Books

Yellow leaves color a path as a person walks into the distance.

Books
Arts

Empty Nester In 'The Woods': A Modern Dantean Journey

2:27pm January 10, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

When writer Lynn Darling found herself at a turning point in her life, she sought solitude and enlightenment in the woods of Vermont. Her new memoir, Out of the Woods, describes that midlife experience. Fresh Air book critic Maureen Corrigan calls it "a compelling story of internal exploration, as well as outward-bound adventure."

Queue Listen Now

Amiri Baraka's Legacy Both Controversial And Achingly Beautiful

10:31am January 10, 2014

by Neda Ulaby

The former New Jersey poet laureate, born LeRoi Jones, died Thursday at age 79. Much of his work — including well-regarded poetry and plays — reflected his commitment to Black Nationalist ideals. He co-founded the Black Arts movement, and wrote poems that were as controversial as they were influential.

Queue Listen Now

An overseer sits in the shade while workers collect coffee beans on a Brazilian plantation, circa 1750.

Books
Arts

How Coffee Influenced The Course Of History

3:49pm January 09, 2014

by Lydia Zuraw

Once people figured out how to roast the seeds of the Coffea plant in the 1400s, coffee took over the world. In doing so, it fueled creativity, revolutions, new business ventures, literature, music — and slavery.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

In An Age Of Slavery, Two Women Fight For Their 'Wings'

10:29pm January 08, 2014

by Lynn Neary

Sue Monk Kidd, the author of the best-selling The Secret Life of Bees, takes on both slavery and feminism in her novel The Invention of Wings. It's a story told by two women: Hetty, a slave, seeks her freedom, while Sarah, her reluctant owner, rebels against her family to become an abolitionist.

Queue Listen Now

Pussy Riot members Yekaterina Samutsevich (left), Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova sit in a glass-walled cage in a Moscow court on Oct. 10, 2012.

The 'Pussy Riot' Arrests, And The Crackdown That Followed

4:19pm January 08, 2014

According to Russian journalist Masha Gessen, the 2012 arrests were the start of a campaign by Vladimir Putin and his supporters against government critics. Gessen, who is also an LGBT rights advocate, recently moved to New York with her partner and their children in response to the anti-gay laws Russia passed in June.

Queue Listen Now

A poster advertises a stage adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, starring actor William Gillette in 1899.

Books
Arts

Sherlock's Expiring Copyright: It's Public Domain, Dear Watson

9:53am January 08, 2014

by NPR Staff

The famous sleuth has discovered that U.S copyright law is anything but elementary. A federal judge recently ruled that elements of the Sherlock Holmes characters are now both licensed property of the Doyle estate and in the public domain. The Doyle estate plans to appeal the decision.

Queue Listen Now

Gary Shteyngart's work has been translated into 26 languages.

Books
Arts

'You Can't Be This Furry' And Other Life Lessons From Gary Shteyngart

2:56pm January 07, 2014

In Little Failure, the novelist recounts his emigration from the USSR to the U.S. when he was 7. For the first few years, he says, he would sit alone in the school cafeteria, talking to himself in Russian "in this gigantic fur hat and fur coat." It wasn't long before a teacher advised, "Children won't play with you if you have that much fur on."

Queue Listen Now

A young man looking sad while sitting on the ground with his head on his hands

Fear Of Fainting, Flight And Cheese: One Man's 'Age Of Anxiety'

8:09pm January 06, 2014

Since about age 2, Atlantic editor Scott Stossel has been "a twitchy bundle of phobias, fears and neuroses." Today, his phobias include asthenophobia, a fear of fainting; aerophobia, a fear of flying; and turophobia, a fear of cheese. He wrote his latest book to help understand and find relief from his anxious suffering.

Queue Listen Now

Books

Upcoming Books To Read In 2014

6:55pm January 05, 2014

NPR's Arun Rath talks to Daniel Alarcon, the author of At Night We Walk in Circles, about the new books he is most excited about for 2014.

Queue Listen Now

an old typewriter with a blank page and a brandy snifter with liquor on a desk, with a retro effect

Books
Arts

A Critic Tours 'Echo Spring,' Home Of Beloved Boozy Writers

4:19pm January 03, 2014

by Maureen Corrigan

A new book by critic Olivia Laing explores the link between alcohol and writing through the commentaries of famous writers who were themselves alcoholics. Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan calls Laing's readings "exquisite," and says she wisely avoids "any one-size-fits-all conclusions about the bond between the pen and the bottle."

Queue Listen Now