Books

Books
Arts

Escaping A World On Fire In 'Exit West'

7:00am March 01, 2017

by Michael Schaub

Mohsin Hamid's new novel imagines a country, never specified, swollen with refugees from an ongoing conflict — and a series of mysterious doors that appear, offering escape, but also displacement.

Some of the proceeds from the Obamas' two upcoming books will be donated to charity, both by the publisher and the authors.

Penguin Random House Announces Book Deal With The Obamas

8:06pm February 28, 2017

by Maggie Penman

In a statement Tuesday the publisher said it was "very much looking forward" to working with the former president and former first lady, who will each be writing a book.

Some writers are turning to sensitivity readers to be sure they haven't inadvertently offended someone from a different culture.

Experts Or Censors? The Debate Over Authors' Use Of Sensitivity Readers

3:00pm February 28, 2017

by Lynn Neary

One author sees them as an extension of the research she does for all her books; another worries they're being used as a risk management tool.

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'River On Fire' Explores Genius, Madness And The Poetry Of Robert Lowell

1:45pm February 28, 2017

Kay Redfield Jamison's new book describes how Lowell's manic-depressive illness influenced his life and work. "His manias tended to lead him into writing a fresh kind of poetry," she says.

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To This Scholar, For-Profit Colleges Are 'Lower Ed'

12:17pm February 28, 2017

by Anya Kamenetz

Tressie McMillan Cottom delves into the hopes and dreams of students outside the traditional college path.

Books
Arts

'To Be A Machine' Digs Into The Meaning Of Humanity

7:00am February 28, 2017

by Jason Heller

Mark O'Connell's new book is a lucid, soulful look at the transhumanist movement — a group who believe that direct interface between humans and machines is the only way forward for our species.

"This arctic fox would not hold still. Finally, in desperation, I squealed like a pig. With that, he stopped, tilted his head to figure out what that awful sound was, and I made this frame," Sartore writes.

Photographer Builds A 'Photo Ark' For 6,500 Animal Species And Counting

5:54pm February 27, 2017

National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to document every captive animal species in the world. He talks about getting an arctic fox to hold still, and Photoshopping out poop.

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Books

'The Hate U Give' Explores Racism And Police Violence

8:12am February 26, 2017

In Angie Thomas' novel, Starr Carter lives in a gang-ravaged area and goes to a school where she's one of only a few black students. She talks with Lulu Garcia-Navarro about her book The Hate U Give.

Books

New Book Focuses On The 'Humanity Of Syria' Lost In The War

8:12am February 26, 2017

Writer Alia Malek's new book is The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria. She talks about why she chose to tell the story of Syria through her grandmother's apartment in Damascus.

Books

'Harmless Like You' Is A Story Of How Hurts Are Inherited

8:28am February 25, 2017

NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Rowan Hisayo Buchanan about her debut novel, Harmless Like You, a story of how we inherit pain from our parents, and inevitably pass it to our descendants.