Books

Books
Arts

'Dressing Constitutionally': When Fashion And Laws Collide

10:19am August 22, 2013

by NPR Staff

Ruthann Robson's new book explores the issues around what we wear and how it's legislated, including everything from First Amendment questions to government concerns about public nudity.

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Juan Gabriel Vasquez is also the author of The Informers.

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Arts

'Things Falling' Is A Potboiler, But One That's Set To Simmer

6:38pm August 21, 2013

by Rosecrans Baldwin

The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez takes readers on a journey through Colombia starting in the late '60s — but it's not your average detective story. Reviewer Rosecrans Baldwin says the real mysteries in the book are in the minds of the characters.

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Books

Crime Novelist Elmore Leonard Dies At 87

12:03pm August 21, 2013

by Lynn Neary

Elmore Leonard was a prolific writer, and was often referred to as the "Dickens of Detroit." The legendary crime writer published 46 novels, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. Several of his novels were made into popular movie and TV adaptations.

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Elmore Leonard, The 'Dickens Of Detroit,' Dies At 87

5:22pm August 20, 2013

by Noah Adams

Legendary crime writer Elmore Leonard published 46 novels, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. His works were adapted countless times for film and TV. Noah Adams remembers the man whose advice to other writers was "try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip."

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Nate Anderson is a senior editor at Ars Technica. His work has also been published in The Economist and Foreign Policy.

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Arts

Wild, Wild Web: Policing An Early, Lawless Internet

2:36pm August 20, 2013

There was a time when many thought the Internet was beyond government regulation, its very chaos a source of creativity and strength. Nate Anderson's The Internet Police looks at how law enforcement went about changing that.

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Books

'Southern League': Birmingham Barons Break Racial Divide

7:09am August 20, 2013

By 1964, Birmingham, Ala., gained infamy as the center of the civil rights struggle. In the midst of that tension, one of the city's major institutions broke through the racial divide. The Birmingham Barons minor league baseball club became the first integrated professional sports team in the state. David Greene talks to author Larry Colton, whose book, Southern League, traces how this milestone affected the city.

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Scott Anderson is a novelist and veteran war correspondent. His previous novels include Moonlight Hotel and The Man Who Tried to Save the World.

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'Lawrence' Of Arabia: From Archaeologist To War Hero

5:52pm August 19, 2013

by NPR Staff

T.E. Lawrence, the British officer who played a key role in the Middle East during World War I, served as one of that war's few romantic champions. Scott Anderson's Lawrence in Arabia explains how Lawrence used his knowledge of Arab culture and medieval history to advance British causes.

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The Tyson Library in Ludlow, Vt., is required to support itself independently; public libraries in Vermont receive no state funding.

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For You To Borrow, Some Libraries Have To Go Begging

4:14pm August 19, 2013

by Neda Ulaby

Most Americans say public libraries are important to the community — but eight states don't actually support them. Texas has cut budgets drastically; in Vermont, local librarians must go hand in hand to town meetings every year. Neda Ulaby reports on the landscape of library funding across the U.S.

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Debbie Macomber's latest book is Rose Harbor in Bloom.

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Fans Are Like Friends To 'Reigning Queen' Of Women's Fiction

6:12pm August 18, 2013

by Petra Mayer

Debbie Macomber's books don't get a lot of critical attention, but they've sold in the hundreds of millions. Her fans feel like they know and love the woman behind the words, so her publisher threw a party for them.

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A luxury home in an unfinished subdivision

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Arts

A Dystopian View Of America's 'Fallen' Suburbs

6:03pm August 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Patrick Flanery's taut new novel, Fallen Land, delves into the housing crisis, creeping corporate surveillance and a "crisis of neighborliness" in American life. The backdrop: a half-built and crumbling subdivision outside of an unnamed American city.

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