Books

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Arts

Catch This 'Midnight Taxi' To A Magical Brooklyn

7:00am January 07, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

The second volume in Daniel José Older's Bone Street Rumba series follows half-dead, all-haunted ghost slayer Carlos Delacruz as he investigates a series of grisly events in Brooklyn's Von King Park.

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'This Census-Taker' Is A Quiet Book With A Murderous Heart

5:14pm January 06, 2016

by Jason Sheehan

China Mieville's new novella feels like a fairy tale. It's set in an isolated hill village, where a young boy witnesses a terrible crime and meets a mysterious stranger who may (or may not) help him.

A daguerreotype of Jack-Be-Little Squash, an heirloom variety from plant conservationist Amy Goldman's farm in New York's Hudson Valley.

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In 'Heirloom Harvest,' Old-School Portraits Of Vegetable Treasures

3:50pm January 06, 2016

by Morgan McCloy

A leading expert of the daguerreotype started photographing a gardener's collection of heirloom vegetables 15 years ago. They've published a book to honor the unusual varieties in the collection.

The New York Public Library's Labs team developed a visualization of all 180,000-plus public domain items now available to the public as high-resolution downloads.

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New York Public Library Makes 180,000 High-Res Images Available Online

1:37pm January 06, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

Maps, posters, manuscripts, sheet music, drawings, photographs, letters, ancient texts: Thousands of items in the public domain are now offered as high-resolution downloads. No library card necessary.

Former paramedic Kevin Hazzard says he received "zero training" before driving an ambulance for the first time.

Paramedic Shares His Wild Ride Treating 'A Thousand Naked Strangers'

5:15pm January 05, 2016

Kevin Hazzard, who worked as an Atlanta paramedic, rescued people from choking, overdoses, cardiac arrest, gunshot wounds and a host of other medical emergencies. Respiratory calls were his favorites.

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Graphic Novelist Named National Ambassador For Young People's Literature

2:30pm January 05, 2016

NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Gene Yang about becoming the first graphic novelist to be named the Library of Congress' National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

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Glittering 'Past' Channels Chekhov

1:43pm January 05, 2016

by Heller McAlpin

Tessa Hadley's new novel follows four siblings as they gather at a dilapidated family cottage for a bittersweet summer together. Critic Heller McAlpin praises Hadley's "wry compassion."

Author Gene Luen Yang is the author of books including American Born Chinese and Level Up.

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The War Over Comics For Kids Is Nearly Over, And Kids Are Winning

12:13pm January 05, 2016

by Glen Weldon

The selection of graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang as the latest National Ambassador for Young People's Literature signals an important shift in the effort to reunite kids and comics.

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Food Culture Gives Rise To New 'Eatymology'

8:01pm January 04, 2016

by NPR Staff

From brogurt to gastrosexual, humorist and food writer Josh Friedland has collected many of the new words born of our current foodie culture in a new food dictionary, Eatymology.

To mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, the Folger Shakespeare Library is sending the first printed collection of all his plays out on tour.

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400 Years After His Death, Shakespeare's First Folio Goes Out On Tour

2:38pm January 04, 2016

by Susan Stamberg

The First Folio is the first printed collection of all of Shakespeare's plays, assembled by two of his buddies after he died. Without it, plays like Macbeth and Twelfth Night might not have survived.

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