Books

Books
Arts

In A Foster Home, Two Boys Become 'Kinda Like Brothers'

8:30am August 25, 2014

by NPR Staff

Before Coe Booth was a writer, she was a caseworker, often tasked with placing kids with foster families. Her latest novel for middle-grade readers looks at two young members of a foster family.

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As Summer Winds Down, Wistful Dreams Of A 'Lost Estate'

8:23pm August 22, 2014

by Alexander Aciman

The scent of fresh pencils is in the air, and homework assignments are around the corner. In honor of back-to-school season, author Alexander Aciman recommends The Lost Estate by Henri Alain-Fournier.

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Books

Author And His Daughter Cook Around The World And You Can Too

8:21pm August 22, 2014

Kelly McEvers talks to food writer Mark Kurlansky and his daughter Talia about their cookbook International Night, based on their tradition of cooking a meal every week from a different country.

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Nostalgic For Noir? Feiffer's 'Kill My Mother' Is A Toxic Treat

7:56am August 22, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

In his first graphic novel, Jules Feiffer, 85, has returned to the seedy comic strips, hard boiled novels and B movies of his youth. Maureen Corrigan says it's "a mulligan stew of murder and desire."

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'F' Is For Fraudster In A Family Novel For Our Modern Times

9:30am August 21, 2014

by Ellah Allfrey

Daniel Kehlmann's F, about three brothers abandoned by their father, examines the detail of lives lived without integrity. It is brilliantly translated from the German by Carol Brown Janeway.

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Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician cover.

Cardiologist Speaks From The Heart About America's Medical System

7:47pm August 19, 2014

In his new memoir, Doctored, Sandeep Jauhar describes a growing discontent among doctors and how it's affecting patients. He says rushed doctors are often practicing "defensive medicine."

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Sugar or artificial sweetener falling off of a spoon.

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'Sweetness #9' Satirizes Food Wars And Artificial America

3:40pm August 18, 2014

The novel is about a flavor chemist who tests a sweetener on lab rats and monkeys and finds side effects the company covers up. Author Stephan Eirik Clark says he was inspired by Fast Food Nation.

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In Cunningham's Latest, Powerful Language Makes Up For Weak Plot

10:58am August 18, 2014

Michael Cunningham's newest novel is named after a fairy tale. But this is no Disney fantasy. Instead The Snow Queen is a story of death, drugs and aging (not always gracefully).

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Thrity Umrigar has authored six novels and is a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University.

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An Unlikely Psychologist-Patient Friendship Unfolds In 'The Story Hour'

8:28am August 16, 2014

by NPR Staff

Thrity Umrigar's new novel is about two women with "a mystical connection." Lakshmi is stuck in a loveless marriage. Dr. Maggie Bose decides Lakshmi doesn't need a shrink — she needs an escape.

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Arts

In A Funny New Novel, A Weary Professor Writes To 'Dear Committee Members'

11:31am August 15, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

Julie Schumacher's anti-hero pens recommendations for junior colleagues, lackluster students and former lovers. The novel deftly mixes comedy with social criticism and righteous outrage.

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