Author Interviews

Books
Arts

Beyond 'Aunt Jemima': A Taste Of African-American Culinary Heritage

5:06pm October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

History has largely forgotten the lives and thoughts of the black chefs who helped define American cooking. But there's a tantalizing glimpse in food writer Toni Tipton-Martin's cookbook collection.

Books
Arts

The Real Magic Of This Big 'City' — And The New Voice Behind It

11:16am October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

Before City on Fire's release, Garth Risk Hallberg's debut novel was best known for the big advance it earned. But that paycheck is dwarfed by the book itself: a vast love letter to mid-'70s New York.

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Frederick Forsyth's new memoir chronicles his real-life adventures as a fighter pilot, foreign correspondent and author.

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Arts

Frederick Forsyth, Thrilling In Real Life

8:12am October 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

The author of classic thrillers like The Day of the Jackal has just written a memoir, The Outsider, that proves his life as a foreign correspondent-turned-writer is almost as exciting as his fiction.

Books
Arts

'Pop Sonnets' Finds Hidden Shakespeare In Top 40 Tunes

7:03am October 17, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

Originally a popular Tumblr, Pop Sonnets makes iambic hay out of modern artists like Kesha and Eminem. Critic Tasha Robinson explains why Sonnets isn't your average impulse-buy humor book.

Books
Arts

Early On, Comedian John Cleese Says, He Had Good Timing But Little Else

2:47pm October 16, 2015

The co-founder of the Monty Python troupe admits he wasn't "naturally gifted" at physical comedy. His memoir, So, Anyway..., covers his boyhood and early career. Originally broadcast Dec. 16, 2014.

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Books
Arts

'The Golden Compass' Turns 20 (Its Daemon Has Probably Settled)

7:33pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy series traces the adventures of brave young Lyra Belacqua (and her daemon, Pantalaimon), through an alternate universe that occasionally spills over into our own.

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Books

Punk Icon Patti Smith Releases Second Memoir, 'M Train'

6:23pm October 15, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Singer Patti Smith's latest book is a poetic, free-flowing memoir. In 2010, her memoir Just Kids — about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe — won a National Book Award.

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The Art of Language, by David J. Peterson.

Books
Arts

Meet The Man Who Invents Languages For A Living

6:22pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

David J. Peterson has crafted languages for TV shows and films — even a whole language for a single giant, in Game of Thrones. For him, every language is a balance of the technical and the artistic.

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Books
Arts

A Mixtape Of Russian History In 'Love And Techno'

6:22pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Anthony Marra's new book, The Tsar of Love and Techno, is a collection of stories playing out over nearly a century of change in Russia. He tells NPR he wants the book to function like a mixtape.

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Books
Arts

Sandra Cisneros Crosses Borders And Boundaries In 'A House Of My Own'

6:22pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

The author's new memoir collects three decades worth of her journeys in search of a sense of home. "I guess I didn't realize I was gonna be crossing borders my whole life," she says.

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