Journalist Ron Taylor Tries His Hand at Fiction.

Astronomer and science writer Timothy Ferris. His most recent book, Coming of Age in the Milky Way, is the story of how man discovered his place in the cosmos. The book was a surprise bestseller last year and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Critics hailed the book as a literary and scientific breakthrough that reads both as intellectual history and an adventure story. Ferris' first book, The Red Limit, was similarly praised for creating a new style of science book that combines the force of fact and detail with the grace of fiction writing.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new release of performances of four violin concertos by Fritz Kreisler. Kreisler, an Austrian who died in 1962, was probably the most renown violinist in the world in the period between the two World Wars. The double compact-disc set, which also includes three shorter pieces, is released on the Music and Arts label.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews The Real Thing, by Miles Orvell. Corrigan says the book is one of those works that attempts to explain just about everything in terms of one theory. Orwell's theory is that American culture has been driven by the tension between imitation and the desire for authenticity.