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'New Yorker' culture critic says music and mixtapes helped make sense of himself

1:31pm September 08, 2023

by Terry Gross

Hua Hsu won the Pulitzer Prize for Stay True, his memoir about identity, musical obsessions and the sudden tragic murder of a close friend. Originally broadcast Oct. 18, 2022.

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Adeena Sussman in Tel Aviv Market on Friday morning, September 1, 2023.

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Adeena Sussman's new cookbook includes Shabbat recipes from around the world

8:32am September 08, 2023

by Daniel Estrin

NPR's Daniel Estrin visits cookbook author Adeena Sussman to talk about her latest book, Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals from My Table to Yours.

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1 parent is responsible for a book ban in North Carolina

5:09am September 08, 2023

by Rachel Keith

In a North Carolina school district newly controlled by Republicans, it took just one parent's complaint to remove a book from the curriculum.

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'Wednesday's Child' deals in life after loss

3:59pm September 07, 2023

by Michael Schaub

The stories in Yiyun Li's book focus chiefly on people trying to put themselves together after loss, dealing with anguish that takes its time and rises from its dormancy at unexpected moments.

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Descendants of a famous poet wrestle with his vexed legacy in 'The Wren, The Wren'

5:01am September 07, 2023

by Maureen Corrigan

An acclaimed Irish poet deserts his sick wife and two young daughters. Anne Enright's new novel centers on the way that betrayal reverberates throughout the next generations.

Historical fiction 'The Fraud' is about a man's testimony of outrageous, obvious lies

4:58pm September 06, 2023

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with author Zadie Smith about her first work of historical fiction The Fraud, about the trial of a man who says one provably false thing after another.

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'Holly' is one of Stephen King's most political novels to date

2:16pm September 06, 2023

by Gabino Iglesias

Holly is a gripping crime novel — one that's very close to the traditional King horror aesthetic. The author hasn't been shy about his politics, but this is one of his most political books to date.

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Comic Maria Bamford is down to 'Join Your Cult'

1:32pm September 06, 2023

by Tonya Mosley

Bamford has been part of five different 12-step programs, including groups for overeaters and sex and love addicts. In her new memoir, she jokes about anxiety, depression and the desire to fit in.

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5 YA books for fall that give academia vibes

5:00am September 06, 2023

by Caitlyn Paxson

These new tales offer up eerie magics, mysterious buildings, tentative friendships, and a whole lot of excellent excuses for why someone's homework didn't get done.

"History is something we participate in together," says author Zadie Smith. "We are all involved in history, and all have something to gain from understanding what happened – exactly what happened." Her new novel, The Fraud, is based on real events.

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In 'The Fraud,' Zadie Smith seeks to 'do absolute justice to the truth'

3:18pm September 05, 2023

by Terry Gross

The historical fiction novel centers on a real-life Victorian Era trial. Smith says she doesn't look back on the past with a sense of superiority: In her view, human life is "a continued struggle."

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