Arts

Books
Arts

A 'Pinch' Of Magic Seasons This Half-Fantastical Neighborhood History

7:03am June 03, 2015

by Alan Cheuse

Steve Stern's slice of the mythical South is the Pinch, a hardscrabble immigrant neighborhood of northwest Memphis where the Torah trumps the King James Bible and the rabbis have magical powers.

Arts

Slavery, Famine And The Politics Of Pie: What Civil War Recipes Reveal

7:02am June 03, 2015

by Nina Martyris

From recipes for apple pie without apples to advice on how to treat servants, the era's cookbooks hint at the turbulence outside the kitchen window. Indeed, food helped decide the war's outcome.

Books
Arts

A Publishing Insider Turns The Page On A Bygone World In 'Muse'

6:35pm June 02, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Poet and publisher Jonathan Galassi knows just about everyone in his industry, and a lot of them turn up in his debut novel, Muse. Lynn Neary talks to Galassi about the writing (and publishing) life.

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Psychologist Traci Mann calls willpower "a mythical quality and certainly not something that can be relied upon for weight loss."

In 'Eating Lab,' A Psychologist Spills Secrets On Why Diets Fail

6:01pm June 02, 2015

by Jean Fain

Diets will rarely lead to significant or sustainable weight loss, Traci Mann argues in a new book. Instead, she suggests trying proven mental strategies for reaching your "leanest, livable weight."

Books
Arts

You'll Be Caught Fast By This Delightful 'Fly Trap'

2:57pm June 02, 2015

by Heller McAlpin

Fredrik Sjöberg's wry memoir celebrates the beauty of limitations, tiny wonders and intense focus; in Sjöberg's case, a focus on the hoverflies he studies on his home island of Runmarö in Sweden.

A Tome For Peruvian Food, By Its Most Acclaimed Ambassador

2:42pm June 02, 2015

by NPR Staff

Gaston Acurio is the world's premiere cheerleader for Peruvian cuisine, and he has just written a cookbook. It features 500 recipes from around the country — including more than 20 kinds of ceviche.

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Novelist Saul Bellow, shown shortly after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, also won the National Book Award — three times — and the Pulitzer Prize.

Books
Arts

A Century After His Birth, Saul Bellow's Prose Still Sparkles

2:23pm June 02, 2015

by Tom Vitale

Bellow's centennial is being marked with reprints and a new biography. Today, critics still savor his metaphor-rich prose; his son remembers the personal pain the great writer caused.

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Bob Schieffer on the set of Face the Nation in September.

CBS' Bob Schieffer Retires Sunday As Last Of The Old-School TV Anchors

2:22pm June 02, 2015

by Eric Deggans

Bob Schieffer, anchor of CBS' Face the Nation, retires Sunday after 46 years at the network. NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans says Schieffer is the last among a vanished breed of traditional news anchors.

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Michelle Goldberg is a senior contributing writer for The Nation.

Those Yoga Poses May Not Be Ancient After All, And Maybe That's OK

2:02pm June 02, 2015

In her new book, Michelle Goldberg traces the Western practice of yoga to a Russian woman named Indra Devi. Goldberg says that many of the poses in modern yoga can't be traced beyond 150 years ago.

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Arts

Actress Carey Mulligan Stands Out Amid The 'Madding Crowd'

1:16pm June 02, 2015

The English actress has been nominated for a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway revival of Skylight. She also stars in the film adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel Far From the Madding Crowd.

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