Author Interviews

Ann Patchett is also the author of several other novels, including Bel Canto, Run and State of Wonder. She is the co-owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn.

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Ann Patchett Calls 'Commonwealth' Her 'Autobiographical First Novel'

6:51pm September 08, 2016

by NPR Staff

Commonwealth is actually Patchett's seventh novel, but it draws heavily on her own family experience, and she compares it to the classic thinly-veiled autobiography often written by young authors.

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'The Story Of A Brief Marriage' Provides Intimate Look At Sri Lanka's Civil War

4:39pm September 07, 2016

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Anuk Arudpragasam about his debut novel, The Story Of A Brief Marriage, which takes place over the course of a single day at a displaced persons camp during Sri Lanka's civil war.

'Sad And Absurd': The U.S.S.R.'s Disastrous Effort To Create A Jewish Homeland

2:00pm September 07, 2016

Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen discusses the Soviet effort, in 1929, to create an autonomous Jewish state in the country's far eastern region. Gessen is the author of Where The Jews Aren't.

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Jonathan Safran Foer's new novel chronicles the dissolution of a marriage against a backdrop of global crisis.

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'Here I Am' Balances Domestic Strife And Global Crisis

4:35pm September 06, 2016

by NPR Staff

Jonathan Safran Foer is back with a mammoth new novel that explores the dissolution of a marriage, and larger questions: What kind of lives are we living, and how do we respond to the world around us?

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Amor Towles likes to write about the past, but says he is not driven by historical research. He prefers instead to play in between what is real and what is imagined. His first novel was called Rules of Civility.

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Idea For 'Gentleman In Moscow' Came From Many Nights In Luxury Hotels

5:02am September 06, 2016

by Lynn Neary

During the 20 years he worked for an investment firm, Amor Towles spent a lot of time in fancy hotels. His new novel follows a Russian aristocrat sentenced to house arrest at the Metropol in Moscow.

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Our Language Has 'Interesting Little Wrinkles,' Linguist Says

5:40pm September 05, 2016

by NPR Staff

John McWhorter of Columbia University says the way we use words changes, like how "literally" can now mean "figuratively." That example, he says, is a contronym, a word with two opposite meanings.

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In New Memoir, Alberto Gonzales Defends 'War On Terror' Tactics

5:03pm September 04, 2016

In his memoir True Faith and Allegiance, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defends the legacy of the Bush administration ahead of the 15th anniversary of Sept. 11.

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'The Art Of Waiting' Stands As Part Memoir, Part Cultural History Of Infertility

9:00am September 04, 2016

Author Belle Boggs struggled with infertility for years before she conceived her daughter. She talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about her new book.

A writer by profession, Robert Hoge was the first member of his family to go to college.

'Ugly': A Memoir Of Childhood, Deformity And Learning To Love A Distinctive Face

8:49am September 04, 2016

by NPR Staff

Robert Hoge was born with deformed legs and a giant tumor between his eyes. In his new memoir, he describes his mother's shock and how she decided whether or not to bring him home.

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Former Journalist Sabaa Tahir Writes Dystopian Fantasies Inspired By The News

3:38pm September 03, 2016

by Neda Ulaby

Tahir got the idea for her series An Ember in the Ashes in 2007, after she was asked to edit a haunting news story at The Washington Post.

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