Literature

The National Book Foundation released its annual book award longlists on Friday. Pornsawan Sangmanee / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm hide caption

Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif says copies of the Urdu translation of his irreverent novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, were seized from his publisher's office this week. The book was published in English in 2008 to wide international acclaim and was translated into Urdu in September. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption

Quilp, the epitome of evil in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, seen here with Little Nell, is a dwarf with the head of a giant and a "few discolored fangs" for teeth. But his most grotesque trait is his trick of drinking "boiling tea without winking" and eating "hard eggs, shell and all." Culture Club/Getty Images hide caption

Israeli writer Amos Oz, shown here in 2015, died Friday at age 79. picture alliance via Getty Image hide caption

Attendees peruse the books available at last weekend's Karachi Literary Festival. Diaa Hadid/NPR hide caption

Ah yes, the erotic color variation of an aged bathtub. Robert Easton/Flickr hide caption