Books

Books

More Fair Use News: Google Books, Again, Prevails Against Authors

4:55pm October 16, 2015

by Alina Selyukh

Google gets another win in a case by book authors and publishers challenging its digital library. Disputes over "fair use" of copyrighted material are bound to continue as more stuff ends up online.

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Arts

Early On, Comedian John Cleese Says, He Had Good Timing But Little Else

2:47pm October 16, 2015

The co-founder of the Monty Python troupe admits he wasn't "naturally gifted" at physical comedy. His memoir, So, Anyway..., covers his boyhood and early career. Originally broadcast Dec. 16, 2014.

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'Thirteen Ways' Takes A Powerful, Layered Look At Life

1:12pm October 16, 2015

by Jane Ciabattari

Colum McCann's new story collection plays with images of surveillance — traffic cams, nanny cams — to capture a complex picture of love, loss, pain and the way our lives so swiftly pass away.

Since 2004, Google has scanned more than 20 million books as part of an electronic database, such as these volumes at the University of Michigan's Buhr Shelving Facility.

Google's Book-Scanning Project Is Legal, U.S. Appeals Court Says

12:57pm October 16, 2015

by Alina Selyukh

A group of authors had sued over Google's effort to compile a digital library, arguing the project was illegal. An appeals court found the program complies with copyright law.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hanya Yanagihara and Pam Muñoz Ryan are the 2015 Kirkus Prize winners.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hanya Yanagihara And Pam Muñoz Ryan Win Kirkus Prizes

8:54pm October 15, 2015

by Colin Dwyer

The literary awards were handed out for nonfiction, fiction and young readers' literature, respectively. Established just last year by Kirkus Reviews, the prize offers $50,000 to each winner.

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'The Golden Compass' Turns 20 (Its Daemon Has Probably Settled)

7:33pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy series traces the adventures of brave young Lyra Belacqua (and her daemon, Pantalaimon), through an alternate universe that occasionally spills over into our own.

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Former New York Times restaurant critic and Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl speaks in New York City in 2013.

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How Twitter And Cooking Saved Ruth Reichl After 'Gourmet' Folded

7:33pm October 15, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Food writer Ruth Reichl has a new cookbook called My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life. It describes how she found her voice after Conde Nast shut down the magazine where she was editor.

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Punk Icon Patti Smith Releases Second Memoir, 'M Train'

6:23pm October 15, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

Singer Patti Smith's latest book is a poetic, free-flowing memoir. In 2010, her memoir Just Kids — about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe — won a National Book Award.

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The Art of Language, by David J. Peterson.

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Meet The Man Who Invents Languages For A Living

6:22pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

David J. Peterson has crafted languages for TV shows and films — even a whole language for a single giant, in Game of Thrones. For him, every language is a balance of the technical and the artistic.

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A Mixtape Of Russian History In 'Love And Techno'

6:22pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Anthony Marra's new book, The Tsar of Love and Techno, is a collection of stories playing out over nearly a century of change in Russia. He tells NPR he wants the book to function like a mixtape.

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