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Joan Rivers Hates You, Herself And Everyone Else()
June 11, 2012 Comedian Joan Rivers hates a lot of things. Her new book, I Hate Everyone, Starting With Me, details the things Rivers can't stand, from her appearance to obituaries to younger comedians who steal her gigs.
Bear Grylls On Family, Faith And Drinking Pee()
June 10, 2012 In a new autobiography, survivalist and television host Bear Grylls charts his journey from recalcitrant schoolboy to a spot in Britain's elite special forces, the SAS, and addresses the controversy surrounding his Discovery Channel show, Man vs. Wild.
No One In 'The Red House' Gets Away Unscathed()
June 10, 2012 A vacation in the remote English countryside brings all sorts of family tensions to a boil in Mark Haddon's latest novel, The Red House. Haddon says the poetic language in the book is as much a part of the narrative as any of the characters.
Steve Guttenberg Writes His Own 'Bible' ()
June 9, 2012 The Police Academy star began his acting career at the age of 17 by faking it. He snuck into the Paramount Studios lot, set up an office and started landing auditions. He writes about his unorthodox Hollywood start in his new memoir, The Guttenberg Bible.
'Mission': Secrecy And Stardom On The Edge Of War()
June 9, 2012 Alan Furst's new thriller, Mission to Paris, follows a German-American film star to Europe on the brink of war. Fredric Stahl thinks he's going to make a movie in France, but he winds up caught between German and American forces who both hope to use his stardom for their own ends.
How 'The Queen Of British Ska' Wrestled With Race()
June 9, 2012 One of few women in a musical movement dominated by men, Pauline Black helped lead the 1970s U.K. ska revival with her band The Selecter. She discusses her complicated family history in a new memoir, Black by Design.
Ask Me Another
Chuck Klosterman: He Keeps On Shoutin'()
June 8, 2012 Who's from North Dakota, hates turtlenecks, but loves the color orange? It's our Very Important Puzzler, a renowned rock critic and pop culture junkie. He tackles a trivia game about a certain little band that's known for painted faces and partying every day.
Remembrances
Ray Bradbury: 'It's Lack That Gives Us Inspiration'()
June 8, 2012 "I'm never going to go to Mars but I've helped inspire ... the people who built the rockets and sent our photographic equipment off to Mars," Bradbury told Terry Gross in 1988. The science-fiction writer died Tuesday at the age of 91.
Poetry
Poet Laureate: 'Poetry's Always A Kind Of Faith'()
June 8, 2012 This week, the Library of Congress announced that Natasha Trethewey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Native Guard, will be the next poet laureate of the United States. Trethewey, a native of Mississippi, is the first Southern poet laureate since 1986.
Buckley Skewers Washington In 'They Eat Puppies' ()
June 6, 2012 In Christopher Buckley's latest political satire, They Eat Puppies, Don't They? a lobbyist teams up with a conservative policy wonk to spread a rumor that China is plotting to assassinate the Dalai Lama. Together, they create a huge disinformation campaign that nearly sparks World War III.
Economy
Growing Economic Inequality 'Endangers Our Future'()
June 5, 2012 In The Price of Inequality, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that widely unequal societies don't function effectively or have stable economies. Even the rich will pay a steep price if economic inequalities continue to worsen, he says.
The Marriage Is The Real Mystery In 'Gone Girl'()
June 5, 2012 Gillian Flynn's third novel begins on the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne's wedding anniversary, when Amy disappears and Nick becomes the No. 1 suspect. But the central question isn't what happened to Amy — it's what happened to her marriage.
'The Honest Truth' About Why We Lie, Cheat And Steal()
June 4, 2012 Behavioral economist Dan Ariely has found that very few people lie a lot, but a lot of people lie a little. He talks about his findings in his new book, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie To Everyone — Especially Ourselves.
'Obama's Secret Wars' Against America's Threats()
June 4, 2012 New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger details how President Obama accelerated the use of innovative weapons to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and sped up a wave of cyberattacks against Iran to destroy its nuclear centrifuges.
'Shadow': New Light On Islamic History()
June 3, 2012 Islam is conventionally thought to have arisen in the Arabian desert, free from any outside influences. But a new book by historian Tom Hollander provides some surprising historical context — and an origin story quite different from the one most people know.
