Books

Books
Arts

'Blood Will Out' Reveals Secrets Of A Murderous Master Manipulator

3:07pm August 07, 2015

Author Walter Kirn thought he was befriending an eccentric Rockefeller, but his pal turned out to be an impostor wanted for murder. Originally broadcast March 10, 2014.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

Identity Is At The Heart Of Brash, Essential 'Mulattos'

10:56am August 07, 2015

by Michael Schaub

Tom Williams' new collection digs into the experience of being multiracial, difficult to categorize in a society that likes to slap labels on people. Reviewer Michael Schaub calls it vital and gutsy.

Books
Arts

'Marriage Of Opposites' Paints Camille Pissarro's Colorful Family History

8:40am August 07, 2015

by Jean Zimmerman

Alice Hoffman's new novel is a fictionalized account of the painter's early life and family, including the eccentric mother who raised him on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas.

Books
Arts

The Martians Are Coming! 'Broadcast Hysteria' Looks At The War Over 'Worlds'

3:16pm August 06, 2015

by Jason Heller

Orson Welles' radio hoax famously convinced America that Martians had landed in New Jersey, right? A. Brad Schwartz's new Broadcast Hysteria argues that panic may have been blown out of proportion.

Books
Arts

'The Lufthansa Heist' Is No Score

8:54am August 06, 2015

by Sarah D. Bunting

The famous 1978 Lufthansa robbery is a great crime story — it was even a plot point in GoodFellas. But a new book about the heist falls flat, hampered by purple prose and pointless details.

Books
Arts

'Two Across' Spells Out A Charming Love Story In Crosswords

8:37pm August 05, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Jeff Bartsch's new novel is about a brainy couple who, after meeting at a 1960s spelling bee, conduct their troubled love affair through secret clues in the crosswords they compose for newspapers.

Cover art from Friday Night Lights, 25th Anniversary Edition.

Books
Arts

Reflecting On Football And Addiction As 'Friday Night Lights' Turns 25

10:22am August 05, 2015

A quarter-century ago, Buzz Bissinger wrote about the big-time stakes of small-town high school football in Friday Night Lights. Now he talks about the impact the book had on the players and himself.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

The Bonds Of Friendship Stay Strong In 'Stranger'

8:02pm August 04, 2015

by NPR Staff

Newbery Medal-winning author Rebecca Stead says her latest, Goodbye Stranger, is about love and how it helps a trio of seventh-grade girls stay friends through the challenges of middle school.

Queue Listen Now

Books
Arts

At Some Stores, Readers Can Go Get A Refund For 'Watchman'

8:02pm August 04, 2015

Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman has sold millions of copies, but some feel it has not lived up to the hype. A bookstore owner in Traverse City, Mich., is giving readers a refund — and an apology.

Queue Listen Now

"Anytime you're in the wild with a beautiful animal you're going to feel good," says Susan Casey, author of Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins.

Exploring The 'Wild And Haunting World Of Dolphins'

4:28pm August 04, 2015

In her new book, Voices in the Ocean, Susan Casey describes the life of dolphins and details some new threats the animals face, such as organized dolphin kills and man-made sounds in the ocean.

Queue Listen Now