Books

Anthony Bourdain spent decades in the restaurant business before discovering that he had a gift for writing and storytelling. His new cookbook, Appetites, features food he cooks for his 9-year-old daughter.

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Arts

In 'Appetites,' Bourdain Pleases The Toughest Food Critic (His 9-Year-Old)

7:33am October 28, 2016

Anthony Bourdain's new cookbook features comfort food he cooks for his young daughter. "She's who I need to please, and if she's not happy, I'm not happy," he says.

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Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

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'Certain Dark Things' Is A Compelling New Take On Vampires

11:40am October 27, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel is set in a realistic, multidimensional Mexico City, where a young human boy meets a mysterious girl and gets caught up in a whirlwind of vampire-gang drug wars.

The bounty of the earth is celebrated in the high rituals of pagans. (Above) A Wiccan priestess is silhouetted by the afternoon light. In the foreground are examples of Wiccan cooking for the vernal equinox: (clockwise from near right) beet-pickled eggs;

What The Real Witches Of America Eat

10:55pm October 26, 2016

by Nina Martyris

Nope. It's not eye of newt and toe of frog. But food — and its connection to dead loved ones — does play a starring role in the major Pagan holiday Samhain, which coincides with Halloween.

Latino Noir: Private Eyes And Really Bad Vatos

12:32pm October 26, 2016

by Felix Contreras

Good guys, bad guys, cops and intrigue — it's all part of the world of Latino noir fiction. Author Carmen Amato takes us on a tour of the genre.

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Gretzky grew up in Ontario, where he used to pretend to win the Stanley Cup in his backyard. "You're always dreaming that you're the guy that scores the game-winning goal," he says.

Wayne Gretzky On Hockey History, Dreaming Big And Canadian Pride

10:41am October 26, 2016

by NPR Staff

The ice hockey legend marks the 99th anniversary of the NHL with his new book 99: Stories of the Game. Never mind the sport's tough guy reputation; "the game of hockey is an art," Gretzky says.

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Unmentionable by Therese O'Neill (Raquel Zaldivar/NPR)

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I Shall Faint: 'Unmentionable' Unpacks Victorian Womanhood

7:00am October 26, 2016

by Genevieve Valentine

Therese Oneill's new Unmentionable is a snarkily informal history of the difficulty of being a woman in the Victorian Era, hemmed in from head to toe with countless rules about dress and manners.

Novelist Paul Beatty Is First American To Win Britain's Man Booker Prize

7:40pm October 25, 2016

by Lynn Neary

Beatty won for The Sellout, a satire hailed as hilarious about the fraught subject of race in the U.S. The competition was opened recently to any author writing in English and published in the U.K.

Books
Arts

Book Review: 'Garden Time,' W.S. Merwin

4:23pm October 25, 2016

by Tess Taylor

Our poetry reviewer, Tess Taylor, praises the most recent collection by W.S. Merwin called, Garden Time.

Books

At Daughter's Insistence, Bourdain Includes Ratatouille Recipe In 'Appetites'

10:06am October 25, 2016

For years, Anthony Bourdain was identified as a "bad boy" of the culinary world. The chef and TV host's new cookbook reflects his life as a dad. Renee Montagne talks to him about his book Appetites.

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Books
Arts

Fact, Fiction, History And Heart Converge In 'The Terranauts'

7:00am October 25, 2016

by Jason Heller

T.C. Boyle's new novel is ripped from the headlines ... of 1993. It follows the misadventures of a group of scientists conducting experiments in a hermetically sealed, Biosphere 2-like environment.