Author Interviews

Cary Elwes stars as Westley, a farm boy who falls in love with Buttercup (Robin Wright), in 1987's The Princess Bride.

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Arts

'As You Wish': Take A Peek At The Making Of 'The Princess Bride'

1:46pm October 13, 2014

by NPR Staff

Actor Cary Elwes, best known for his dashing performance as the heroic farm boy Westley in The Princess Bride, has a new book out, full of memories from the cast of the cult classic.

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Neil Young Writes Of His Love Affair With Cars

1:14pm October 12, 2014

Neil Young loves his cars so much he wrote a second memoir, Special Deluxe, devoted to them. He speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about music, the environment and, of course, automobiles.

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Book Offers A Get-Wit-Quick Workout

1:14pm October 12, 2014

NPR's Ari Shapiro gets schooled in the art of being interesting by Benjamin Errett, the author of the new book, Elements of Wit.

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TV Giant Norman Lear Shares Gems From 92 Years Of 'Experience'

8:35am October 12, 2014

by NPR Staff

Where did Lear get the confidence to spend three years fighting to get All In The Family on air? His answer: "Can you say 'beats the **** out of me' on NPR?"

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'Schiaparelli': The Shocking, Shadowed Life Of A Fashion Icon

2:20pm October 11, 2014

by Jacki Lyden

A new biography by Meryle Secrest looks at the troubled life of designer Elsa Schiaparelli — renowned as the Queen of Fashion, a glamorous innovator whose career never recovered from World War II.

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Actor Alan Cumming Is Not His 'Father's Son'

2:20pm October 11, 2014

In a terrible way, Alan Cumming's childhood taught him how to act. He learned how to read a room and to avoid his father's wrath. He talks with NPR's Scott Simon about his new memoir.

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'Bad Paper' Explores The Underworld Of Debt Collection

11:47am October 11, 2014

In his new book, Jake Halpern looks at the industry, where having a criminal background is no barrier to entry. He explains debt buying and how little regulation gave rise to a chaotic marketplace.

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Books

Berlin Wears The Scars Of Its Past All Over

10:01pm October 10, 2014

Peter Schneider, author of the new book, "Berlin Now," tells Robert Siegel it will take another generation to unify in spirit what was divided by east and west for so long.

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'You Can't Be This Furry' And Other Life Lessons From Gary Shteyngart

2:06pm October 10, 2014

In Little Failure, the novelist recounts his emigration from the USSR to the U.S. when he was 7. For the first few years, he says, he would sit alone in the cafeteria, talking to himself in Russian.

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Caitlin Doughty is the founder of The Order of the Good Death, a group of funeral industry professionals, academics and artists who focus on the rituals families perform with their dead.

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Arts

A Mortician Talks Openly About Death, And Wants You To, Too

4:58pm October 09, 2014

"You're never going to be completely comfortable with it," says mortician and author Caitlin Doughty. "But it's an important process." Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is her new memoir.

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