Author Interviews

Books
Arts

'Dietland': A 'Fight Club' For Women That Reclaims The Word 'Fat'

9:48pm May 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

Sarai Walker's new novel centers on Alicia "Plum" Kettle, a 20-something writer who's saving up for weight loss surgery when she joins an underground feminist collective.

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Books
Arts

'Mislaid' Punctures Notions Of Gender And Race

9:48pm May 23, 2015

In Nell Zink's new book, Mislaid, a young woman marries her male professor. It's 1965. She likes women; he likes men. What follows is a biting satire about gender, race and sexuality.

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Books
Arts

What If The Drought Doesn't End? 'The Water Knife' Is One Possibility

9:48pm May 23, 2015

by NPR Staff

It's Chinatown meets Mad Max in writer Paolo Bacigalupi's new desert dystopia, filled with climate refugees, powerful state border patrols, and secret agents called water knives.

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Books
Arts

How 'Gatsby' Went From A Moldering Flop To A Great American Novel

4:20pm May 22, 2015

In So We Read On, Maureen Corrigan looks at the story behind The Great Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald's life to the era in which it's set. Originally broadcast Sept. 8, 2014.

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How Heroin Made Its Way From Rural Mexico To Small-Town America

5:58am May 22, 2015

by NPR Staff

With pizza delivery as a model, Mexican cartels revolutionized the heroin trade, making it easily available in smaller U.S. communities. Journalist Sam Quinones has the story in his new book.

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Books
Arts

In 'Out Of Line,' The Many, Many Acts Of Jules Feiffer

7:22pm May 19, 2015

by NPR Staff

At 86, Jules Feiffer has drawn comic strips, written books and plays, and is now experimenting with graphic novels. A new compilation, Out of Line, takes an extensive look at his many careers.

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Cherokee chief John Ross battled the U.S. government for decades on behalf of his people.

Books
Arts

Cherokee Chief John Ross Is The Unsung Hero Of 'Jacksonland'

12:23pm May 19, 2015

by NPR Staff

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep's new book examines a dark chapter in American history: the Cherokee Trail of Tears and the chief who used the tools of democracy to try to protect his people.

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Books
Arts

'The Gracekeepers' Sets Damplings Against The Landlockers

9:18pm May 18, 2015

The world of The Gracekeepers has two types of people — those of the land and those of the sea. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Kirsty Logan about her novel, set in a future enveloped by water.

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Books
Arts

Call It A Prose Ceremony: 'Bachelor' Host Writes A Novel

11:12am May 18, 2015

by NPR Staff

Chris Harrison's new book is an amusing romance novel — and a ripe excuse for us to ask some lingering questions about the reality show juggernaut that's made him famous.

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'Pope And Mussolini' Tells The 'Secret History' Of Fascism And The Church

9:49pm May 14, 2015

Historian David Kertzer says the Catholic Church lent strength and legitimacy to Mussolini's fascist regime. Kertzer recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his book. Originally broadcast Jan. 25, 2014.

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