Author Interviews

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., still has all 82 of the William Shakespeare first folios Henry Folger collected.

Books
Arts

A Fortune In Folios: One Man's Hunt For Shakespeare's First Editions

10:37am May 14, 2015

by NPR Staff

Henry Folger once spent nearly a year's salary on a William Shakespeare first folio. In The Millionaire and the Bard, Andrea Mays chronicles his obsession with collecting the playwright's work.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Nimona' Shifts Shape And Takes Names — In Sensible Armor, Of Course

6:56pm May 13, 2015

by NPR Staff

Comics creator Noelle Stevenson has written for Boom! Studios and Marvel's new female Thor. Her webcomic Nimona, about a young shapeshifter with a streak of villainy, has just been released as a book.

Queue Listen Now

Tom Brokaw served as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 until 2004.

Books
Arts

Tom Brokaw Reflects On Cancer, 'Nightly News' And His 'Lucky Life'

4:08pm May 13, 2015

The former NBC anchorman says his multiple myeloma diagnosis two years ago made him "more conscious of the fact that the days are more numbered." His new memoir is A Lucky Life Interrupted.

Queue Listen Now

Photographer Sally Mann drives with her greyhound, Honey, in the early 2000s.

Books
Arts

Making Art Out Of Bodies: Sally Mann Reflects On Life And Photography

4:30pm May 12, 2015

Mann has published pictures that show her young children naked, her husband's muscular dystrophy and dead bodies decomposing. She reflects on her life and work in a new memoir called Hold Still.

Queue Listen Now

Chef, cookbook author and owner of Washington, D.C.'s Restaurant Nora, Nora Pouillon, in the restaurant's garden.

In 'Organic Life,' The Making Of America's First Certified Organic Restaurant

12:56pm May 12, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Nora Pouillon writes about her lifelong devotion to food in a new memoir, My Organic Life. Her restaurant has been a fixture in the Washington, D.C., food scene since 1979.

Queue Listen Now

Jerry Garcia's Advice To Bill Kreutzmann: 'Don't Rush'

8:22am May 12, 2015

by NPR Staff

"You can learn so much from [Jerry Garcia]. Doesn't matter what instrument you play," the Grateful Dead drummer says. He has a new memoir out called Deal.

Queue Listen Now

Astronomer Chris Impey examines the possibilities of the universe in his new book Beyond. "I like the idea that the universe — the boundless possibility of 20 billion habitable worlds — has led to things that we can barely imagine," he says. In the 19

The Great 'Beyond': Contemplating Life, Sex And Elevators In Space

4:53pm May 11, 2015

Astronomer Chris Impey discusses the future of space travel, sex in space and the connection between science and Buddhism. Impey is the author of Beyond: Our Future in Space.

Queue Listen Now

Unlike the comic talent stereotype, cartoonist Matthew Diffee says he had "a wonderful family to grow up with."

Books
Arts

For 'New Yorker' Cartoonist, '90 Percent Rejection Is Doing Great'

3:09pm May 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

It once took Matthew Diffee years of trying — and a push from his mom — to get one beloved cartoon in the magazine. Diffee's new collection is called Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People.

Queue Listen Now

On pages 68-69 from Mark Danielewski's The Familiar, Volume 1, the main character Xanther looks out the window of her father's car during a rainy drive.

Books
Arts

Danielewski Returns With A Long, Sideways Look At 'The Familiar'

6:46am May 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

The author famous for the cult classic House of Leaves is writing a novel about a little girl who finds a kitten. The book is planned to be epic — 27 volumes total. Volume 1 is more than 800 pages.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

In Oklahoma, The Sky Has No 'Mercy'

5:37pm May 10, 2015

by NPR Staff

In Oklahoma, tornadoes are just a fact of life — but sometimes a truly awful one comes along. In The Mercy of the Sky, Holly Bailey chronicles the deadly tornado that struck Moore, Okla., in 2013.

Queue Listen Now