Hi, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaung. There's a staple of American literature

that's something like stories we tell ourselves and what it takes to believe them. At best,

we need these stories because they're necessary for survival. At worst, we're too stubborn or

too stupid to hear any other version of a story.

We've got two interviews today that get at that theme in some really interesting ways. In a bit,

we'll hear from Britt Bennett about her novel The Vanishing Half. It's about two black twin sisters,

one of whom decides to leave their hometown and live her life as a white person.

The book isn't judgy about that decision, but it does go into the real costs of self-mythologizing.

But first, former NPR host, Noel King, talks with writer Danielle Evans about her short story

collection, The Office of Historical Corrections.

And in the interview, Evans talks about being inspired by an overheard conversation on the subway

where everyone was wrong, not like wrong-minded or had bad opinions, but just like actually,

factually, googlably, incorrect.

And sure, that's frustrating and bad, but would

a world where we could fix that be any better?

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts,

diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground

bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Danielle Evans is a fiction writer who tries to keep off of the news.

She's way more interested in the past.

But some of the stories in her new collection, the Office of Historical Corrections,

...