Books

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Arts

'Little Constructions' Burns With Unstoppable Rage

7:00am February 22, 2020

by Michael Schaub

Anna Burns gained fame in 2018 when her third novel, Milkman, won the Man Booker Prize. Little Constructions is her second novel, about a woman's vendetta against her violent, abusive brother-in-law.

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Arts

Daughter Of A Numbers Runner Witnessed An Underground Economy In Action

1:14pm February 21, 2020

by Terry Gross

Growing up, Bridgett M. Davis' mother booked and banked bets from their home in Detroit. She writes the role of "the numbers" in the black community in her memoir. Originally broadcast Feb. 4, 2019.

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Jake the Fake Keeps It Real, by Adam Mansbach, Craig Robinson and Keith Knight

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Arts

Not Too Rude, Not Too Tame, 'Jake The Fake' Is A Just-Right Read

7:00am February 21, 2020

by Juanita Giles

Our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles says she was at her wits' end trying to find a funny (but not mean-funny) book for her son, a budding humorist. Jake the Fake Keeps It Real was just the thing.

"Spice pet" Jared Miller, photographed on Skid Row in Los Angeles.

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Human Connections Light Up 'This Brilliant Darkness'

8:05pm February 20, 2020

by Ari Shapiro

Journalist Jeff Sharlet's new book is a memoir told through images and stories of other people; it grew out of a series of Instagram posts about night shift workers he met and photographed.

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The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, by Erik Larson

Churchill's First Year As Prime Minister Is Electric In 'The Splendid And The Vile'

2:46pm February 20, 2020

by Michael Schaub

One of America's best storytellers does it again: Erik Larson's gripping account of Winston Churchill's leadership through Hitler's bombing campaign against England is nearly impossible to put down.

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Exclusive 1st Read: Erik Larson's 'The Splendid And The Vile'

12:26pm February 20, 2020

by Meghan Collins Sullivan

The bestselling author of Dead Wake turns his attention to the first year of Winston Churchill's prime ministership, at a moment when Adolf Hitler overtakes France — and England could be next.

Books

The 'American Sherlock' Was A Pioneer Of Forensic Science

4:11pm February 19, 2020

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Kate Winkler Dawson, author of American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI. It's about Edward Oscar Heinrich, an early, great forensic scientist.

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Deutsche Bank was willing to work with Donald Trump when others would not. In his book, David Enrich details Deutsche Bank's quest to become the world's largest bank — and how its corporate culture led to countless scandals.

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'Dark Towers' Exposes Chaos And Corruption At The Bank That Holds Trump's Secrets

1:59pm February 19, 2020

by Dave Davies

New York Times financial editor David Enrich details, in a new book, Deutsche Bank's quest to become the world's largest bank — and how its corporate culture led to countless scandals.

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Just five books have been named finalists for the 2020 Aspen Words Literary Prize: Patsy, by Nicole Dennis-Benn; Lost Children Archive, by Valeria Luiselli; Lot, by Bryan Washington; Opioid, Indiana, by Brian Allen Carr; and The Beekeeper of Aleppo, by Ch

Books
Arts

5 Finalists Still Have A Chance At Aspen Words Literary Prize

11:21am February 19, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

The annual award, doled out in partnership with NPR, honors fiction that doesn't shy from grappling with thorny social issues. Just one of the five books remaining will win $35,000 come April.

Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning, by Philip Kennicott

In 'Counterpoint' Bach Helps An Art Critic Mourn A Mother Whose Criticism Lingers

10:38am February 19, 2020

by Martha Anne Toll

The Washington Post's Philip Kennicott suffered his mother's harsh words and actions throughout childhood. His book is partly a need to acknowledge her "sadness and anger and unaccountable rages."