Books: Book Reviews, Book News, and Author Interviews : NPR

'Miranda In Milan:' No Woman Is An Island

March 24, 2019 • Katharine Duckett's new novel picks up where Shakespeare's Tempest left off, following sorceror's daughter Miranda to her new life as a court lady — a life which proves darker than she'd hoped.

9 First-Person Perspectives Give Voice To 'The Other Americans'

March 24, 2019 • The narrators in Laila Lalami's new novel have one thing in common: They've all "had the experience of dislocation," Lalami says. Together, they form a mosaic of race and class in America.

9 First-Person Perspectives Give Voice To 'The Other Americans'

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'Giraffes On Horseback Salad' Tells The Lost Story Of Harpo Marx And Salvador Dalí

March 24, 2019 • When Salvador Dalí met Harpo Marx, he was so infatuated that he wrote a treatment for a surreal Marx Brothers film, Giraffes on Horseback Salad. The film didn't fly, but this graphic novel does.

Ecco

'What Doesn't Kill You' Navigates The Challenges Of Existing While Black

March 23, 2019 • Damon Young's new memoir is full of pointed, thoughtful, barbed and funny essays about the ways race has affected his life, and the lives of his family — and about his hopes for the next generation.

'What Doesn't Kill You' Navigates The Challenges Of Existing While Black

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Review

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Wit Is Afire In 'Little Boy'

March 23, 2019 • As he approaches his 100th birthday, the legendary Beat poet and publisher has a new book. Billed as his "literary last will and testament," Little Boy is part memoir, part rambling free-association.

Remembering Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet W. S. Merwin

Fresh Air

March 22, 2019 • The former U.S. poet laureate, who died March 15, was a prolific writer as well as a conservationist and a conscientious objector during World War II. He spoke to Fresh Air in 2008.

Remembering Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet W. S. Merwin

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In 'The Chief,' An Enigmatic, Conservative John Roberts Walks A Political Tightrope

Chief Justice John Roberts attends the 37th Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center on Dec. 7, 2014, in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Review

In 'The Chief,' An Enigmatic, Conservative John Roberts Walks A Political Tightrope

March 22, 2019 • Reporter Joan Biskupic portrays the chief justice as a dedicated conservative who now "has the court he's always wanted" — and she says the law "will likely be what he says it is."

'High Heel' Muses On Beauty, Power — And Stilettos

March 21, 2019 • When she worked at the U.N., Summer Brennan wore high heels almost every day — even when they made her fall. Her new book High Heel is an exploration of modern womanhood through the history of heels.

'High Heel' Muses On Beauty, Power — And Stilettos

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Review

'The True Queen' Casts A Pleasant Spell

March 21, 2019 • Zen Cho's followup to her Regency fantasy of manners Sorceror to the Crown builds solidly on the world she's invented, mixing historical froth with real substance.

Review

A Summer Of Second Chances In 'Small Town Hearts'

March 21, 2019 • Lillie Vale's new young adult novel follows Babe Vogel, who's perfectly happy in her small town life, even though her friends have mostly moved on — until a "summer boy" arrives to complicate things.

Delbanco Writes About Americans' Complicity With Slavery In His Latest Book

March 21, 2019 • Steve Inskeep talks with Andrew Delbanco about slavery and reparations. Delbanco is the author of, The War Before the War.

Delbanco Writes About Americans' Complicity With Slavery In His Latest Book

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'The Future Of Literature': Whiting Awards Celebrate 10 Emerging Writers

The 2019 Whiting Award recipients (clockwise from top left): poet Kayleb Rae Candrilli, poet Tyree Daye, novelist Hernan Diaz, playwright Michael R. Jackson, fiction writer Terese Marie Mailhot, nonfiction writer Nadia Owusu, playwright Lauren Yee, poet Vanessa Angelica Villarreal, novelist Merrit Tierce and fiction writer Nafissa Thompson-Spires. Courtesy of the Whiting Foundation hide caption

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Courtesy of the Whiting Foundation

Book News & Features

'The Future Of Literature': Whiting Awards Celebrate 10 Emerging Writers

March 20, 2019 • The novelists, poets and playwrights won Wednesday partly for their work so far, but also for the promise they've shown. If previous winners are an indication, it's a promise they're likely to keep.

Review

Book Reviews

'The Lost Gutenberg' Traces One Bible's 500-Year Journey

March 20, 2019 • The depth of Margaret Leslie Davis' research on the tome's history cannot be understated — her writing is straightforward and, at times, heartbreaking, but outstanding reporting lies at the core.

Review

Book Reviews

In 'Horizon,' Considering All That Is Connected

March 20, 2019 • Barry Lopez's new book is a biography and a portrait of some of the world's most delicate places, but at heart it's a contemplation of the belief that the way forward is compassionately, and together.

A Lost 'Little Boy' Nears 100: Poet And Publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti

The writer Lawrence Ferlinghetti, pictured here in Berlin in 2004, will turn 100 years old this weekend. Gezett/ullstein bild/Getty Images hide caption

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Book News & Features

A Lost 'Little Boy' Nears 100: Poet And Publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti

March 20, 2019 • The Beat Generation icon and owner of City Lights bookstore and press in San Francisco is still writing. He celebrates his centennial March 24, and his new autobiographical novel is out now.

A Lost 'Little Boy' Nears 100: Poet And Publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti

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