Books & Literature

She died last month at the age of 39. As a child, Grealy spent five years being treated for cancer, which left her face disfigured. She had over 30 reconstructive procedures and years of living with a distorted self-image. She wrote Autobiography of a Face in 1994, her memoir about coming to terms with looking less than perfect in a society that values female beauty. No cause of death was announced, but friends indicated she was despondent of late. Her last book was As Seen on TV, published in 2000.

Edna Gurewitsch is the wife of the late Dr David Gurewitsch who was Eleanor Roosevelt personal physician from 1945 to her death in 1962. Gurewitsch has written a new book about the close personal relationship that developed between her husband and the former first lady, Kindred Souls: Eleanor Roosevelt and David Gurewitsch, 1945-1962 (St. Martin press). Dr Gurewitsch was a handsome, compassionate man, 18 years younger than Mrs Roosevelt, and she feel in love with him. He didn share those feelings, but they maintained a friendship of devotion and respect.

Eric Burdon was the lead singer for the British band, The Animals - the 1960s group that gave us, "House of the Rising Sun," "Don Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place." Burdon has written his new autobiography, Don Let Me Be Misunderstood (Thunder Mouth Press) He is currently touring with the New Animals.

He is the author of the bestseller Boy Still Missing, which is now available in paperback. He relates the saga of getting his photograph taken.

Lloyd Schwartz on poet Elizabeth Bishop and how he saved a poem of hers from obscurity. It's called "Breakfast Song." Lloyd is the editor of Elizabeth Bishop and Her Art (University of Michigan Press). The poem will be published in the upcoming issue of The New Yorker.

She is a leading portrait photographer specializing in writers. Over the years her subjects have included Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, William Styron, Raymond Carver, Joyce Carol Oates, Sue Miller and Sarah Vowell, among others. She is currently working on a book of her author portraits to be released next year.

Maureen Corrigan's gift suggestions for the book lovers on your shopping list.

TV personality Tom Arnold hosts FOX television's The Best Damn Sports Show Period. Arnold is probably best known for his marriage to Roseanne Barr. He was a writer, actor and executive producer on Roseanne, and starred in three tv shows of his own including The Jackie Thomas Show. He has a new memoir, How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years

He is one of New York's most notable spoken-word artists. He blends lyrics of urban dwelling with music. Born in Harlem, Sundiata is a professor of English literature at The New School for Social Research. He's released CDs of spoken word including The Blue Oneness of Dreams and Urban Music. This week, Sundiata premieres his new one-man show blessing the boats. It's about the year his kidney failed, he went into dialysis and then had a kidney transplant.

He is one of New York's most notable spoken-word artists.

Former senator, vice president, and presidential candidate Al Gore and his wife, Tipper. In the two years since the presidential election they have been working on the new book, Joined at the Heart: The Transformation of the American Family. The book explores the changes that have taken place in families over the past few decades, using examples of families the Gores have met along the way. Tipper Gore is a former photojournalist and served as adviser to the president on mental health policy. Their other book is the collection of photographs The Spirit of Family.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott (Farrar Straus & Giroux)

He has starred in the mock-horror vomitorium comedies: The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead Two and Army of Darkness, all directed by Sam Raimi. He also has had television roles in the popular series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules. More recently Campbell appeared in Spiderman and Serving Sarah. Campbell's memoir, If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, is now out in paperback.

Burmese writer Pascal Khoo Thwe has written his autobiography From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. (HarperCollins). Thwe grew up part of a tiny remote tribe in Burma which practiced a combination of ancient animist and Buddhist customs mixed with Catholicism. He was the first member of his community to study English at University. When a brutal military dictatorship took over Burma, Thwe became a guerrilla fighter in the movement for democracy.

Born and raised outside Chicago, Wax moved to England during her 20s, and found success as a performer, writer and TV personality. Wax scripted the British TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous and has had many other hit TV series on the BBC. Her new memoir is called How Do You Want Me?

Czech writer Arnost Lustig is considered one of the country's most prominent writers. His new novel, Lovely Green Eyes, is the story of a 15-year-old girl in Auschwitz and the compromises she makes in order to stay alive. Lustig himself survived Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps. His family died in the gas chambers. Lustig teaches at American University in Washington, D.C. He is also featured in the new documentary Fighter, in which he and long-time friend Jan Wiener retrace wartime memories.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews On Being Ill (The Paris Press) by Virginia Woolf. First published in 1925, this essay has been republished as an individual book.

He's just published When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism. It's a coffee table book of post-Sept. 11 political posters, with slogans such as "Political Correctness is Dangerous...Demand Real Security" and "Put a Flag on Your Car...It's Literally the Least You Can Do/Empty Gestures Don't Win Wars." For nine years, Maher was the host of the TV talk show Politically Incorrect" which aired first on Comedy Central and then on ABC.

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Little Friend (Knopf) the second novel by Donna Tartt.

Professor Raymond McNally, an expert on the many portrayals of vampires in folklore and film, died Oct. 2 at the age of 71. McNally traced the origins of the Dracula story in Transylvania. He wrote the book In Search of Dracula and taught at Boston College, specializing in Russian intellectual life.