Books

Books

'Empire Of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty' Profiles Pharma Family

5:18pm April 13, 2021

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Patrick Radden Keefe about his book Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty. The book profiles the family that founded oxycontin maker Purdue Pharma.

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Henry Louis Gates Jr. On 'The Black Church' And His Own Bargain With Jesus

1:44pm April 13, 2021

by Terry Gross

When he was 12, Gates made a bargain with Jesus in an attempt to save his mother's life. He talks about how that altered his own life, and his new book and PBS series, The Black Church.

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The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, by Dawnie Walton

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Arts

'The Final Revival Of Opal & Nev' Is A Faux Music History That Rocks

11:39am April 13, 2021

by Maureen Corrigan

Dawnie Walton's sly narrative is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades, centering on an interracial rock duo who strike it big in the early '70s.

The Souvenir Museum, by Elizabeth McCracken

Books
Arts

'The Souvenir Museum' Is An Exhibit To Savor

7:00am April 13, 2021

by Heller McAlpin

Elizabeth McCracken's new story collection dazzles with verbal flexibility, insight and feeling, capturing the oddities and mixed bags, the loves and losses that make up most people's lives.

I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust: A Memoir of Autism and Hope, by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin.

Books
Arts

Mother-Daughter Memoir Of Autism Exemplifies The Power Of Language

4:33am April 13, 2021

by Jason Heller

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust is a chronicle of not only finding one's voice, but of learning to make others understand that voice.

John Boehner, pictured in 2016, was speaker of the House during the Obama presidency. He says he sometimes went along with things he personally opposed because it was what members of his party wanted.

John Boehner On The 'Noisemakers' Of The Republican Party

9:44am April 12, 2021

Boehner was the Republican speaker of the House during much of the Obama presidency. His new memoir recounts his time leading House Republicans — even if that meant doing things he personally opposed.

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Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz includes a child's account of crossing the Rio Grande. (Excerpted from Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz. Foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek; Compiled by Warren Binford; Workman Publishing. Copyright 2021.)

A Picture Book About Children At The Border Aims To Spark Family Conversations

7:00am April 12, 2021

by Anya Kamenetz

The new children's book Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz pulls from the author's interviews with migrant children detained in U.S. facilities in 2019.

In Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice, 1967-1975, Thompson looks back on difficult memories that turned into familiar songs.

In 'Beeswing,' Richard Thompson Revisits A Big Life Just Shy Of The Mainstream

8:34am April 11, 2021

by Peter Breslow

Richard Thompson, a British musician who somehow avoided pop stardom throughout his career, has just written about his early days in a new memoir called Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice.

Books

Gold Diggers' Is A Magical Look At What It Means To Be Indian-American

8:00am April 11, 2021

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with author Sanjena Sathian about her new book, Gold Diggers, that explores Indian-American identity in a fictional suburb of Atlanta.

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Second First Impressions, by Sally Thorne

Books
Arts

For April, 3 Tales Of Love, Luck, And Happy Ever After

7:00am April 11, 2021

by Maya Rodale

This month, our romance columnist Maya Rodale has three down-on-their-luck heroines whose fortunes change dramatically, via a dreamy bad boy, a surprise inheritance, and a revelation about the past.