Books

Books
Arts

McMurtry Takes Aim At A Legend In 'Last Kind Words Saloon'

9:53am June 10, 2014

by Alan Cheuse

The famed writer of Westerns uses his first novel in five years to blow a few holes in the myths surrounding the shootout at the OK Corral. Reviewer Alan Cheuse calls it "a peach of a book."

Queue Listen Now

Books

Author: 2nd Amendment's Only Sentence Generates Recurrent Debate

8:23am June 10, 2014

Steve Inskeep talks to Michael Waldman president of NYU Law School's Brennan Center for Justice about his new book, which is a biography of the second amendment.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

From Lunch (n.) To Balding (adj.), Some Words Are Just 'Bad English'

11:02pm June 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

A new book looks at words that self-appointed linguistic police have declared contraband, like "lunch," which should be a verb, and "balding," a participle formed from an adjective instead of a verb.

Queue Listen Now

Looking at difficult mathematics equations on a blackboard.

Books
Arts

'How Not To Be Wrong' In Math Class? Add A Dose Of Skepticism

11:01pm June 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

Professor Jordan Ellenberg gives students points for recognizing when they get a wrong answer, even if they can't figure out why. In his new book, he writes that good math is about good reasoning.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

'Take This Man': Uncovering A Mother's Reinventions

8:08pm June 07, 2014

by NPR Staff

When Brando Skyhorse was 3, he and his mother were abandoned by his Mexican father. So his mother created a new story line for the family, identifying herself and her young son as American Indian.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Swallowed By The Times And The Fate Of 'Great Powers'

12:41pm June 07, 2014

Tom Rachman has written a book for book lovers in The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. The best-selling novelist talks with NPR's Scott Simon about the difference between reading and literature.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

In Leap From Page To Stage, UK's Take On 'Catch-22' Gets It Right

7:58pm June 05, 2014

by Ari Shapiro

Catch-22 is widely considered a great novel; until now, it has been a disaster as a play. A new production of his play seems to have broken the curse: It's touring the UK and receiving strong reviews.

Queue Listen Now

Brothers rides down the front stretch before the 88th Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 18, 2012, in Baltimore.

For Jockey Donna Barton Brothers, Horse Racing Runs In The Family

3:35pm June 05, 2014

At the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, former jockey Donna Barton Brothers will interview the winner on horseback. Now an analyst for NBC, Brothers won more than 1,100 races before retiring in 1998.

Queue Listen Now

'Burning Down The House' Makes The Case Against Juvenile Incarceration

4:57pm June 04, 2014

by NPR Staff

In her new book, Nell Bernstein says America's juvenile justice system is overdue for reform. Time in jail as a child or teen, she says, is the best predictor of adult criminality and incarceration.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Amazon's Pricing Dispute Sets Book Expo Buzzing

12:02pm June 03, 2014

by Lynn Neary

The dispute between retail giant Amazon and publisher Hachette was big news at Book Expo America. Writers, publishers and agents are wondering what the rift could mean for the future of books.

Queue Listen Now