Accessibility links
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.
books
Special Series

The Week's Best Stories From NPR Books

This week: Meg Wolitzer, Charles Frazier, Jo Nesbo, Nafissa Thompson-Spires and James Sexton.
What Terrifies Teens In Today's Young Adult Novels? The Economy

Shailene Woodley plays Beatrice Prior in the upcoming movie Divergent (March 2014), based on the dystopian young adult novel by Veronica Roth. The hugely popular book contains themes of economic struggle and class warfare. Jaap Buitendijk/Summit hide caption

toggle caption
Jaap Buitendijk/Summit

Books

What Terrifies Teens In Today's Young Adult Novels? The Economy

With dominant themes of hunger, class conflict and poverty, popular teen books like The Hunger Games and Divergent mirror today's fragile economic climate. Critic Marcela Valdes says the books reflect real-world fears, but their fanastical elements can also help young readers escape what might be a gloomy financial reality at home.

How Two Brothers Waged A 'Secret World War' In The 1950s
Courtesy of Times Books

How Two Brothers Waged A 'Secret World War' In The 1950s

Sharing power in the Eisenhower administration, John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles were the forefathers of using covert operations to upset foreign governments. Journalist Stephen Kinzer, who wrote a book on the siblings, says Americans are still paying the price for them.

How Two Brothers Waged A 'Secret World War' In The 1950s

Listen · 8:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/226578486/227508378" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Stephen King On Getting Scared: 'Nothing Like Your First Time'

Stephen King is the author of more than 50 books, including The Shining, Carrie and The Dark Tower series. Shane Leonard/Courtesy of Scribner hide caption

toggle caption
Shane Leonard/Courtesy of Scribner

Stephen King On Getting Scared: 'Nothing Like Your First Time'

Was King's 1977 The Shining your first fictional scare? Now, after nearly 40 years, King has followed up his horror tale of a little boy and a haunted hotel with a sequel called Doctor Sleep. "I wanted to revisit Danny and see what he was like as a grown-up," King says.

Stephen King On Getting Scared: 'Nothing Like Your First Time'

Listen · 7:49
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223105565/225659416" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'Hollywood Said No,' But 'Mr. Show' Fans Said Yes!

From left, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross co-created the sketch comedy series Mr. Show. They have since played long-running roles on Breaking Bad and Arrested Development, respectively. Sharon Alagna/Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing hide caption

toggle caption
Sharon Alagna/Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

'Hollywood Said No,' But 'Mr. Show' Fans Said Yes!

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross created and starred in the short-lived sketch comedy program Mr. Show. Fifteen years after their show went off the air, they have a new book of old scripts that were rejected by Hollywood.

'Hollywood Said No,' But 'Mr. Show' Fans Said Yes!

Listen · 8:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223352330/225148541" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
NFL Veteran Recounts The Bruises And Breaks Of Life In The League

The Sunday Conversation

NFL Veteran Recounts The Bruises And Breaks Of Life In The League

Former NFL receiver Nate Jackson's new memoir, Slow Getting Up, is a raw account of his six years on the field. Jackson spent most of that time with the Broncos and learned to play through the pain.

NFL Veteran Recounts The Bruises And Breaks Of Life In The League

Listen · 9:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223134551/225028635" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Yasmin Thayná: 'I Always Wanted To Make Literature With My Hair'

Brazilian writer Yasmin Thayná, 20, participated in a local program aimed at cultivating artistic talent in low-income communities. Courtesy of Yasmin Thayná hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Yasmin Thayná

Yasmin Thayná: 'I Always Wanted To Make Literature With My Hair'

A young writer from the outskirts of Rio reads an excerpt from a story in which she lets her chemically straightened hair go natural. The story, "Mc K-Bela," was published in a literary magazine that features the work of writers from favelas and what Thayná calls "the people's neighborhoods."

Yasmin Thayná: 'I Always Wanted To Make Literature With My Hair'

Listen · 3:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/224089061/224152656" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Exclusive First Read: 'From Scratch: Inside The Food Network'

Emeril Lagasse promo image Jim Cooper/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Jim Cooper/AP

First Reads

Exclusive First Read: 'From Scratch: Inside The Food Network'

Read an exclusive excerpt of Allen Salkin's new history of the Food Network, From Scratch. It's an affectionate but unsparing look at a scrappy little startup network that became a national broadcasting behemoth — and brought people like Emeril Lagasse and Rachael Ray into millions of homes.

Exclusive First Read: 'From Scratch: Inside The Food Network'

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223173797/223409254" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Linda Ronstadt: The Fresh Air Interview

Linda Ronstadt performs in 1970. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Linda Ronstadt: The Fresh Air Interview

Fresh Air

Last month, Ronstadt revealed that she has Parkinson's disease and can no longer sing. Her new memoir, Simple Dreams, reflects on a long career. In this conversation with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, she offers frank insights on sex, drugs, and why "competition was for horse races."

In Memoir, Linda Ronstadt Describes Her 'Simple Dreams'

Listen · 45:04
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223172521/223354730" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Barnard President: Today's 'Wonder Women' Must Reframe Feminism
iStockphoto.com

Barnard President: Today's 'Wonder Women' Must Reframe Feminism

Fresh Air

Many think of the feminist movement as a thing of the past, but Debora Spar says the battle isn't won yet. She tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the misinterpretation that got us where we are, and the need to improve support and pay for working women.

Barnard President: Today's 'Wonder Women' Must Reframe Feminism

Listen · 33:09
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/223041014/223081837" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Cows Have Accents ... And 1,226 Other 'Quite Interesting Facts'
Iakov Kalinin/iStockphoto.com

Cows Have Accents ... And 1,226 Other 'Quite Interesting Facts'

The universe is shaped like a vuvuzela. Humans and elephants are the only animals with chins. These, and a trove of other factoids have been compiled in 1,227 Quite Interesting Facts to Blow Your Socks Off — a book by the creators of the hit British television show QI.

Cows Have Accents ... And 1,226 Other 'Quite Interesting Facts'

Listen · 5:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/221836704/222390714" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Art Spiegelman Reflects On 60 Years Of Pen And Ink

Art Spiegelman Reflects On 60 Years Of Pen And Ink

Art Spiegelman's new book, Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps, collects comics from a six-decade career, from his early, self-published works to his famous New Yorker covers. Spiegelman tells NPR's Scott Simon he knew in third grade that he wanted to be a cartoonist.

Art Spiegelman Reflects On 60 Years Of Pen And Ink

Listen · 8:44
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/222116127/222398002" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Photos: Enter A World Of Cupcake Sledding And Broccoli Lawns

Broccoli Mower: "Douglas stubbornly refused to accept his wife's opinion that he had let the lawn go too long without attention." Christopher Boffoli/Courtesy Workman Publishing hide caption

toggle caption
Christopher Boffoli/Courtesy Workman Publishing

The Salt

Photos: Enter A World Of Cupcake Sledding And Broccoli Lawns

Photographer Christopher Boffoli made his name with his amusing dioramas of tiny, plastic people literally dominated by food. A new book, Big Appetites, assembles more than 200 images of these tiny people and their "complex culture."

The 'Wild' Story Of Cheryl Strayed And Her Long-Lost Half-Sister

In addition to Wild, Cheryl Strayed is also the author of Torch and Tiny Beautiful Things. Joni Kabana/Courtesy Knopf hide caption

toggle caption
Joni Kabana/Courtesy Knopf

The 'Wild' Story Of Cheryl Strayed And Her Long-Lost Half-Sister

Strayed's half-sister checked Wild out of the public library because she thought it looked like an interesting travel book. She realized that she and the author shared the same father.

The 'Wild' Story Of Cheryl Strayed And Her Long-Lost Half-Sister

Listen · 5:55
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/219754257/220298955" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript