Books

Books
Arts

In 'Go Home,' Finding — Or Building — A Home In Words

7:00am March 15, 2018

by Ilana Masad

This new anthology of Asian diasporic writers, edited by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, is packed with stories, essays and poetry on the idea of home — where it is, what it is, and how you find or lose it.

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From The 'Fresh Air' Archives: Eddie Bunker, Who Honed His Writing Craft In Prison

2:05pm March 14, 2018

Bunker, who died in 2005, spent 18 years in prison before becoming a successful writer. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1985 film Runaway Train, which helped launch the career of actor Danny Trejo.

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Cover detail from Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, by Laura Thompson

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2 Books Investigate The Mysteries Of Agatha Christie And The Golden State Killer

11:49am March 14, 2018

by Maureen Corrigan

Maureen Corrigan recommends two books that grapple with real-life mysteries: Laura Thompson's biography of the sphinxlike Agatha Christie, and I'll Be Gone In The Dark, by the late Michelle McNamara.

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Memory Is Mutable, Understanding Elusive In 'Memento Park'

7:00am March 14, 2018

by Heller McAlpin

Mark Sarvas' new novel is dedicated to his own father and grandfathers — it's the story of a C-list movie actor and the valuable heirloom that leads him to dig into his family's history.

cover of The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst

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Author Alan Hollinghurst On Secret Affairs, Narrative Gaps And Writing Gay Sex

4:58pm March 13, 2018

by Ari Shapiro

The Man Booker Prize-winning author's new novel, The Sparsholt Affair, follows a father and son over decades of social change and sexual liberation.

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President Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, last July.

'Russian Roulette' Authors Seek To Connect The Dots Between Trump And Putin

2:55pm March 13, 2018

by Terry Gross

Journalists Michael Isikoff and David Corn have been at the forefront of the investigation of the Trump campaign's ties to Russia. Their new book attempts to put all the pieces of the story together.

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Evil, Antic And Modern, 'The Merry Spinster' Puts A Dark Spin On Fairy Tales

7:00am March 13, 2018

by Annalisa Quinn

Mallory Ortberg's hyperliterate new story collection turns familiar fairy tales inside out to comment on gender, relationships and the way people manipulate each other.

In Islandborn, Lola asks her grandmother what she remembers most about the Dominican Republic.

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In Junot Diaz's 'Islandborn,' A Curious Child Re-Creates Her Dominican Roots

3:11pm March 12, 2018

by Steve Inskeep

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author's new children's book follows Lola, a young Dominican-American who is "haunted by the fact that she was born on an island that she can't remember," Díaz says.

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Blacklisted From Syria, A Journalist Says: 'I Couldn't Imagine Staying Away'

2:59pm March 12, 2018

by Terry Gross

Rania Abouzeid has been covering Syria since 2011 — despite the fact that she's been called a spy, placed on wanted lists by Syrian intelligence and banned from entering the country.

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'The Sparsholt Affair' Confirms Alan Hollinghurst's Status As A Literary Master

2:21pm March 12, 2018

by John Powers

Hollinghurst's new domestic epic leapfrogs across seven decades to examine how the laws of social propriety shape the destinies of a father and son. Critic John Powers says the novel is fascinating.

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