Book News & Features

Poetry Is Making A Big Comeback In The U.S., Survey Results Reveal

6:47pm June 08, 2018

by Colin Dwyer

The National Endowment for the Arts says that since its last survey period in 2012, the number of U.S. adults reading poetry had nearly doubled. And the agency says social media may be responsible.

Tommy Orange's debut novel features a wide cast of characters who are all Native American, with varying degrees of connection to the culture. He says, "I wanted to represent a range of human experience as a way to humanize Native people."

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Native American Author Tommy Orange Feels A 'Burden To Set The Record Straight'

5:00am June 08, 2018

by Lynn Neary

In his debut novel, There There, Orange explores what it means to be an urban Indian. He says, "Native people look like a lot of different things. ... And we just need a new story to build from."

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From left Bishop James Shannon, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery, February 6, 1968.

Exploding Myths About 'Black Power, Jewish Politics'

6:18am June 04, 2018

by Leah Donnella

In a new book, historian Marc Dollinger argues that the conventional wisdom of Jewish and African-American harmony during the civil rights era is flawed. And that the real story has lessons for today.

Enemies in Love, a new book by Alexis Clark, tells the story of an unexpected romance.

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What Happens When Two Enemies Fall In Love?

6:00am May 27, 2018

by Karen Grigsby Bates

A love story between a black Army nurse and a German POW during World War II? You couldn't make that story up — and Alexis Clark, author of the upcoming book, Enemies in Love, didn't.

Novelist and journalist Tom Wolfe believed that techniques for fiction and nonfiction should be interchangeable. "The things that work in nonfiction would work in fiction, and vice versa," he said.

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Tom Wolfe, Best-Selling Author And Genre-Breaking Journalist, Dies At 88

2:32pm May 15, 2018

by Tom Vitale

The author of The Bonfire of the Vanities and The Right Stuff used to give himself a quota of 10 triple-spaced pages per day. He also experimented with literary techniques in his nonfiction.

My So-Called Bollywood Life, by Nisha Sharma

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April Showers Bring These 3 May Romances

7:00am May 13, 2018

by Maya Rodale

Love is in the air, and romance is blossoming like May flowers — so we've gathered a bouquet of the month's best, from a Bollywood-esque confection set in New Jersey to a transatlantic royal romp.

Books

In Zora Neale Hurston's 'Barracoon,' Language Is The Key To Understanding

8:51am May 08, 2018

by Lynn Neary

The book is based on conversations Hurston had with Cudjo Lewis, who was brought to this country on the last trans-Atlantic slave ship. It's a unique document of Lewis' life before and after slavery.

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Arizona Sen. John McCain attends the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

Sen. John McCain Reads From His Forthcoming Memoir, 'The Restless Wave'

6:21pm May 03, 2018

Arizona Sen. John McCain reads from his memoir, The Restless Wave, exclusively at NPR. The book is set to hit shelves on May 22.

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Mary Ann Shilts takes one of the free comic books from the display rack at the New Dimensions Comics store in Cranberry, Pa. during Free Comic Book Day 2012.

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Free Comic Book Day 2018: A Guide To The Best Bets And The Best Avoided

3:44pm May 03, 2018

by Glen Weldon

For the 10th year in a row, NPR's Glen Weldon reviews the 52 free comic books you'll be able to pick up in comics shops across the nation on Saturday, May 5th.

Music is integral to Arena Stage's Snow Child, and actors sometimes join the house band on their own instruments.

'Snow Child' Conveys Alaska's Wild Magic In Musical Form

5:14pm May 02, 2018

by Lynn Neary

Eowyn Ivey's novel about a Alaskan homesteaders longing for a child — and the magical snow girl who appears to them — has been reimagined as a bluegrass-infused musical.

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