Books & Literature

In his new book Born to Kvetch: Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods, Michael Wex explores the history and culture of Yiddish: its complaints, curses and codes.

Britt Bennett's debut novel centers on three African-American friends dealing with their community's expectations and their own mistakes. Critic Maureen Corrigan says it is full of "mini epiphanies."

Safran Foer's new novel, Here I Am, is told from the points of view of different members of a Jewish family. He says it's about things falling apart — but also about "people trying to mend things."

Albee made his debut as a Broadway playwright in 1962 with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which went on to win a Tony Award. He died Friday at the age of 88. Originally broadcast in 1984.

Teddy Wayne's new novel begins as a sharply observed novel of manners, but quickly mutates into a classic tale of obsession. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Loner a powerful suspense story.

A failing marriage and a catastrophic earthquake take center stage in Safran Foer's new novel. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Here I Am a profound work about the claims of history, identity and family.

The beloved children's book author Beatrix Potter wrote a book about a kitty in 1918; the manuscript was recently discovered and it's now been published for the first time.

A memoir by a pioneering woman who lived in the Mississippi Delta, helping her husband run logging camps. . . feeding as many as one hundred men a day, sewing clothes, skinning deer, fighting off snakes and panthers; and surviving epic floods and fires.

Historian Mary Beard says many of our popular notions about the empire are based on culture rather than fact. Her new book is called SPQR. Originally broadcast Nov. 30, 2015.

The 1960s show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In turned actress Goldie Hawn into a star. Later, she starred in the films Cactus Flower, Swing Shift, and Private Benjamin. Hawn's autobiography, written with Wendy Holden, is Goldie: A Lotus Grows in the Mud.

The National Book Award winner's new novel is based in part on her memories of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Woodson describes the teen years as an "amazing and urgent moment" in life.

Megan Abbott's new book takes readers deep into the intense, vacuum-sealed universe of young female gymnasts and their parents. Critic Maureen Corrigan says You Will Know Me is worthy of a gold medal.

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and essayist William Stanley Merwin was known in the 1960s as an anti-war poet. Now an environmental activist, Merwin has published a new book of poems, The Shadow of Sirius, which addresses themes of memory and mortality.

A conversation with novelist Jay McInerney about finding fame as a young man, writing, New York City, and his new novel Bright, Precious Days about marriage, fidelity and middle age.

John Powers describes this new dystopian novel by Australian Charlotte Wood as a feminist parable.

Author Cathleen Schine says that living far away from an elderly parent can create feelings of guilt as well as those of relief. Her darkly comic new novel is They May Not Mean To, But They Do.

Patti Niemi has been a percussionist for the San Francisco Opera Orchestra since 1992. She speaks with Fresh Air's Sam Briger about performance anxiety, muscle memory and her memoir, Sticking it Out.

As the wife of a Navy fighter pilot, memoirist Rachel Starnes has had much of her life — including where she lives and how often she gets to live with her husband — determined by his career.

Patrick Ryan has written a very funny and touching collection of nine short stories that take place in the 1960s and '70s around Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Critic at large John Powers says there's an explosion of literary talent coming from Mexico. He reviews two new novels by Mexican writers.