'Geek Love' Author Katherine Dunn Dies At 70
Author Katherine Dunn, who wrote the cult comic novel, Geek Love, has died at age 70. NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Dunn's son, Eli Dapolonia, about his mother's life and work.
Books
'Valiant Ambition' Tells Of Benedict Arnold's Turn From Hero To Traitor
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick about his new book, Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution.
Stung By 83 Different Insects, Biologist Rates His Pain On A Scale Of 1 To — OW!
Biologist Justin Schmidt has traveled all over the world looking for bugs ... and getting stung by them. He documents his travels/travails in his new book The Sting of the Wild.
Urban Foraging: Unearthing The Wildcrafted Flavors Of Los Angeles
For Pascal Baudar, LA is a treasure trove of edible plants and insects that he uses in unusual culinary creations. He helps some of the city's top chefs put wild foods on menus and has a new cookbook.
Physicist Talks 'Great Leaps' Of Physical World In 'Seven Brief Lessons On Physics'
At only 78 pages long, Carlo Rovelli's "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics" is certainly that. He speaks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about modern physics.
'The Mirror Thief' Reflects Three Transfixing Tales
Martin Seay's debut novel tells three separate but connected stories, all revolving around an alchemist in 16th-century Venice who conspires to smuggle two legendary mirror-makers out of the city.
When Being Human Got His Goat, This Designer Became One
To be human is to worry, but "you look at a goat," says Thomas Thwaites, "and it's just ... free." In GoatMan, Thwaites explains how he learned to walk, eat and think like the ruminant.
The Ultimate Latin Dictionary: After 122 Years, Still At Work On The Letter 'N'
Work on the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae began in 1894 and carries on to this day in a Bavarian palace in Munich, Germany. There's still a long way to go for a project with a soft deadline of 2050.
For Pulitzer Prize-Winner Gregory Pardlo, Poetry Offers 'Intimacy' Between Strangers
In the latest conversation marking the centenary of the Pulitzers, NPR's Scott Simon asks Gregory Pardlo what it means for a poet to win the prize and how it affects his poetry.
Madness And A Search For Healing In 'Albina And The Dog-Men'
Alejandro Jodorowsky's hallucinatory new novel follows two women on the run — one suffering from a monstrous affliction. Though disturbing in places, it has the feel of an ancient fireside tale.