Books

Cover detail from The Dream Life of Astronauts, by Patrick Ryan.

Books
Arts

'The Dream Life Of Astronauts' Is A Journey To Emotional Deep Space

2:42pm July 13, 2016

by Maureen Corrigan

Patrick Ryan's book of short stories is set around Cape Canaveral, Fla., during the 1960s and '70s. Critic Maureen Corrigan says it's the best new short story collection she's read in light years.

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'The War At Home' Recounts The Tension Of Being A Military Spouse

2:42pm July 13, 2016

As the wife of a Navy fighter pilot, memoirist Rachel Starnes has had much of her life — including where she lives and how often she gets to live with her husband — determined by his career.

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Comedy writer Jessi Klein speaks at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015. Klein has also written for Saturday Night Live and Transparent.

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'Schumer' Writer Jessi Klein On Barbies, Ageism And Pumping At The Emmys

10:03am July 13, 2016

Klein won an Emmy in 2015 for her work on Inside Amy Schumer. Her new book, You'll Grow Out of It, is a collection of humorous personal essays.

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Kong Kenan, who's Chinese, takes up the mantle of Superman in New Super-Man #1, written by Gene Yang.

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Diversity Drives The Story In The Latest Incarnation Of Superman

7:56am July 13, 2016

by NPR Staff

If you've been in a comics store lately, you've noticed the increasing diversity on the shelves: a biracial Spiderman, a Muslim Ms. Marvel, and today, a Chinese man takes up the mantle of Superman.

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What Price Happiness? Pretty Expensive, According To 'The Invoice'

7:00am July 13, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Jonas Karlsson's clever parable follows an average guy who's uncommonly content with his lot in life — until he gets an astronomical bill from a sinister entity trying to redistribute happiness.

A Natural History Of Hell By Jeffrey Ford

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Arts

Darkness And Magic Abound In 'Natural History Of Hell'

6:40pm July 12, 2016

by Jason Heller

Jeffrey Ford's new story collection is packed with fairies, demons, historical figures and death personified: not always the freshest concepts, but when the stories work, they're enthrallingly eerie.

Books
Arts

'Almighty' Follows Activists In The Fight Against Nuclear Weapons

4:26pm July 12, 2016

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks to Washington Post reporter and author Dan Zak about his latest book, Almighty, about anti-nuclear weapons activism.

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Cover detail of The Transmigration of Bodies, by Yuri Herrera

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Arts

2 Brilliantly Written Novels From Mexico Head Up A Wave Of Literary Talent

2:10pm July 11, 2016

by John Powers

Critic John Powers says there's a boom in good fiction emerging from Mexico. He recommends Among Strange Victims, by Daniel Saldaña París, and The Transmigration of Bodies, by Yuri Herrera.

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Former Police Chief Has A Plan For 'How To Fix America's Police'

6:20pm July 10, 2016

Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper says in his book To Protect and Serve: How to Fix America's Police that policing is in crisis. He says more emphasis needs to be put on community policing.

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How The 'Perfect 10' Became A Thing Of The Past In Gymnastics

5:18pm July 10, 2016

Dvora Meyers' book The End of the Perfect 10 looks at the new scoring system for international gymnastics competitions and the evolution and demise of the iconic "perfect 10" score.