Books

Books
Arts

Why You Should Give A $*%! About Words That Offend

8:41am May 13, 2013

by NPR Staff

Curse words change over time — back in the ninth century you could say the "s" word and no one would be offended. But we always need a set of words that are off-limits, and in her new book, author Melissa Mohr explains how the words that shock us reveal a lot about society's values.

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Robert Ripley traveled the world collecting souvenirs like this Balinese lion mask.

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Arts

The 'Curious' Story Of Robert 'Believe It Or Not!' Ripley

6:26pm May 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

Neal Thompson's new biography traces the life of the newspaper cartoonist who became an international celebrity and media superstar. Ripley's pioneering mix of the strange, the shocking and the barely believable shaped the way Americans saw the world.

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Swedish-born guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has released more than two dozen albums.

Yngwie Malmsteen: 'I've Always Been A Little Bit Of An Extremist'

10:11am May 11, 2013

by NPR Staff

Malmsteen is the king of the neoclassical shred guitar. The Swedish musician and composer has somehow bridged centuries, from Paganini to his own arpeggiated acrobatics. Here, the guitarist speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about being a family man and growing up on Bach and Jimi Hendrix.

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Books
Arts

Book Review: 'A Nearly Perfect Copy'

7:23pm May 10, 2013

by Alan Cheuse

Book critic Alan Cheuse has a review of A Nearly Perfect Copy by Allison Amend.

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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on July 20, 1969.

Buzz Aldrin's Case For A 'Mission To Mars'

2:40pm May 10, 2013

In Mission To Mars, astronaut Buzz Aldrin lays out his plans for getting Americans on Mars by 2035.

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Books
Arts

'The Woman Upstairs': A Saga Of Anger And Thwarted Ambition

2:59pm May 09, 2013

In her new novel, Emperor's Children author Claire Messud explores the complicated relationship between two women: Nora, who longed to be an artist and have a family but failed, and the woman Nora befriends, who puts her art first and built a family as well.

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Burt Bacharach has just released a memoir, Anyone Who Had a Heart.

Burt Bacharach: 'Never Be Afraid Of Something That You Can Whistle'

10:25am May 08, 2013

by NPR Staff

The award-winning songwriter speaks with NPR's Scott Simon about the value of melody, and writing a song about rain for a movie scene that had none.

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Patricia Volk is an essayist, novelist and memoirist. She recounts her experiences growing up in a restaurant-owning family in New York City, in her memoir Stuffed.

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Arts

'Shocked': Patricia Volk's Memoir About Beauty And Its Beholders

3:18pm May 07, 2013

Even as a child, Patricia Volk knew she would never measure up to her strikingly beautiful mother. But after reading the memoir of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, Volk found a new understanding of beauty that had more to do with personality than a pretty face.

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The term "third coast" refers to American cities that sit on the Great Lakes shoreline, like Chicago.

Books
Arts

Through Art And Industry, Chicago Shaped America

10:16am May 07, 2013

by NPR Staff

Blues, jazz and gospel; a civil rights movement that began with the Emmett Till case; modern glass and steel buildings that dared the sky. In Third Coast, Thomas Dyja writes that "the most profound aspects of American Modernity grew up out of the flat, prairie land next to Lake Michigan."

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Anthony Marra is a Stegner fellow and a recipient of the Whiting Writers' Award.

Books
Arts

From A Debut Writer, A Polished, Passionate, Must-Read Book

9:00pm May 06, 2013

by Meg Wolitzer

Anthony Marra's debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, takes place in war-torn Chechnya — a world of perpetual violence, fear and exploding land mines. But reviewer Meg Wolitzer says the characters are so vivid and the language so brilliant you want to stay there.

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