Books

Moscow's Fyodor Dostoevsky Library was renovated in 2013 and now sees some 500 visitors a day, up from just a dozen or so per day in earlier years. The library hosts language clubs, readings, lectures and concerts.

Once Centers Of Soviet Propaganda, Moscow's Libraries Are Having A 'Loud' Revival

7:02am January 21, 2019

by Lucian Kim

"A library can be a loud place," says a city official in charge of Moscow's 400-plus public libraries, which have begun attracting visitors with coffee shops, theater rehearsals and lectures.

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Arts

Carl Reiner, Who Turns 97 Soon, Is Still Working On Projects

6:00am January 21, 2019

by Susan Stamberg

A comedian, writer, actor, director and producer, Carl Reiner was part of the golden days of television. But these days, he's producing a lot of books.

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"It feels like confessing a crime," Tommy Tomlinson says about revealing his weight in his new book, The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America.

He Was 460 Pounds. What Confronting His Weight Taught Him About Obesity In America

6:35pm January 20, 2019

by Emma Bowman

"Losing weight is figuring out something you can live with," says Tommy Tomlinson, author of the new memoir The Elephant in the Room: One Fat Man's Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America.

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Books

'The Gilded Wolves' Is A Rich, High-Speed Heist Tale

10:00am January 20, 2019

by Caitlyn Paxson

Roshani Chokshi's new novel — set in an alternate Belle Époque Paris — features an unlikely team of thieves out to steal a magical artifact with connections to their colonized homelands.

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Arts

'Unmarriageable' Sets 'Pride And Prejudice' In Pakistan

7:01am January 20, 2019

by Ilana Masad

You may not think the world needs another retelling of Jane Austen's classic, but Soniah Kamal's Unmarriageable has an undercurrent of social and political commentary that makes it a worthwhile read.

Books
Arts

There's No Rest For Anyone In 'The Dreamers'

5:29pm January 19, 2019

by Melissa Block

Karen Thompson Walker's new novel imagines a pandemic that puts victims into a deep sleep, giving them strange dreams from which they may not wake up — and panicking those still awake.

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Arts

In 'Holy Lands,' A Tale Of Family Drama And Pig Farming In Israel

7:04am January 19, 2019

by Scott Simon

The epistolary novel from author Amanda Sthers, newly available in English and now adapted into a feature film, is a story of reconciliation (and raising swine among Jews).

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Arts

'Mala Vida' Never Quite Gets Up To Speed

7:00am January 19, 2019

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Marc Fernandez' noir has fascinating elements — a crusading journalist, a trans detective, and the tragic real-life snatching of thousands of babies in Franco-era Spain — but ultimately falls flat.

Books
Arts

Memoirist Retraces Her Journey From Survivalist Childhood To Cambridge Ph.D.

1:24pm January 18, 2019

by Dave Davies

Growing up, Tara Westover had no birth certificate, never saw a doctor and didn't go to school. She writes about her transition into the mainstream in Educated. Originally broadcast Feb. 20, 2018.

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Poet Mary Oliver speaks at the 2010 Women's Conference in California.

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Arts

Beloved Poet Mary Oliver, Who Believed Poetry 'Mustn't Be Fancy,' Dies At 83

4:29pm January 17, 2019

by Lynn Neary

Oliver wasn't always appreciated by critics, but she was still one of the country's most popular poets. In 2012, she told NPR, "Poetry, to be understood, must be clear."

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