Books

Books

'A Grain Of Truth' About Memory And Modern Poland

12:26pm January 04, 2013

by Maureen Corrigan

A new mystery by novelist Zygmunt Miloszewski explores Poland's relationship to its anti-Semitic past. Teodor Szacki, the likably washed-up hero, must sprint all over town interrogating suspects, including so-called Polish "patriots" — extremists who bombard him with their anti-Semitic rants.

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Books

From Puberty To Pop Culture: What It Means 'To Be A Woman'

12:13pm January 04, 2013

In How To Be A Woman, British columnist and critic Caitlin Moran describes her journey — thus far — through womanhood. She shares stories of the awkwardness of puberty, and the perils of fashion, career, marriage and childbirth. Along the way, she explores what it means to be a feminist today.

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The singer Skin of Skunk Anansie performs at Brixton Academy in London last month. She wrote the foreword to Laina Dawes' What Are You Doing Here?: A Black Woman's Life and Liberation in Heavy Metal.

The 'Life And Liberation' Of A Black Female Metal Fan

10:15am January 04, 2013

by NPR Staff

Writer Laina Dawes has loved heavy metal ever since she got her first Kiss album at age 8. But the metal community hasn't always loved her back, as she explains in her book What Are You Doing Here?

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Arts

Listen Up! Audiobooks For Every Taste

5:46am December 31, 2012

From a charming tale of the tooth fairy to the very grown-up fiction of Graham Greene, read by the very grown-up Colin Firth, Robin Whitten of AudioFile magazine picks some of 2012's best audiobooks for your holiday listening.

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Ben Fountain is the author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and the short story collection Brief Encounters With Che Guevara.

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Arts

Author Ben Fountain's Book Picks For 2013

6:33pm December 30, 2012

by NPR Staff

Ben Fountain's first novel, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, was nominated for the 2012 National Book Award. He's well-read for 2013, so we thought we'd ask him what to look forward to in the book world.

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Short Stories To Savor On A Winter Weekend

5:38pm December 29, 2012

Author Hortense Calisher once called the short story "an apocalypse in a teacup." Critic Jane Ciabattari presents her favorite mini-apocalypses of 2012, from veteran authors like Sherman Alexie to newcomer Claire Vaye Watkins, who combines a unique voice and a shadowed family history in her debut collection.

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True Originals: Biographies That Defy Expectations

6:26pm December 28, 2012

by Michael Schaub

Our list of this year's best biographies focuses on books about individuals who lived their lives off the beaten path. From the story of a spy turned chef to the story of the real Count of Monte Cristo, these books chronicle subjects who refused to conform to the expectations of others.

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'Fifty Shades' Is The One That Got Away. At Least From Me

5:06pm December 28, 2012

by Lynn Neary

Sometimes "the one that got away" is a book that actually was easy to overlook. And sometimes it's something you ignore until you just can't anymore. NPR's Lynn Neary finally comes to terms with the publishing sensation that is Fifty Shades of Grey.

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Arts

Colbert On Musical Moments And 'America Again'

4:23pm December 28, 2012

As part of our year-end wrap up, we are sharing the best Fresh Air interviews of 2012. Here we listen back to two interviews we did this year with Stephen Colbert. He talks about the presidential debates, his superPAC, Jesus Christ Superstar and Elvis Costello

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The Renaissance Man Who Got It All Wrong

1:03pm December 28, 2012

In A Man of Misconceptions: The Life of an Eccentric in an Age of Change, John Glassie writes of 17th-century Jesuit priest and scientist Athanasius Kircher, a renaissance man who studied magnetism, Mount Vesuvius, even the blood of plague victims. The only problem? His theories were often wrong.

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