Books

Books

National Book Awards Handed Out In New York City

2:35pm November 19, 2015

by Lynn Neary

The winners announced Wednesday night included Adam Johnson in fiction, Ta-Nehisi Coates in nonfiction, Robin Coste Lewis in poetry and Neal Shusterman in young people's literature.

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'We, Robots' Takes Scholarly, Satirical Aim At Science

7:03am November 19, 2015

by Jason Heller

Curtis White is no enemy of science, but his new book criticizes what he sees as today's overreliance on rigid thinking and social organization, and our unquestioning optimism about technology.

Adam Johnson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robin Coste Lewis and Neal Shusterman all took home National Book Awards on Wednesday night.

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Adam Johnson, Ta-Nehisi Coates Win National Book Awards

10:41pm November 18, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

The authors won the literary prize in the fiction and nonfiction categories, respectively. Also taking home awards were Robin Coste Lewis, for her debut poetry collection, and Neal Shusterman.

'Beatlebone' Is A Fictional Lennon's Magical Mystery Tour

3:02pm November 18, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

Kevin Barry's hallucinatory new novel imagines John Lennon in 1978, at his lowest, wandering around Ireland (with a very mysterious tour guide) in search of a private island he bought but can't find.

Laurie Metcalf portrays Annie Wilkes, left, and Bruce Willis portrays Paul Sheldon in Misery, currently playing at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York.

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'Misery,' 'Misery' And 'Misery,' From Page To Screen To Stage

12:33pm November 18, 2015

by Linda Holmes

A new stage play finds Bruce Willis and Laurie Metcalf at the controls of an oddly horror-free version of the Stephen King novel.

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Book Review: 'Catalog Of Unabashed Gratitude,' Ross Gay

5:01pm November 17, 2015

Tess Taylor reviews Ross Gay's collection, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude.

Author David Mitchell's Number9Dream and Cloud Atlas were both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

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Soul-Sucking Vampires Of David Mitchell's 'Slade House' Started On Twitter

2:01pm November 17, 2015

Mitchell compares tweeting the story of his latest novel to escaping a straitjacket. "I like what I had to do to circumvent [Twitter's] restrictions," he says.

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'Target In The Night' Scores A Solid Hit

12:30pm November 17, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Ricardo Piglia's new novel is a brainy, postmodern, sometimes funny take on the classic detective novel. Critic Michael Schaub says it has echoes of DeLillo and Pynchon, but is wholly original.

Comedian Aziz Ansari says while online dating has its problems, "1 out of 3 people that get married now, they meet their spouse through online dating. So you could look at it like, oh, well, there's an insane amount of love that would not even be there ha

Aziz Ansari: Talking Modern Love With The 'Master Of None'

11:56am November 17, 2015

by NPR Staff

Hidden Brain host Shankar Vedantam talks to comedian Aziz Ansari — star of a new Netflix show and co-author of Modern Romance — about Tinder, texting and how dating is a bit like ... buying jam.

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Dear Mary-Louise Parker, You've Written A Great Book

6:37pm November 16, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

The actor's new memoir is disguised as a collection of letters to the men in her life. Critic Jean Zimmerman praises Parker's willingness to show vulnerability and her excellent, stylish writing.