Fresh Air Weekend: Contemplating Life, Sex And Elevators In Space
Astronomer Chris Impey discusses the future of space travel, sex in space and the connection between science and Buddhism. Originally broadcast May 11, 2015.
Books
The Gates Of Liavek Are Open Again In 'Points Of Departure'
For years, readers wishing to see the shared world of Liavek had to go via crumbling paperbacks. Now, authors Patricia C. Wrede and Pamela Dean have reprinted their stories of the magical trade city.
Will 'The Familiar' Kill The Novel? No, But It Comes Close
Mark Z. Danielewski's epic 800-page tale of a girl and a cat wants to be the stepping stone to a new understanding of the novel — but critic Jason Sheehan says it's undone by too many parentheses.
NPR Bestsellers: Week Of May 14, 2015
The lists are compiled from weekly surveys of close to 500 independent bookstores nationwide.
NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Fiction, Week Of May 14, 2015
A birthday party is interrupted by a gruesome, public killing in James Patterson's 14th Deadly Sin. It debuts at No. 9.
NPR Bestsellers: Hardcover Nonfiction, Week Of May 14, 2015
Willie Nelson looks back on his life and career in It's a Long Story, which debuts at No. 11.
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Fiction, Week Of May 14, 2015
In The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd traces three decades in the lives of a slave and her reluctant owner. It appears at No. 3.
NPR Bestsellers: Paperback Nonfiction, Week Of May 14, 2015
At No. 6, Cat Warren's What the Dog Knows looks at the abilities of working canines.
'Pope And Mussolini' Tells The 'Secret History' Of Fascism And The Church
Historian David Kertzer says the Catholic Church lent strength and legitimacy to Mussolini's fascist regime. Kertzer recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his book. Originally broadcast Jan. 25, 2014.
'Black Snow' Is A Lyrical Landscape Of Hope And Menace
Former Dublin newsman Paul Lynch's new novel follows an Irish farmer in 1945, struggling against adversity. Critic Alan Cheuse says Lynch's prose is so gorgeous, it makes him want to give up writing.