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Equal Parts Sarcasm, Silliness And Smarts In 'Let's Be Less Stupid'

4:43pm July 14, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Patricia Marx's comic memoir chronicles her four-month attempt to boost her brainpower. Critic Heller McAlpin says anyone clever enough to have written this book shouldn't worry about her brain.

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'Cold Iron' Asks: What If Tolkien Had Been American?

2:44pm July 14, 2015

by Amal El-Mohtar

Stina Leicht's novel melds Tolkienesque fantasy with muskets and gunpowder in a tale of elves at war with humans. Critic Amal El-Mohtar calls it "an impressively character-driven doorstop."

John A. Williams, a renowned poet and novelist, died July 3. He was 89.

A Tribute To John Williams, The Man Who Wrote 'I Am'

10:14pm July 13, 2015

by Karen Grigsby Bates

The prolific author tackled difficult issues of race in novels and poetry. He used his writing to challenge assumptions about African-Americans, including civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.

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French, English, Comics: Proust On Memory, In Any Language

8:04pm July 13, 2015

by Glen Weldon

Proust's famous novel Swann's Way is out in the form of — wait for it — a graphic novel. Glen Weldon explains how much of it is substance and how much is gimmick.

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Harper Lee's 'Watchman' Is A Mess That Makes Us Reconsider A Masterpiece

3:11pm July 13, 2015

by Maureen Corrigan

Depending on whom you ask, Go Set a Watchman is either a recently discovered first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird — or a failed sequel. Either way, critic Maureen Corrigan calls it "kind of a mess."

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Harper Lee's friend Michael Brown took this picture of the author in October 1957, the same month she signed with publisher J.B. Lippincott.

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How Harper Lee Went From Wannabe Writer To The Jane Austen Of Alabama

2:34pm July 13, 2015

by Joel Rose

Lee once said she wanted to be the chronicler of "small-town, middle-class Southern life." Even without her highly anticipated second novel, Go Set a Watchman, many fans would say she succeeded.

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In Palestine, A Child Of Violence Becomes A Music Educator

8:29am July 12, 2015

by NPR Staff

Children of the Stone tells the story of a rock-throwing Palestinian teen's journey to found a music school. NPR's Lynn Neary speaks with Ramzi Aburedwan and author Sandy Tolan.

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One of screenwriter Nicole Perlman's next projects is a comic based on Gamora, the green-skinned killer played by Zoe Saldana in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy.

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She Was Groot: After A Galactic Hit, Marvel Screenwriter Tackles Comics

8:29am July 12, 2015

by Petra Mayer

Nicole Perlman was the first woman to get a writing credit on a Marvel Studios movie, last year's Guardians of the Galaxy. Now, she's taking on a more earthly challenge: Writing her first comic book.

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Patricia Marx is also the author of two novels, Starting from Happy and Him Her Him Again the End of Him.

Books
Arts

Fearing Her Mind's Decline, Patricia Marx Scrambles To Get 'Less Stupid'

9:35pm July 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

The first woman to write for The Harvard Lampoon, now a New Yorker staffer, Marx still felt like she was getting forgetful with age. So, she put her head to work, doing every brain game she could.

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Winning Is For Losers: The Great Stories Of The Guys Who Finish Last

10:38am July 11, 2015

by NPR Staff

Author Max Leonard says that, when it comes to the Tour de France, the riders in the back often have far more interesting stories than the riders in the front. His new book is called Lanterne Rouge.

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