The Poetic Intimacy Of Administering Anesthesia
An anesthesiologist and poet says her medical work is well-suited to poetry, as patients move in and out of consciousness under the doctor's watch.
Author Interviews
Literature And Social Media Collide In 'Sympathy'
Sympathy, the debut novel by Olivia Sudjic, could be about falling in love in the digital age. Or it could be about falling down a digital rabbit hole. Linda Wertheimer asks Sudjic about her book.
Filmmaker John Waters On How To 'Make Trouble'
NPR's Linda Wertheimer speaks with filmmaker John Waters about his new book. Make Trouble is based on Waters' commencement address to the Rhode Island School of Design.
Fitzgerald Didn't Satisfy This Author, So She Wrote Her Own 'Gatsby'-Inspired Novel
Stephanie Powell Watts' No One Is Coming to Save Us isn't quite a retelling of The Great Gatsby; instead, it uses similar themes to tell a story about black characters in a declining furniture town.
How Can The Colorado River Continue To Support 36 Million People In 7 States?
New Yorker staff writer David Owen says that convoluted legal agreements and a patchwork of infrastructure determine how water from the Colorado is allocated. His new book is Where The Water Goes.
File This Under Nostalgia: New Book Pays Tribute To The Library Card Catalog
Today, people use the antique wooden cabinets to store their knick-knacks. But these card catalogs once held the keys to a world of information. A new Library of Congress book explores their history.
'The Souls Of China' Documents Country's Dramatic Return To Religion
When the author Ian Johnson first visited China in 1984, he says religious life appeared to be dead. Today, he says China is experiencing a dramatic return to religion, and he documents this in a new book called The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao.
Nearly 40 Years Later, Jonestown Offers A Lesson In Demagoguery
In 1978, more than 900 followers of the Rev. Jim Jones committed mass suicide in Guyana. In his new book, The Road to Jonestown, journalist Jeff Guinn details how Jones captivated so many.
Oaky, With Notes Of BS: Why Wine Tasting Struggles To Get It On The Nose
Unlike food — which gives us sensory cues like crunchy and hot, as well as tasting, say, salty — with wine, it's all about tiny differences in taste and smell. The danger is in getting too poetic.
Prince Contained Multitudes, New Book Confirms
Prince on defining his music: "The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational."