Hey there, it's Andrew Limbaugh, NPR's book of the day was a new effort this year to bring

more stores to more ears, with a little something for every reader, mysteries, memoirs,

thrillers, tellals, biographies, poetry, all handpicked by true book lovers here at NPR.

If you want to engage with the ideas and issues of the day or find an escape from them

whatever you need, we hope you found it here with us.

As this year winds down, we have a favor to ask.

This podcast and all of the news and stories you rely on from NPR exists because listeners

like you support NPR member stations across the country.

We're looking ahead to next year,

and we want to keep bringing you great reads and great conversations in 2022. We'd be so grateful

if you could support us. It's super simple, and it doesn't take too long, we promise. Just go to

donate.npr.org to support a station near you. Thanks so much for listening and reading with us. Hey, it's NPR.org to support a station near you. Thanks so much for listening and reading with us.

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. You ever have those relationships

in your life with friends that are so long-lasting, so bone-deep, that you love them,

even if you don't particularly like them.

That's the sense I get listening to this interview with a rapper Ray Kwan and hearing him talk about Rizza.

There's love there, even if it's hidden beneath a bit of ego.

Ray Kwan is, of course, from Wu-Tang Clan, and he's out with a new memoir titled From Staircase to Stage.

It goes into his childhood growing up in Staten Island to him becoming a part of one of the most important hip-hop groups of all time.

And as you'll hear him tell NPR Steve Inskeep, very relatably, I might add, a lot of that

comes from hating high school. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

...