Books

Cover detail from Say Nothing, by Patrick Radden Keefe

Books
Arts

'Say Nothing': Murder, Memory And A Masterful History Of The Troubles

12:28pm March 04, 2019

by Maureen Corrigan

Patrick Radden Keefe's new book begins with the 1972 disappearance of a 38-year-old widowed mother in Belfast, then spins into an epic account of Northern Ireland's bloody sectarian conflict.

Beyond The Numbers, Living Through Chicago's Gun Violence In 'American Summer'

5:30pm March 03, 2019

Alex Kotlowitz talks to NPR's Michel Martin about his book American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago. It explores the effects of daily gun violence on the spirit of individuals and the community.

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Books

T Kira Madden On 'Long Live The Tribe Of Fatherless Girls'

8:51am March 03, 2019

T Kira Madden's debut memoir chronicles her life as a queer biracial teenager as the niece of famed shoe designer Steve Madden. She talks to NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

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Books
Arts

'The Border' Is Shakespeare For Our Times — Seriously

7:00am March 03, 2019

by Jason Sheehan

Don Winslow's sprawling, operatic epic about the War on Drugs has some flaws, but it does the same thing Shakespeare's histories did: It simplifies current events into messy, bloody, gripping theater.

Books

Albert Woodfox On Serving More Than 40 Years In Solitary Confinement

9:00am March 02, 2019

Albert Woodfox served more than 40 years in solitary confinement in Louisiana's Angola Prison for a crime he says he didn't commit. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Woodfox about his new book, Solitary.

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Cover detail of The Heavens by Sandra Newman

Books
Arts

What 'The Heavens'? This Extraordinary New Book Feels Like 5 Novels In One

9:00am March 02, 2019

by Lynn Neary

Sandra Newman tells the story of a woman whose recurring dream feels increasingly real. The Heavens is historical fiction, time traveling fantasy, political allegory, social realism and a love story.

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Books
Arts

For Better Or Worse, New Novel Shows 'A Woman Is No Man'

9:00am March 02, 2019

by Scott Simon

Etaf Rum's new novel draws from her own experiences of arranged marriage and early motherhood in the close-knit Palestinian American community where she grew up — and which she eventually left.

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Books
Arts

This 'Devil's Daughter' Has Charm To Spare

7:00am March 02, 2019

by Denny S. Bryce

Lisa Kleypas mashes up two of her romance sagas — the Regency-era Wallflowers and the Victorian Ravenels — in a delightful story about a sheltered widow and her roguish suitor.

Sen. Doug Jones Discusses His Memoir 'Bending Toward Justice'

5:09pm March 01, 2019

NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., about his new memoir, Bending Toward Justice, which recounts his prosecution of the Birmingham church bombing perpetrators.

Mama celebrates her 50th birthday on May 3, 2007, with fruit and vegetables at the Burgers Zoo in Arnhem, Holland.

'Mama's Last Hug' Makes Case That Humans Are Not Alone In Experiencing Emotions

10:14am March 01, 2019

by Barbara J. King

In his new book, primate behavior researcher Frans de Waal writes that "emotions are everywhere in the animal kingdom, from fish to birds to insects and even in brainy mollusks such as the octopus."