Books

George Saunders' first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo.

Books
Arts

George Saunders Re-Imagines A President's Grief With 'Lincoln In The Bardo'

3:09pm February 09, 2017

by Maureen Corrigan

The acclaimed short-story writer sets his first novel in the cemetery where 11-year-old Willie Lincoln was buried. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Lincoln in the Bardo "searing, inventive and bizarre."

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Memory And Loss Haunt The Stories In 'The Refugees'

10:00am February 09, 2017

by Michael Schaub

Viet Thanh Nguyen's new collection looks at how it feels and what it means to be a refugee. It's a wonderful group of stories that prove fiction can do more than tell stories, it can bear witness.

Books
Arts

'Autumn' Champions Free Spirits And The Lifeforce Of Art

7:00am February 09, 2017

by Heller McAlpin

Ali Smith kicks off a seasonally-themed quartet with this ultimately uplifting look at the lifelong friendship between a young woman and her unconventional childhood soulmate, an artistic gay man.

Books
Arts

Poetry To Pay Attention To: A Preview Of 2017's Best Verse

6:00pm February 08, 2017

by Craig Morgan Teicher

2017 is turning out to be a year of big change. Critic Craig Teicher highlights some of the poetry that can help guide readers through it.

The Twenty Days of Turin By Giorgio De Maria

Books
Arts

Nothing Is Quite What It Seems In Surreal, Unsettling 'Twenty Days'

7:00am February 08, 2017

by Jason Sheehan

Giorgio De Maria's cult novel was first published in Italy in 1977. It's a spooky piece of magical realism that captures a chaotic time in Italian history, starting gently and getting seriously weird.

Margaret Atwood says the next big dystopian novel ought to be a newspaper serial.

Books
Arts

What's The Next Big Dystopian Novel? Margaret Atwood Has Some Ideas

7:00pm February 07, 2017

by Petra Mayer

Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale landed on top of Amazon's best-seller lists this week, following other classics like 1984 and It Can't Happen Here. She has some thoughts on our next great dystopia.

Books
Arts

Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' Soars To Top Of Amazon Bestseller List

5:17pm February 07, 2017

by Petra Mayer

Margaret Atwood's feminist classic, The Handmaid's Tale, is the latest dystopian novel to hit the Amazon bestseller lists, following 1984 and It Can't Happen Here.

Queue Listen Now

Joyce Carol Oates' other recent books include The Lost Landscape, The Sacrifice and Lovely, Dark, Deep.

Books
Arts

Joyce Carol Oates' New Novel Begins With An Abortion Doctor's Murder

4:30pm February 07, 2017

by NPR Staff

A Book of American Martyrs is told, in part, from the perspective of the murderer, a man who feels he's been called by God.

Queue Listen Now

'Black Edge' Recounts The Biggest Insider-Trading Scandal In History

1:30pm February 07, 2017

Sheelah Kolhatkar discusses the investigation of billionaire hedge-fund trader Steven A. Cohen. She says the ways Wall Street elites accumulate wealth often negatively affect the rest of the country.

Queue Listen Now

Charles Dickens, possibly inspired by his own hunger while his father was in debtor's prison, has plenty to say about food in his novels.

Books
Arts

It Was The Best Of Fries, It Was The Worst Of Fries: Charles Dickens, Food Scribe

12:33pm February 07, 2017

by Nicole Jankowski

Charles Dickens, born Feb. 7, 1812, was likely inspired by his own hunger to write some of the finest descriptions of Victorian food and cooking that have ever been recorded in literature.