NPR News

In Victor LaValle's new novel, The Devil in Silver, a man is mistakenly committed to a mental hospital where a buffalo-headed monster stalks patients at night.

The plausibility of a monster roaming the hospital's halls made sense, says LaValle, who has a personal connection to the mentally ill.

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We've been hearing, all morning, reports of Hurricane Isaac coming ashore along the gulf coast, and we're going, now, to Craig Fugate. He is the FEMA Administrator, the Federal Emergency Management Agency - and he is spending the morning on the gulf coast. Mr. Fugate, where are you now?

Brooklyn Mack used to dream of becoming a football player. He took up ballet, at age 12, to beef up his athleticism — and he never turned back. Earlier this summer, Mack became the first African-American man to win gold at the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria. Mack speaks with host Michel Martin about his life and his career.