Search results for

Ruthann Robson's new book explores the issues around what we wear and how it's legislated, including everything from First Amendment questions to government concerns about public nudity.

Aimee Bender's new story collection, The Color Master, is full of fractured fairy tales that flavor everyday lives and neuroses with a liberal dash of magic. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says Bender's work is "akin to the best of Italo Calvino in its matter-of-fact treatment of the fantastic."

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky says he's tired of people thinking of poetry as bad-tasting medicine they have to swallow just because it's healthy. His anthology of 80 poems by master poets is designed to help us see poetry as an art "rather than a challenge to say smart things."

Debbie Macomber's books don't get a lot of critical attention, but they've sold in the hundreds of millions. Her fans feel like they know and love the woman behind the words, so her publisher threw a party for them.

Japanese crime writer Natsuo Kirino's latest veers into myth and legend: The Goddess Chronicle retells Japan's creation story with a feminist perspective. Reviewer Annalisa Quinn says it's a dark and lovely tale, unfortunately marred by stiff, awkward writing.

In the early 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a controversial study in which participants were led to believe they were administering painful, high-voltage shocks to other subjects. Gina Perry, author of Behind the Shock Machine, says the study has "taken on a life of its own."

Late lunches and literary rock stars: Such were the early days of publishing house Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Elissa Schappell says Boris Kachka's Hothouse (an expose of this cherished publisher) is a star-studded tell-all about the "good old, bad old days."

In 1857, John Brown liberates 12-year-old Henry from his master. There's only one problem: Brown is so wrapped up in his freedom mission, he thinks Henry is a girl. James McBride delivers a portrait of Brown and his friend Frederick Douglass as Henry sees them.

Rob Sheffield had his life pulled out from him 16 years ago when his wife died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism. He overcame his grief through singing karaoke, and tells about it in his new book, "Turn Around Bright Eyes: The Rituals of Love and Karaoke."

It's the summer of 1964, and everything's changing for 11-year-old Glory. She was looking forward to celebrating her 12th birthday at the local pool, but the town has shut it down to avoid integration. Members of NPR's Backseat Book Club share their questions with author Augusta Scattergood.