Books

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Arts

A Tale Of Two Titles: A Girl, A Train And Thousands Of Confused Readers

1:47pm December 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

It's a psychological thriller, with a female protagonist, set in contemporary London. You've probably heard of it — Girl on a Train. Or is it The Girl on the Train you're looking for?

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The American Political Invention That 'Let The People Rule'

8:29am December 26, 2015

NPR's Linda Wertheimer speaks with Geoffrey Cowan, author of "Let the People Rule," on Teddy Roosevelt's invention of the modern political primary.

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'Our Gang' Chronicles Lives Of African-American Actors In 'The Little Rascals'

4:12pm December 25, 2015

NPR's Robert Siegel talks to author Julia Lee about her book Our Gang: A Racial History of The Little Rascals. She chronicles the story of the African-American actors in the films. They were hailed as heroes of the black community for a time but were later reviled for their roles.

Critic Juan Vidal found this copy of Six Tales of the Jazz Age in a secondhand bookstore.

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Arts

A Diamond As Big As The Fitz: 75 Years Later, F. Scott Fitzgerald Shines On

3:51pm December 21, 2015

by Juan Vidal

The bard of America's Jazz Age died 75 years ago today, but his work is as popular as ever. Critic Juan Vidal remembers discovering Fitzgerald's work in a dusty secondhand bookshop.

Books

'The Comedians' Stand-Up History And Some Laughs

6:01am December 21, 2015

The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy traces what we know now as stand-up comedy. Kliph Nesteroff tells Renee Montagne where the term stand-up comedy came from.

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Arts

Last But Not Least: Books To Give This Season

8:34am December 20, 2015

Weekend Edition's Books Editor Barrie Hardymon tells Rachel Martin what books she should buy for everyone still left on her holiday shopping list.

A trade card from the 1880s depicts a Santa Claus figure in a bird-themed sleigh pulled by reindeer as they are about the land on a rooftop to deliver presents from the huge sack of gifts.

Books

Twain's 'Letter From Santa Claus,' A Gift For All Ages

8:04am December 19, 2015

by Scott Simon

In 1875, Mark Twain wrote a letter to his 3-year-old daughter from Santa Claus. NPR's Scott Simon reflects on a father's love for his daughter at Christmas time.

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Arts

New French Book Is One 27 Years In The Making

8:04am December 19, 2015

NPR's Scott Simon notes that one of the best selling books in France this holiday season is by a man who begged on the streets of Paris for 27 years: Jean-Marie Roughol.

An excerpt from Victor Alfred Lyon's notebook.

Bad Poetry, Great Booze: The Story Of The Hidden Bootlegger's Manual

5:41pm December 18, 2015

by Angus Chen

The book's outside cover boasted poems by a disgraced writer. But inside was page after page of handwritten recipes for alcohol — the secretly preserved know-how of a Prohibition-era doctor.

"There is a certain typical sequence of actions which can be detected in stories from all over the world and from many periods of history." — Joseph Campbell

Books
Arts

What Is The Blueprint For Stories About Heroes?

9:55am December 18, 2015

by NPR/TED STAFF

Host Guy Raz raises the curtain on this episode by exploring the hidden blueprint embedded within our most popular and powerful stories.

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