel'

8:12am October 21, 2017

by Scott Simon

The fantasy world of the author's His Dark Materials series is back in The Book Of Dust: La Belle Sauvage. It's the first entry in a new trilogy.

Blitt's 2008 New Yorker cover, "Fistbump: The Politics of Fear," was inspired by the rumors that circulated about the Obamas during that year's presidential campaign.

'I'm Just Trying To Make Myself Laugh': 'New Yorker' Artist Shares His Cover Stories

4:49pm October 20, 2017

by Mary Louise Kelly

Barry Blitt's new book features some of the cartoonist's most memorable and merciless work, including his 2008 drawing of Barack and Michelle Obama fist-bumping in the Oval Office.

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Arts

Anthony Bourdain On 'Appetites,' Washing Dishes And The Food He Still Won't Eat

1:28pm October 20, 2017

The TV host's new documentary is Wasted! The Story of Food Waste. In 2016, Bourdain spoke to Fresh Air about cooking for his young daughter: "If she's not happy, I'm not happy."

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Gabrielle Union says she thinks it's tacky to tell on your costars — but she tells many revealing stories about herself in We're Going to Need More Wine.

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Gabrielle Union Gets Real In 'We're Going To Need More Wine'

6:29am October 20, 2017

by Mandalit del Barco

Union has graced screens big and small since the '90s. Now she's written a frank, funny essay collection that's not just a celebrity tell-all (though she does dish on Heath Ledger's dreaminess).

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New Book Argues A Theory In Policing Is To Blame For Eric Garner's Death

4:17pm October 19, 2017

Eric Garner was killed by the police in New York City in 2014. His final words were, "I can't breathe." A book by journalist Matt Taibbi argues that "Broken Windows" is to blame for Garner's death.

The teen protagonist in John Green's latest novel, Turtles All The Way Down, has a type of anxiety disorder that sends her into fearful "thought spirals" of bacterial infection and death.

For Novelist John Green, OCD Is Like An 'Invasive Weed' Inside His Mind

2:47pm October 19, 2017

by Terry Gross

"It starts out with one little thought, and then slowly that becomes the only thought that you're able to have," Green says. His new novel, Turtles All The Way Down, is about a teenage girl with OCD.

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Author Philip Pullman poses with his new book at Oxford's Bodleian Libraries — where he has been known to do research.

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Arts

Philip Pullman's Realm Of Poetry And Inspiration

10:19am October 19, 2017

by Annalisa Quinn

Pullman — author of the beloved His Dark Materials trilogy — says poet William Blake's idea of mystical multiple vision, of different ways of seeing, is "absolutely central" to his new book.

Books

Night + Market Chef's New Cookbook Combines Thai Food And Fun

7:50am October 19, 2017

David Greene talks to chef Kris Yenbamroong about his new cookbook. It's titled: Night Market: Delicious Thai Food to Facilitate Drinking and Fun-Having Amongst Friends.

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Actor Tom Hanks attends the premier of Larry Crowne at the Westfield Shopping Centre in London.

Books

Tom Hanks Considers The Cosmos, Nora Ephron, And A Man Dressed As A Shrimp

6:01am October 19, 2017

by Linda Holmes

Tom Hanks has written a short story collection called Uncommon Type. Here, he talks about stories, characters, the film goddess Pelicula, and what happened to the suit he wore as David S. Pumpkins.