Books

Kent Russell's writing has appeared in The New Republic, Harper's, GQ, n+1, The Believer, and on Grantland.

Books

'Timid Son' Celebrates Mambas And Manly Men

9:21pm April 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

Kent Russell's collection of autobiographical short stories explores the extremes of masculinity — like a man who's developing an immunity to snake venom by letting cobras and black mambas bite him.

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President Lincoln's Cottage provided Abraham Lincoln with a refreshing escape from Washington's summer heat, but it was also the site of a painful period in Mary Todd Lincoln's life.

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Arts

Meet The 'Capital Dames,' Civil War Washington's Secret Power Brokers

9:21pm April 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

In her new book, Cokie Roberts explains how women like Mary Todd Lincoln and Jessie Benton Fremont influenced Washington's men of power when they weren't even allowed to vote.

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This Weekend, Investigate The 'Edges' Of Fred Moten's Musical Poetry

10:47am April 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

In honor of National Poetry Month, our latest Weekend Read is Fred Moten's collection The Little Edges. Poet Douglas Kearney says Moten's power is in his attention to music, both in text and subject.

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Arts

A City Full Of Contradictions, And A Trilogy To Match In 'Nocturne'

7:03am April 26, 2015

by Etelka Lehoczky

The second volume of Anne Opotowsky's lavish trilogy about the Kowloon Walled City is like the city itself — vibrant and contradictory, its skilled atmospherics sometimes marred by sloppy art.

Philip Glass photographed in New York City in 1980.

The World Music Education of Philip Glass

6:23pm April 25, 2015

by NPR Staff

In his new memoir, Music Without Words, the composer explains how a chance meeting with Ravi Shankar sparked a fascination with the cultures of the world and their music.

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Arts

Imagining The Power Of Edouard Manet's 'Very Active Muse'

3:04pm April 25, 2015

by NPR Staff

Maureen Gibbon's new novel, Paris Red, delves into the life of Victorine Meurent, Manet's favorite model and the central figure in some of his most famous paintings.

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Arts

Tiny Pages Reveal Big, Rodent-Related Worries In 'Devotion'

7:03am April 25, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Don't be put off by the size of Devotion: A Rat Story by Maile Meloy. It's a small book, hardly larger than a pack of cigarettes, but the horror it delivers is real (and rat shaped).

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Week Of April 23, 2015

4:03pm April 24, 2015

The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of April 23, 2015

4:03pm April 24, 2015

Alexander McCall Smith's Emma is a retelling of Jane Austen's classic set in the 20th century. It debuts at No. 15.

Books

NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of April 23, 2015

4:03pm April 24, 2015

Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North follows a doctor who is captured by the Japanese during World War II and ends up caring for prisoners of war. It appears at No. 9.