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A Handstand on the Space Shuttle: PW Talks with Kathryn D. Sullivan
In 'Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention' (MIT, Nov.), Sullivan, the first female astronaut to do a spacewalk, traces the incredible arc of her career.
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Love Across Class Lines: PW Talks with Julia London
In 'The Devil in the Saddle' (Berkley, Nov., reviewed on the page), love blossoms between a wealthy rancher’s daughter and the son of the ranch’s majordomo.
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Quietly Curious: PW Talks with Lauren Michele Jackson
In 'White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation' (Beacon, Nov.), literature professor Jackson explores how appropriation manifests in music, art, memes, and more.
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Illusions of Checkmate: PW Talks with Jonathan Rowson
In 'The Moves That Matter' (Bloomsbury, Nov.), Chess grandmaster and philosopher Rowson applies the logic of chess to the question, “How does one live a life that matters?”
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Flight Risk: PW Talks with John Hodgman
In 'Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms' (Viking, Oct.), comedian Hodgman discusses airline perks and fleeting fame.
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Down Ghostly Mean Streets: PW Talks with John Connolly
In Connolly’s 'A Book of Bones' (Atria/Bestler, Oct.), PI Charlie Parker, his series hero, once again battles supernatural evil.
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The Addiction Addict: PW Talks with David Heatley
In 'Qualification' (Pantheon), Heatley attempts to heal his damaged psyche through multiple 12-step programs.
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Every Wall Had Poems: PW Talks with Olivia Gatwood
We spoke with Gatwood, poet and sexual assault prevention and recovery educator, about her debut collection, 'Life of the Party'—and asked her to read a poem from her collection as well.
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Combating Cancer: PW Talks with Azra Raza
In 'The First Cell' (Basic, Oct.), oncologist Raza discusses a new approach to dealing with cancer.
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Detroit Broke City: PW Talks with Jodie Adams Kirshner
In 'Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises' (St. Martin’s, Nov.), Kirshner documents the
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Survival Poems: PW Talks with Hanif Abdurraqib
Abdurraqib’s 'A Fortune for Your Disaster' (Tin House, September) wrestles with cultural and personal history,
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A Disturbing Parallel: PW Talks with Raymond Khoury
In 'Empire of Lies' (Forge, Oct.), Khoury imagines a present in which the Ottoman Empire still rules.
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Four Questions for Jerry Pinkney
PW asked Pinkney about his inspiration for, and the challenge of, creating the art for 'A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation,' written by Barry Wittenstein.
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Four Questions for Celia C. Pérez
Celia C. Pérez’s new novel, 'Strange Birds,' is a story about heritage, activism, and friendship, and is the fourth novel from Penguin’s just-launched Kokila imprint.
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Q & A with Laurel Snyder
Snyder’s new middle grade novel, 'My Jasper June,' tells the story of 13-year-old Leah Davidson who is still struggling with the drowning death of her younger brother the previous summer.
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Q & A with Stacey Lee
In her fourth book for young adults, 'The Downstairs Girl,' Stacey Lee introduces 17-year-old Jo Kuan, a Chinese immigrant in the New South, who secretly dwells beneath the floorboards of a local newspaper printer.
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Portrait of the Bassist as a Young Man: PW Talks with Flea
In 'Acid for the Children' (Grand Central, Nov.), the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist reflects on his childhood.
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The Unholy and the Ivy: PW Talks with Leigh Bardugo
In 'Ninth House' (Flatiron, Oct.), a broke, desperate teen gets a free ride to Yale—but magical strings are attached.
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Just Biology?: PW Talks with Jeanette Winterson
Gender theory meets AI-assisted immortality meets a sex bot named Claire in Winterson’s 'Frankissstein' (Grove, Oct.), her hilarious, brilliant retelling of 'Frankenstein.'
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The Perfect Ghostly Lover: PW Talks with Tess Gerritsen
Gerritsen’s 'The Shape of Night' (Ballantine, Oct.) is a supernatural thriller in which a freelance writer encounters the ghost of a sea captain in the Maine house she’s renting.