Gunter Grass Returns with a "Funny and Loving Novel"

One morning in early March, I got into my car and drove to see the Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery in Northeast Philadelphia. The graveyard is 20 minutes from my house. It's filled with the remains of Jewish Philadelphians, the majority of them from the 19th century.

The writer and filmmaker known for the cult classics Pink Flamingos, Cry-Baby and Hairspray reflects on the many people who have inspired him throughout his life — from playwright Tennessee Williams to the crazed martyr Saint Catherine of Siena — in a new memoir, Role Models.

Kenneth Jackson and Camilo Jose Vergara are the authors of Silent Cities, about the evolution of cemeteries in the United States. They say these sites reflect American attitudes toward class, race, and public space.