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Gourmet magazine's editor in chief and food critic Ruth Reichl grew up in a house where mold-covered pudding was considered an adequate dessert. But Reichl doesn't begrudge her mother. In a new book, she thanks her.

W.S. Merwin won his second Pulitzer Prize for poetry on April 20. In a 2008 interview, Merwin talked with Fresh Air about memory, mortality and acceptance.

Author J.G. Ballard died April 19 from cancer. The science fiction writer produced more than 20 novels and short story collections, including Empire of the Sun and Love & Napalm: U.S.A. Fresh Air remembers Ballard with an archival interview.

South Africans go to the polls on Wednesday and Jacob Zuma is almost certain to win the presidency. Alec Russell is author of the book Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa from Mandela to Zuma. Russel talks with Renee Montagne about Zuma, who is the charismatic leader of the African National Congress.

There's no reason not to eat well, even in tough economic times. Three cookbooks conjure deliciously simple dinners from the most ordinary of ingredients.

Ten years ago today, news started trickling out of Colorado about a shooting at a high school called Columbine. It didn't take long for the news media to descend, and reporter Dave Cullen was one of the first journalists on the story.

Most people are putting off big purchases during the recession — especially cars. Dealers are trying to change that with what analysts say are some of the lowest prices in a long time. But all those rebates and discounts have yet to re-kindle the market.

In his new book, Dave Cullen delivers a clear-eyed portrait of the brains behind the Columbine killings. He says the massacre wasn't an emotional outburst or revenge fantasy carried out by a couple of social outcasts. Reviewer Susan Jane Gilman calls the book strong, but says it doesn't quite sing.

Havana-born writer Achy Obejas returns to her native city with a novel called Ruins. It's a bittersweet portrait of Cuban life in the mid-1990s.

Journalist Thomas Lippman writes in his book Arabian Knight about how Franklin D. Roosevelt become the first U.S. president to meet a Saudi king. Roosevelt met King Abdul Aziz during World War II on the deck of a Navy cruiser. Lippman talks with Steve Inskeep about the long-standing relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.