Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Okay, if you've got school-aged kids or are a school-aged

person yourself, you've hopefully gotten into the swing of the school year. You've gotten to know

your teachers a bit, your classmates too, and also the reading list for the year. It's probably no surprise to you that this was my favorite

time of the school year, seeing what books were on the horizon, what authors we'd get to know.

I miss it, if I'm being honest. And so this week we're doing back-to-school books, meaning

interviews with authors who may have shown up on your high school syllabus. First up, Jbellah here's 1999 interview with NPR's Leanne Hansen,

talking about her book, Interpreter of Malities.

That's ahead.

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.

Writer Jumpa Lahiri grew up in Rhode Island.

She was born in England to parents whose home was India.

In her first collection of short stories, the characters are immigrants and exiles,

displaced men, women, and children who navigate the great spaces between three continents

to seek happiness beyond the boundaries of place and culture.

In the title story, interpreter of maladies, an American family is visiting sites in India.

Their guide, who also works in a doctor's office as an interpreter, develops an infatuation with the wife

until she makes a dramatic confession to him.

Jumple Lahiri says the title came to her long before the story did.

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