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The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books This week: Meg Wolitzer's latest, Charles Frazier returns to the Civil War, the pressures of being the only black person in the room, a new Macbeth, and marriage-saving tips from a divorce lawyer.
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The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

This week: Meg Wolitzer, Charles Frazier, Jo Nesbo, Nafissa Thompson-Spires and James Sexton.

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

It seems everyone has one: the eccentric relative much gossiped about. For Walter Shapiro, it's his great-uncle, Freeman Bernstein. The vaudeville manager, boxing promoter, card shark and stock swindler managed to scam the Third Reich. Shapiro writes about this in his new book, Hustling Hitler.

In 'Hustling Hitler,' A Jewish Vaudevillian Scams The Third Reich

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'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which have been known to carry the Zika virus, buzz in a laboratory in Cucuta, Colombia. Ricardo Mazalan/AP hide caption

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Ricardo Mazalan/AP

Shots - Health News

'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

Fresh Air

Author Donald. G. McNeil Jr. predicts that 2016 will be the worst year for Zika transmission in the U.S. "After this year, a fair number of people will be immune, and ... immunity will grow," he says.

'Nobody Is Immune': Bracing For Zika's First Summer In The U.S.

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Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?
Annelise Capossela

All Tech Considered

Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?

Can a computer write a sonnet that's indistinguishable from what a person can produce? A contest at Dartmouth attempted to find out. With our online quiz, you too can give it a try.

Human Or Machine: Can You Tell Who Wrote These Poems?

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The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

David Hepworth's new book, Never A Dull Moment, is out now from Henry Holt & Co. Courtesy of the author hide caption

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Courtesy of the author

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, Never a Dull Moment.

The Case For 1971 As Rock's Greatest Year

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Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

Terry McMillan accepts the award for outstanding literary work, fiction, for Getting to Happy at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards in 2011 in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/AP hide caption

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Chris Pizzello/AP

Code Switch

Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

In her new novel, I Almost Forgot About You, McMillan's heroine confronts midlife malaise by reconnecting with men from her past.

Terry McMillan's Latest: Revisiting Past Loves, Rediscovering Yourself

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Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

A fan holds a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at a book release party at Scholastic headquarters in New York in 2007. Clark Jones/AP hide caption

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Clark Jones/AP

Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

Lynn Neary wonders whether the latest "Harry Potter story" (technically the script of a new play) merits the marketing push it's getting.

Harry Potter Inc. Hopes To Re-Create The Magic, Hogwarts And All, With 'Cursed Child'

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Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

Dickinson vividly described flowers and plants in her poetry. Click here to read her poem, "It will be Summer — eventually." Courtesy of the Emily Dickinson Museum hide caption

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Courtesy of the Emily Dickinson Museum

Poetry

Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

New England Public Radio

Archaeologists are working to unearth the poet's original gardens and bring the homestead back to its natural state. The hope is to revive the plants and flowers she vividly described in her poetry.

Never Mind The White Dress, Turns Out Emily Dickinson Had A Green Thumb

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Nitza Villapol: The Woman Who Taught Cubans To Cook With Just About Anything

For decades, Nitza Villapol hosted Cocina al Minuto, a popular cooking show in Cuba. In the decades after Fidel Castro took power, she adapted her cooking, teaching Cubans how to make do without certain ingredients while instructing them in how to use once-eschewed produce and cuts of meat in new ways. Screenshot from YouTube hide caption

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Screenshot from YouTube

The Salt

Nitza Villapol: The Woman Who Taught Cubans To Cook With Just About Anything

For over 40 years, Villapol hosted a popular cooking show in Cuba, her recipes shifting to reflect the realities of life under the revolution. No meat? No problem — she fried plantain peels instead.

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

Comedian Tig Notaro from the film In A World poses for a portrait during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Victoria Will/Invision/AP hide caption

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Victoria Will/Invision/AP

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

Comedian Tig Notaro shot to fame in 2012, talking candidly onstage about having cancer. Now she's in remission, recently married and the author of a new memoir called I'm Just A Person.

Tig Notaro On Her Terrible Year In 'I'm Just A Person'

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