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John Leonard

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03:48

A Book of Romance, Mystery, and Controversy

Playwright Marsha Norman's first novel The Fortune Teller, about missing children and abortion, adopts a freewheeling, almost primitive approach to narrative. Critic John Leonard says unconventional structure works.

Review
03:47

A Book of Romance, Mystery, and Controversy

Playwright Marsha Norman's first novel The Fortune Teller, about missing children and abortion, adopts a freewheeling, almost primitive approach to narrative. Critic John Leonard says unconventional structure works.

Review
03:44

Picking Up Where "Animal Farm" Left Off

Vladimir Vojnovič's first novel since his exile from Russia anticipates what communism might look like 60 years in the future. Book critic John Leonard thinks the the story contains some delightful slapstick.

Review
03:47

Surviving a Revolution

Author Nien Cheng was a wealthy gentlewoman during China's Cultural Revolution. While book critic John Leonard doesn't find Cheng particularly likable, he believes her writing provides a unique and valuable perspective on that history.

Review
03:31

Cracking Open Chricton's "Sphere"

Book critic John Leonard says the science fiction author's newest book effectively creates an atmosphere of paranoia and suspense, but falters with its "back of the cereal box" characters and implausible plots.

Review
03:57

(Re)defining Orphans

Book critic John Leonard says the memoir section of Eileen Simpson's new hybrid book, about her own experiences as an orphan, is compelling and insightful; her later meditations on the idea of orphanhood are less successful.

Review
03:53

Two New Biographies on Jean-Paul Sartre

Book critic John Leonard says that Annie Cohen-Solal's examination of the philosopher's life is both thoughtful and exhaustive. Ronald Hayman, on the other hand, seeks to tear down the French writer, to unclear ends.

Review

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