Author Interviews

Books
Arts

Humans On Display In 'Hall Of Small Mammals'

10:12am January 08, 2015

Author Thomas Pierce has a new book of animal-centered short stories, Hall of Small Mammals. He talks with NPR's Rachel Martin about his book, which toes a line between the bizarre and the mundane.

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Prince celebrates his birthday and the release of Purple Rain at 1st Avenue in Minneapolis.

All Possibilities: The 'Purple Rain' Story

7:19pm January 06, 2015

by NPR Staff

Though revered now, Prince's iconic 1984 film and album succeeded against daunting odds. Music critic and journalist Alan Light provides the details in his new book, Let's Go Crazy.

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George Pelecanos is a crime novelist who was a writer and producer for the HBO series The Wire and Treme.

Books
Arts

D.C. Author George Pelecanos Writes What He Knows In 'The Martini Shot'

3:46pm January 06, 2015

In his new collection of short stories and a novella, Pelecanos explores crime, adoption and writing from an African-American point of view. He says he's "aware of the responsibility" to get it right.

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Books
Arts

How Tinseltown Got Tipsy: A Boozy Taste Of Hollywood History

4:59pm January 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

Mark Bailey, who detailed old Hollywood's legendary love affair with liquor in his book Of All the Gin Joints, shares stories from a bygone era over cocktails at a legendary Hollywood bar.

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John Cleese got his first big break in London's West End and as a script writer and performer on The Frost Report.

Books
Arts

'Comedy Is Extraordinarily Difficult': John Cleese On Being Funny

4:48pm January 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

John Cleese of Monty Python fame has written a memoir, So, Anyway ... , which brings him from boyhood in a quiet British town called Weston to the footlights of London and screens all over the world.

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Books
Arts

In 'God Loves Haiti,' Clutching Memories When The Earth Moves

12:20pm January 04, 2015

In his debut novel, Haitian expat Dimitry Elias Legér uses the 2010 earthquake in Haiti as a backdrop to a love triangle. Leger tells NPR's Rachel Martin why he titled his new book God Loves Haiti.

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Books
Arts

These 'Almost Famous Women' Won't Be Forgotten Again

12:07pm January 03, 2015

by NPR Staff

Megan Mayhew Bergman's new story collection focuses on the colorful tales of independent real-life, risk-taking women who've faded from the spotlight (or never cared for it in the first place).

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Books
Arts

In 'Citizen,' Poet Strips Bare The Realities Of Everyday Racism

11:59am January 03, 2015

by NPR Staff

For her latest collection, Claudia Rankine mined her and her friends' encounters with racism. She says she wanted to talk about "what happens when we fail each other as people."

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Books

For Working Moms, Key To Balance May Lie In Elusive Leisure Time

4:12pm January 02, 2015

If waiting for help when your car breaks down doesn't strike you as a leisurely activity, it may be time to reconsider. A new book looks at time management challenges of being a working parent.

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What's It Like To Be Neil Patrick Harris? He Gives You Options

1:31pm January 01, 2015

The actor says he's been able to do a lot of different things in his life. So when he sat down to write a memoir, he made it a "Choose Your Own Adventure." Originally broadcast October 13.

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