archive
Author Interviews
Edible Fermentables: Wine, Beer, Cheese, Meat
June 19, 2012 Fermentation guru Sandor Katz returns to Fresh Air for a lively discussion about cured meats, cheeses — and some fermented beverages (notably wine and beer).
Critics' Lists: Summer 2012
Summer's Best Sci-Fi: Planets, Politics, Apocalypse
June 19, 2012 These five books will suck you into strange worlds, but leave you full of questions about our own. These page turners have pleasingly complicated political and social subtexts, morphing space battles into philosophical debates and zombie hordes into political satire.
Book Reviews
Divorce, 'Disgrace' And One Steamy Victorian Diary
June 19, 2012 In Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace, Kate Summerscale reconstructs the everyday private life and very public shaming of Isabella Robinson, a wife sued for divorce over her scandalous diary entries in the early days of England's divorce court.
PG-13: Risky Reads
Teenage Tales: Sneaking Looks In Sexy Books
June 18, 2012 Coming out as a teenager can be difficult. That's why finding Rubyfruit Jungle was important for author Emily Danforth. The book's lesbian narrator helped her figure out who she wanted to be. Have you ever found a book that helped you understand yourself better? Tell us about it in the comments.
Book Reviews
'Beautiful Ruins,' Both Human And Architectural
June 18, 2012 Jess Walter's latest novel spans decades and traverses the Atlantic to create a kaleidoscopic collection of "beautiful ruins." Characters include a hotelier, a young script reader and real-life movie star Richard Burton. NPR's Maureen Corrigan says the book is a "literary miracle."
Author Interviews
It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A New Superman Bio!
June 18, 2012 For the past 80 years, the Man of Steel has endured in books, movies, radio serials, comic books and cartoons. "Americans embrace Superman partly because he captured so many things that are part of our psyche and part of our sense of ourselves," says biographer Larry Tye.
Summer Books 2012
The Best Young Adult Novels? You Tell Us
June 18, 2012 To add a little drama to your summer, NPR Books is focusing our annual summer readers' poll on young adult fiction. Share your favorite YA titles: Your nominations will decide the books that make our top-100 list of the best YA fiction ever written.
Author Interviews
After War And Fame, Dad Is Author's Challenge
June 17, 2012 Jarhead author Anthony Swofford's second memoir recounts a war much closer to home — a private one waged with his father in the years following the success of his book.
Author Interviews
A Future President Finds Himself In New Obama Bio
June 17, 2012 In Barack Obama: The Story, journalist David Maraniss chronicles the president's "classic search for home." Maraniss says Obama's young life was defined by his experience of being an outsider — a feeling that stayed with him well into early adulthood.
Critics' Lists: Summer 2012
Want A Winner? These Books Made The Critics' Cut
June 17, 2012 Lynn Neary talks to three critics about the books you absolutely shouldn't miss this summer. Critic Laura Miller of Salon.com, says it's a particularly rich literary summer because in election years, publishers release their juiciest books before the fall.
Author Interviews
No Longer A Southern Writer, Ford Goes To 'Canada'
June 16, 2012 In Richard Ford's latest novel, retired school teacher Dell Parsons reflects on the summer when his parents — two unlikely criminals — robbed a bank and shifted his young life from Montana to Saskatchewan, where he was taken in by a murderous fugitive.
Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
Novelist John Irving Plays Not My Job
June 16, 2012 We invite the author of The World According to Garp to answer three questions about the classic trail mix known as gorp. Irving has just published a new novel called In One Person.
Raising Dad: Books For A New Kind Of Fatherhood
June 16, 2012 A few decades ago, most fathers would never have thought to read a parenting book, but these days, more and more are writing their own. From the dad-as-coach approach to the hip-dad variation, this year's releases point to a generational divide in what it means to be a father.
Author Interviews
A Shriver Learns It's Harder To Be Good Than Great
June 16, 2012 Great people do great things, says author Mark Shriver, but they're often not good people. Shriver's new memoir of his father, R. Sargent Shriver, is a loving look at a man he says managed to be both great and good.
Author Interviews
Rediscovering A Forgotten Boxer's 'Longest Fight'
June 16, 2012 Years before Jack Johnson and decades before Muhammad Ali, a man named Joe Gans was blazing trails as the first African-American boxing champion. Gans is mostly forgotten now, but a new book uncovers the story of his epic 42-round title defense against a white boxer in 1906.
