True Love And Time Travel In 'Patience'
Comic artist Dan Clowes takes a new direction in his latest graphic novel — which starts with a rare moment of happiness for its main characters. Does it last? Spoiler alert: No.
Books
'Hollywood Hoofbeats' Chronicles The Horses That Captured Moviegoers' Hearts
Author Petrine Day Mitchum tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that show business horses have been known to develop an actor's affection for the camera, often coming to life when the director says "action."
Keys Are The Key To 'What Is Not Yours'
Writer Helen Oyeyemi's new collection features nine stories all linked through the idea of keys that open rooms, doors, even hearts. She says she felt haunted by keys while working on the book.
'A Song Of Gratitude': Cuban-American Poet Hopeful Of Improved Relations
Cuban-American poet and author Margarita Engle praises President Obama's "courage to make peace" with Cuba. Her book Enchanted Air tells of being separated from her Cuban family members.
'Alone In Berlin' Features The Story That Continues To Revise And Resonate
An act of defiance in Nazi-era Germany is the subject of a film based on a novel that, when it finally came out in English, connected with readers. The director says its message still holds relevance.
A Love Story Rudely Interrupted By History
Peter Behrens' novel, Carry Me, follows the fortunes of two interconnected families through the World Wars in Europe, as well as the turmoil leading up to Ireland's War of Independence.
'I Grew Up In The Shadow Of This': Writer Reflects On His Brother's Murder
David Kushner was 4 years old when his older brother Jon was killed. "I think with the loss of anybody, that person — they don't disappear," he says. Alligator Candy is his memoir of the experience.
With Fear, Determination And Poetry: How Great Writers Face Death
Katie Roiphe's The Violet Hour is a meditation on mortality in which she describes the last days of Maurice Sendak, Sigmund Freud, Susan Sontag, John Updike, James Salter and Dylan Thomas.
Amidst Shadows On Screen, 'Innocents' Wonders What's Real
Dana Spiotta's ambitious new novel follows two women, friends and filmmakers, through decades of conversations about art, film and life — and a dangerous final documentary project.
Sink Or Swim: Poems On The Existential Terror Of Everyday Life
John Koethe explores the minutia of daily life and the disillusionment that comes with age in his tenth volume of poetry, The Swimmer.