Books

In her new book, Caste, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson examines the laws and practices that created what she describes as a bipolar, Black and white caste system in the United States. Above, a sign in Jackson, Miss., in May 1961.

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It's More Than Racism: Isabel Wilkerson Explains America's 'Caste' System

4:14pm August 04, 2020

by Terry Gross

In Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines the laws and practices that created a bipolar caste system in the U.S. — and how the Nazis borrowed from it.

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'Luster' Combines Nicely Tailored Prose With A Stinging Sense Of Humor

2:28pm August 04, 2020

by John Powers

Raven Leilani's novel centers on a young woman with a free-range libido who dreams of being a painter. Luster is a crackling debut about sex, art and the inescapable workings of race.

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'Every Bone' Speaks In This Painful, Beautiful Debut Novel

10:00am August 04, 2020

by Fran Wilde

Ashley Blooms' novel follows ten-year-old Misty, who can speak to everything around her — even the mice in the walls answer back. But she doesn't have words for what her friend has done to her.

The Death of Vivek Oji — promo composite

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Love Triumphs Over Death In 'The Death Of Vivek Oji'

7:00am August 04, 2020

by Lily Meyer

Akwaeke Emezi's new novel begins with a death; it adopts the form — but not the spirit — of traditional crime fiction, glorying in some of the genre's conventions while slyly subverting them.

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'Vivek Oji' Is Very Much Alive In This Boundary-Breaking New Novel

6:07pm August 03, 2020

by Ari Shapiro

You know what's going to happen in Akwaeke Emezi's new book — it's right there in the title: The Death of Vivek Oji. But this novel about a death is full of gender-bending, boundary crossing life.

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'Ghosting The News' Author Says Local Journalism 'Freefall' Is Accelerating

2:04pm August 03, 2020

by Dave Davies

More than 2,000 newspapers have shut down in recent years, and some regions have become news deserts. Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan says the collapse of local news undermines democracy.

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Giorno Worked 25 Years On His Memoir. It's Being Released Posthumously

7:04am August 03, 2020

by Tom Vitale

Performance poet John Giorno helped make poetry popular by circumventing the regular channels of publishing by using such projects as Dial-A-Poem. He died last fall, and his memoir is out Tuesday.

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I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, by Laura Van Den Berg

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This 'Wolf' Will Bite You — And You'll Like It

7:00am August 03, 2020

by Gabino Iglesias

Laura Van Den Berg's new collection is full of uncanny, exquisite, and painful stories about death, about loss and isolation and falling for the wrong person. Her writing will get under your skin.

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In 'Life Of A Klansman,' Edward Ball Traces A Difficult Family History

8:03am August 02, 2020

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with author Edward Ball about his new book, Life of a Klansman, revolving around a man his family called "our Klansman."

Books

Author Morgan Jerkins Reconnects With Her Southern African-American Roots In New Book

8:00am August 01, 2020

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks to Morgan Jerkins about her new book. Wandering In Strange Lands, where she travels to the South to understand the roots of her African-American culture.

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