A British Band's Missteps Kept Them from Success

The veteran sports journalist has a new book called The Heart of the Order, which collects his baseball columns from the past five years. He joins Fresh Air to talk about the respectful way he interviews and writes about athletes, managers, and owners -- and how this approach has enriched his reporting.

Winters' stand-up comedy of the 1950s and '60s was often improvised, and featured a variety of different characters, all of whom he gave a different voice. He has a new book of paintings called Hang-Ups.

Christa Wolf's new autobiographical novel juxtaposes the protagonist's worries over her brother's forthcoming brain surgery with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Book critic John Leonard says, despite the book's emotional darkness, Wolf's book is a flicker of light.