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Graphic novelist Chris Ware's latest, Building Stories, is a collection in many formats, following the (mostly) sad and lonely lives of the inhabitants of a Chicago brownstone. But reviewer Glen Weldon says the work is colorful, intricate and ultimately beautiful.

Round 9 of Three Minute Fiction is currently underway. Readers from more than a dozen graduate programs are plowing through the nearly 4,000 entries received. Host Guy Raz shares one of the favorite picks so far, The Generous Application of Grease by Stephen Fratus of Walnut Creek, Calif. You can read the full story below along with other stories at www.npr.org/threeminutefiction.

Mark Helprin's sweeping midcentury novel, In Sunlight and In Shadow, describes a postwar New York in limbo. Helprin borrowed from his own experiences to write this tale of love and familial obligations. "It's all based on what I know and what I knew," he says.

Colombia's government has announced peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist insurgency that has been fighting a brutal conflict for nearly five decades. But memories of previous, unsuccessful attempts at peace are still fresh for civilians in the rebels' mountainous heartland.

Law and national security experts got together last weekend for a dogfight they call the Drone Smackdown. The contest, though tongue in cheek, still raised lots of questions about the proliferation of drones, the rules of combat and federal efforts to regulate them.

Author Dennis Lehane's latest novel is a faced-paced tale of organized crime and betrayal, set during Prohibition. Live by Night follows Joe Coughlin from his days as a small-time Boston hood to success as the rum-running boss of the South.

James Burrows has directed more than 50 pilots, including Cheers, Friends, Taxi, and Frasier.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is adding a Department of Family Medicine. It is now one of the only top medical schools to offer family medicine as a specialty for its students.

At his new venture, The Blaze, Beck has far fewer audience members soaking in his commentary than he did at Fox News. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Fox helped amplify Beck's voice, whereas now, Beck projects his message on his own terms.

Fundraising reports filed Thursday night by the presidential campaigns look a lot like recent public opinion polls. They show President Obama with a slight advantage in monthly fundraising last month — while Republican Mitt Romney has the edge by some other measures.