Books

Books

Alabama Attorney General's 1976 Letter Told KKK Off In 3 Short Words

6:35pm October 16, 2014

As part of our series Letters of Note, former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley tells Audie Cornish how he once replied to an angry letter from the Ku Klux Klan.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'How To Cook Everything Fast'? Bittman Says Skip The Prep

9:59am October 16, 2014

Rachel Martin talks to food writer Mark Bittman about his new cookbook, "How to Cook Everything Fast," which thumbs its nose at the French tradition of having ingredients prepped before you cook.

Queue Listen Now

Elmore Leonard was famously picky with his words — but not with his papers. He left behind more than 150 boxes, or about 2,400 linear feet, of documents.

Books
Arts

Book News: The 'Dickens Of Detroit' Leaves His Collection To South Carolina

7:44am October 16, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

Before his death, crime novelist Elmore Leonard chose to host his archives at the University of South Carolina. Now, the school is unveiling the first of these items. Also: McSweeney's goes nonprofit.

Books

National Book Award Finalists To Be Announced

2:18pm October 15, 2014

Finalists for the National Book Awards will be announced on Wednesday's Morning Edition. You've already heard from some of the contenders who have previously been on NPR.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher' And Other Stories From Hilary Mantel

1:57pm October 15, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

Heads tend to roll, figuratively and otherwise, in Mantel's writing. Critic Maureen Corrigan says this new short story collection — about grotesque characters in the modern world — is breathtaking.

Queue Listen Now

Costumes were plentiful at the New York Comic-Con at Jacob Javitz Center.

Books
Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour, Small Batch: A Report From New York Comic-Con

1:55pm October 15, 2014

by Linda Holmes

Pop Culture Happy Hour pal Petra Mayer just got back from New York Comic-Con, so we got her to update us briefly on Gillian Anderson, fandom and very big crowds.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

When Good Kids Go Feral, Bloody 'Brood' Hits Its Stride

1:02pm October 15, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

Gratuitous, gore-soaked and reveling in poor taste, Chase Novak's Brood is a true B-movie sequel — and just as fun. But despite its body count, the book still could have used a little more blood.

Australian author Richard Flanagan, 2014's Man Booker Prize winner, holds his book The Narrow Road to the Deep North at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Monday.

Australian Novelist Richard Flanagan Awarded Booker Prize

10:26am October 15, 2014

by Lauren Hodges

The head of the judge's committee says The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the story of POWs in World War II forced to build the Thailand Burma Railway, is a "magnificent novel of love and war."

Books
Arts

Book News: Big Names And A Few Surprises Among National Book Award Finalists

9:28am October 15, 2014

by Colin Dwyer

The prominent literary prize narrowed its nominees to 20 writers — a mix of heavyweights and many new ones. And across the Atlantic, Richard Flanagan won Britain's biggest award, the Man Booker Prize.

Books
Arts

The Feathery Saga Of A 'Sucker For Unwanted Birds'

1:43pm October 14, 2014

by Heller McAlpin

Michelle Raffin's new The Birds of Pandemonium is an impassioned but occasionally jumbled memoir of her adventures in the noisy, smelly, exhausting, rewarding world of rare bird conservation.