Author Interviews

The Los Angeles chef says the Korean taco was "like a lint roller," pulling its chefs' backgrounds into one food truck offering. Choi's new book, L.A. Son, tells his story of addiction, culinary success and growing up Korean in Orange Country, Calif.

Janet Hamlin was the only courtroom sketch artist allowed at the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals in 2006. Her work has been collected in a new book, Sketching Guantanamo — and she tells NPR's Renee Montagne that getting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's nose right ended up being a challenge.

Roosevelt described the power of the presidency to shape public opinion as "the bully pulpit." That's also the title of a new book from presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, in which she explains the unique relationships Roosevelt forged with reporters.

Speculation about her grandmother's life in China in the early 1900s provided Tan inspiration for her latest novel, out Tuesday. Valley is an opus that covers half of a tumultuous century, ranges across two continents and involves love, deceit, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption.

Journalist Hooman Majd's new book, The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay, was inspired by the year he and his young American family spent in Tehran, where Majd was born. He tells Fresh Air about the country's long-standing tradition of sulking, and what sets Tehran apart from most other Islamic metropolises.

At the age of 59, the British science-fiction writer was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer's. Now he's publishing an edited version of a book he first wrote when he was 17. He can't read because of his disease, but Pratchett continues writing — with the help of dictation software.

The former International Space Station commander achieved Internet stardom with his in-space rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." After three missions and a total of six months in space he shares what he's learned in a new book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

The last issue of Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics came out a decade ago. Now, the author returns to Dream's world with a prequel series, The Sandman: Overture. Gaiman speaks with NPR's Steve Inskeep about the freedom of starting something new and why he, like all writers, is a Sandman himself.

Last month, Ronstadt revealed that she has Parkinson's disease and can no longer sing. Her new memoir, Simple Dreams, reflects on a long career. In this conversation with Fresh Air's Terry Gross, she offers frank insights on sex, drugs, and why "competition was for horse races."

Through all the pain and redemption, "Johnny Cash was a good man," author Robert Hilburn tells NPR's David Greene. Hilburn's new biography of the late country singer is titled Johnny Cash: The Life.

It's been 50 years since President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and polls show that a majority of Americans still believe Kennedy was the victim of a conspiracy, not a lone assassin. Philip Shenon, author of A Cruel and Shocking Act, explores what keeps these conspiracy theories alive.

Daniel Alarcon's new novel is set in an unnamed, war-scarred Latin American country. The protagonist, Nelson, is an aspiring playwright — though he doesn't pursue his dreams with much diligence. Alarcon discusses his own views on working as an artist and his creative process.