Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews British writer Pat Barker's The Ghost Road. (Dutton). It won Britain's Booker Prize. The book is the third part of a trilogy of novels about World War I. (Her others are Regeneration and The Eye in the Door.)
Jerry Yang is co-founder of Yahoo, a directory to the World Wide Web. Yahoo has an on-line site, as well as a companion book. Yahoo is one of the most popular sites on the Web. Users can access Yahoo, once in the Web at http://www.yahoo.com. Their new book is Yahoo! Unplugged (IDG books).
Writer Rebecca Walker. She's a contributing editor to Ms. Magazine, and is cofounder of Third Wave, a national, multicultural organization devoted to encouraging young women's activism. She has edited a new book of writings about feminism today, To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism. (Anchor Books).
Veteran crime novelist Lawrence Block. He's written 11 novels featuring Manhattan private eye Matt Scudder. His novels have followed Scudder through alcoholism and into recovery through an Alcoholics Anonymous program. His newest Scudder novel, A Long Line of Dead Men will be published in February
Film director Ang Lee. He grew up in Taiwan, but studied theater and film production in the United States. His second feature film, "The Wedding Banquet," was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as was his next film, "Eat Drink Man Woman." Lee's films often portray family relationships with poignancy, respect, and a light comic touch. His latest film is "Sense and Sensibility," the film based on the novel by Jane Austen.
Commentator Milo Miles reviews the five-CD box set featuring Chicago and country blues performers from the early 60s. It's called "American Folk Blues Festival '62 to '65." (Evidence label).
Novelist R.S. Jones. His first novel, Force of Gravity was published in 1991. One reviewer called it, "a moving, acutely intelligent story about going insane." He's just published his second novel, Walking on Air (Houghton Mifflin) about a man who is dying of AIDS. A reviewer for The New York Times writes, "The novel's power resides in its almost total refusal to do anything but starkly describe this process, to trace the effects of the disease on this suffering man and his two friends. It rings true from start to finish."
Actor Harrison Ford. He's starred in "Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," "Witness," and "The Fugitive." He's starring in the new film, "Sabrina."
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his daughter Amy Carter. The two have collaborated on a new children's book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (Times Books). The story is one that Cater made up, and told his children when they were young. Amy Carter illustrated the book.
Novelist and poet Robert Morgan. He's written nine volumes of poetry and four novels. His latest novel is The Truest Pleasure (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill). Morgan's work centers on the place where he grew up, The Blue Ridge Mountains. Morgan also teaches English at Cornell University.
Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two new albums by The Smithereens: a new best-of, "Blown to Smithereens," (Capital Records) and a collection of rare old tracks, "Attack of the Smithereens."
Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie. She's one of the world's few classical percussion soloists. And she plays with orchestras worldwide. But instead of hearing the music, she feels it. Glennie is deaf, and has been since the age of 12. She's made several solo albums, and several years ago wrote her autobiography, Good Vibrations (Hutchison Publishers, London). Glennie performs at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia Dec 15 and 16. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
Children's book author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg. His book The Polar Express a fable about a little boy who meets Santa Claus was/is a bestseller. It was written ten years ago, and each year at Christmas it's a big favorite. His new book is Bad Day At Riverbend (Houghton Mifflin). His book Jumanji (published in 1981) has been made into a new movie starring Robin Williams. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)
