Author Interviews

Historical fiction 'The Fraud' is about a man's testimony of outrageous, obvious lies

4:58pm September 06, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author Zadie Smith about her first work of historical fiction The Fraud, about the trial of a man who says one provably false thing after another.

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Arts

Comic Maria Bamford is down to 'Join Your Cult'

1:32pm September 06, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Bamford has been part of five different 12-step programs, including groups for overeaters and sex and love addicts. In her new memoir, she jokes about anxiety, depression and the desire to fit in.

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"History is something we participate in together," says author Zadie Smith. "We are all involved in history, and all have something to gain from understanding what happened – exactly what happened." Her new novel, The Fraud, is based on real events.

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In 'The Fraud,' Zadie Smith seeks to 'do absolute justice to the truth'

3:18pm September 05, 2023

by Terry Gross

The historical fiction novel centers on a real-life Victorian Era trial. Smith says she doesn't look back on the past with a sense of superiority: In her view, human life is "a continued struggle."

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Black women recorded famous rock 'n' rolls songs but few remember their names

11:13am September 05, 2023

NPR's Daniel Estrin talks to Emily Sieu Liebowitz and Laura Flam, the authors of But Will You Love Me Tomorrow. It's a collection of interviews of more than 100 members of girl groups in the 1960s.

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Books

How the NBA became home of trendsetters in fashion

8:04am September 03, 2023

by Ayesha Rascoe

How did the NBA become home of so much style, and so many hot looks? NPR's Ayesha Rascoe talks with Mitchell Jackson about "Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion."

An interior spread from Our Pool shows swimmers floating in a turquoise blue pool from above.

Books
Arts

Before summer ends, let's squeeze in one last trip to 'Our Pool'

8:04am September 03, 2023

by Rose Friedman

Our Pool is a joyful, colorful, picture book ode to the neighborhood pool — the lockers, the sunscreen, the cannonballs. Author Lucy Ruth Cummins was inspired by trips to the local pool with her son.

Books

Ariel Dorfman on his novel 'The Suicide Museum'

8:01am September 02, 2023

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to author Ariel Dorfman about his latest novel, "The Suicide Museum." The book takes a fictional look into the very real death of Chilean president Salvador Allende in 1973.

'Yellowface' explores cultural appropriation in publishing via an unlikeable narrator

7:25pm September 01, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author R.F. Kuang on her novel Yellowface and why she wanted to write a book about cultural appropriation in the publishing world.

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The novel 'Between Two Moons' is Aisha Abdel Gawad's 'love letter' to Arab Americans

7:24pm September 01, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with novelist Aisha Abdel Gawad about her new novel Between Two Moons. It's a coming of age story about teenage twins in Brooklyn and takes place during one month of Ramadan.

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Novel 'The Covenant of Water' tells of a family in India haunted by a medical mystery

6:58pm August 31, 2023

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with the author Abraham Verghese about his new novel The Covenant of Water in which a family in India is haunted by a medical mystery.

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