Gabino Iglesias : NPR

'A History Of New York In 27 Buildings' Is A Love Letter To The Big Apple

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Lewis Hines/National Archives/Courtesy of Bloomsbury Publishing

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'A History Of New York In 27 Buildings' Is A Love Letter To The Big Apple

October 24, 2019 • More than a mere chronicler armed with facts and dates, Sam Roberts is a nonfiction writer with the heart of a novelist; he's writing about buildings — but he does so while telling engaging stories.

'How We Fight For Our Lives' Is One Life Story That Finds Connection To Others

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'How We Fight For Our Lives' Is One Life Story That Finds Connection To Others

October 14, 2019 • Extremely personal, emotionally gritty, and unabashedly honest, Saeed Jones' memoir somehow manages a perfect balance between love and violence, hope and hostility, transformation and resentment.

In Memoir, Imprisoned Turkish Writer Says His Longing Is 'So Naked, So Primal'

I Will Never See the World Again: The Memoir of an Imprisoned Writer, by Ahmet Altan Beth Novey/NPR hide caption

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In Memoir, Imprisoned Turkish Writer Says His Longing Is 'So Naked, So Primal'

October 3, 2019 • Confined in a tiny cell, Ahmet Altan recoils into his own thoughts; his talent as a writer allows him to communicate his experience in rich, haunting detail in I Will Never See the World Again.

Patti Smith Weaves Between Worlds Real And Imagined In 'Year Of The Monkey'

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Knopf

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Patti Smith Weaves Between Worlds Real And Imagined In 'Year Of The Monkey'

September 24, 2019 • Smith's musical career sometimes threatens to overshadow her accomplishments in other creative fields, but every page in this book reminds us that she is an accomplished novelist, essayist and poet.

In 'Savage Gods,' An Author Finds That Pondering Being Leads To An Inability To Write

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Two Dollar Radio

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In 'Savage Gods,' An Author Finds That Pondering Being Leads To An Inability To Write

September 18, 2019 • Paul Kingsnorth moved to a small farm in Ireland to be closer to the land and to reconnect with the essence of being. Instead of contentment, he found that it was tough to find meaning in writing.

'Tinfoil Butterfly' Spreads Twitchy, Monstrous Wings

Beth Novey/NPR

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'Tinfoil Butterfly' Spreads Twitchy, Monstrous Wings

September 9, 2019 • Rachel Eve Moulton's story about a young woman in an abandoned town in the Black Hills of South Dakota will crawl into you and give you the shudders — just let it.

'The Warehouse' Is Scary Because It's Plausible

Crown

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'The Warehouse' Is Scary Because It's Plausible

August 25, 2019 • Rob Hart's new dystopian cyberthriller imagines a near-future America in a state of semi-collapse, where the only jobs available are in company towns built by an enormous conglomerate called Cloud.

'Into The Planet' Captures Cave Diving's Mortal Risks — And All lts Glory

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'Into The Planet' Captures Cave Diving's Mortal Risks — And All lts Glory

August 22, 2019 • Jill Heinerth's memoir leads with her thoughts as she wonders if she will die underwater, setting the tone for an honest and engaging book about life as one of the world's top cave divers.

'The Outlaw Ocean': A Forgotten Frontier Where Slavery And Illegal Activities Abound

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'The Outlaw Ocean': A Forgotten Frontier Where Slavery And Illegal Activities Abound

August 21, 2019 • Ian Urbina combines stellar investigative reporting skills and straightforward writing to convey what lies on the other side of the ocean — opposite cruise-ship vacations to beautiful beaches.

In 'The Mosquito,' Humans Face A Predator More Deadly Than The Rest

The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator, by Timothy C. Winegard Dutton hide caption

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Dutton

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In 'The Mosquito,' Humans Face A Predator More Deadly Than The Rest

August 12, 2019 • Timothy C. Winegard has written a well-researched work of narrative nonfiction that offers a history of the world through the role that mosquitoes — and mosquito-borne illnesses — have played in it.

'Becoming Superman' Chronicles The Life And Career Of J. Michael Straczynski

J. Michael Straczynski attends the 30th annual Producers Guild Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 19, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

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'Becoming Superman' Chronicles The Life And Career Of J. Michael Straczynski

July 23, 2019 • While the prolific Hollywood writer's career is well-documented, his personal history has been a mystery. His memoir is painful and inspiring, infuriating and full of hope, humorous and depressing.

'At Dusk' Exposes South Korea Through A Variety Of Lenses

Scribe US

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'At Dusk' Exposes South Korea Through A Variety Of Lenses

July 21, 2019 • Hwang Sok-yong's novel is a perfect slice of Koreana; a touching, somewhat depressive narrative full of nostalgia exposing the underbelly of a nation via the people inhabiting society's bottom rung.

'The Cuban Comedy' Walks The Line Between Politics And Poetry

The Unnamed Press

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'The Cuban Comedy' Walks The Line Between Politics And Poetry

July 11, 2019 • Pablo Medina's The Cuban Comedy walks a fine line between poetry and political satire. It follows a woman in rural 1960s Cuba who longs to be a poet, and the troubles she faces when she succeeds.

These 'Wanderers' Are Heading For The End Of The World

Del Rey

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These 'Wanderers' Are Heading For The End Of The World

July 6, 2019 • Chuck Wendig's massive new novel imagines a plague of sleepwalkers — unresponsive people endlessly walking to an unknown destination as a fearful, hate-ridden country tears itself apart around them.

'The Porpoise' Is A Rich — But Wandering — Read

Doubleday

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'The Porpoise' Is A Rich — But Wandering — Read

June 19, 2019 • Mark Haddon's new novel uses Shakespeare's Pericles and its founding myth of the villainous king Antiochus to explore aberrant family relationships, loss, depression, judgment and cowardice.