Books

Books

Critics Oppose Penguin Random House Acquiring Simon & Schuster

6:13am November 30, 2020

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to literary agent Laura Zats about ViacomCBS' decision to sell its publishing arm Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House in a $2 billion deal.

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At Night All Blood is Black, by David Diop

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Arts

For Fall's Dark Days, 3 Tales In Translation To Match The Mood

10:33am November 29, 2020

by Lily Meyer

Sometimes, when the days are getting shorter and the world seems like it's getting darker, a melancholy read seems like just the thing — so here are three fittingly dark novels in translation.

Misty Copeland based the characters in Bunheads on the ballet friends she grew up with.

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Arts

Misty Copeland Celebrates Ballet's Beautiful Friendships In 'Bunheads'

7:55am November 29, 2020

by Samantha Balaban

Copeland hopes her book will help young dancers feel comfortable in the studio and on the stage. She says illustrator Setor Fiadzigbey channeled "superhero energy" into dancers leaping off the page.

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I Talk Like a River, by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith

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Finding A Voice And Coming To Terms With A Stutter In 'I Talk Like A River'

8:54pm November 28, 2020

by Juanita Giles

Jordan Scott is a poet, a master of words, and a stutterer. His new kids' book, gorgeously illustrated by Sydney Smith, chronicles his childhood journey towards coming to terms with his stutter.

Books

Homeira Qaderi Reflects On Motherhood In Her New Memoir

8:00am November 28, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Homeira Qaderi about her memoir Dancing in the Mosque: An Afghan Mother's Letter to Her Son, the story motherhood and womanhood in her native country.

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Books

'Perestroika In Paris' Is An Anthropomorphic Tale Of Friendship

8:00am November 28, 2020

NPR's Scott Simon talks with author Jane Smiley, about her newest novel, Perestroika in Paris.

Books

In His New Book, Declan Walsh Tells Story Of Pakistan Through Lives Of 9 Individuals

3:59pm November 26, 2020

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with journalist Declan Walsh about his new book, The Nine Lives of Pakistan, and how Pakistan has survived decades of political and military crises.

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Books

Malcolm X Biography Wins National Book Award

7:14am November 26, 2020

Tamara Payne won the National Book Award for a book largely written by her father, Les Payne. It's called The Dead Are Arising, a biography of Malcolm X. Payne speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep.

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James Beard Award-winning chef David Chang says fatherhood changed the way he cooks: "I had never been in a position where I'm trying to generally feed someone else with love and I just want to nurture them."

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Chef David Chang On Depression, Being A Dad And The Burden Of 'Authenticity'

5:37pm November 25, 2020

by Terry Gross

The Momofuku chef says COVID-19 has introduced "seismic" changes to his industry. "We're doing anything and everything to stay afloat," he says. Chang's new memoir is Eat a Peach.

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Ghostways: Two Journeys in Unquiet Places, by Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood (illustrator) and Dan Richards

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Arts

In 'Ghostways,' A Trip To Two Well-Traveled Places Reminds Of Things That Are Lost

2:04pm November 25, 2020

by Genevieve Valentine

Ghostways is an examination of grief as a landscape that moves on without us — and the fragility of the green world we're longing to go back to post-pandemic.