World music commentator Milo Miles reviews the career of the Afropop pioneer. Dibango grew up in Cameroon, played jazz in Paris, and later returned to his home country. He performs in a wide range of styles, from soul to smooth jazz.
Former Sisters of Notre Dame Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey were once known as the "abortion nuns." In 1984, they signed a New York Times ad that called on the Catholic Church to reconsider its stance on abortion. Their new book, No Turning Back, also outlines their differences with Church teachings on divorce and the ordination of women.
Novelist and former academic David Lodge's writing is steeped in the language of literary criticism. Many of his books are set in a university -- including his newest, Nice Work, about a businessman who fall in love with a professor.
Recorded at the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival, Kumin reads a poem which incorporates the found text of a Canadian pamphlet about how to survive a bear encounter.
Farrell had a deep, complicated relationship with her choreographer, George Balanchine. She spent over twenty years with the New York City Ballet. Farrell's new memoir about her career is called is "Holding on to the Air"
In 1955, Ford had a hit with his version of Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons." Later, he was known for his gospel music and daytime and evening television shows. A new collection of his hits, "16 Tons of Boogie" is out on Rhino records.
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Brown is one of the best musicians who played with Art Blakey in the 1980s. Both the composition and improvising on his new album are excellent.
The new Stephen Bochco-produced series is interesting, but TV critic David Bianculli says he need to see more episodes of the musical procedural before making his final judgement. The pilot's songs are composed by Randy Newman--who won't be involved in future episodes.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new release of Thompson's musical character studies of friends, artists, and musicians, called Portraits and Self-Portraits.
Ken Burns' 11-hour documentary took five years to make, and features period music, readings of soldiers' letters, and moving shots of battlefield sites. TV critic David Bianculli says it's a show to watch and treasure.
Gray has a new piece called Monster in a Box, about the wending process of writing an as-yet unpublished, 1600 page novel, titled Impossible Vacations. He says that his autobiographical writing distances him from his real life, including his experience of pleasure.
Film critic Stephen Schiff says GoodFellas is a thrilling exploration into the banality of evil. Based on the book Wiseguy, the film stars Ray Liotta and Robert DeNiro.
Snyder was part of the beat poetry scene in 1950s San Francisco, and inspired a character in several Jack Kerouac novels. He studied Eastern philosophy and religion, and later settled in a more isolated part of the United States -- far from the urban world. He won the Pulitzer Prize, and continues to teach and write. His new collection of essays considers his relationship with the wilderness.
Rock critic Ken Tucker agrees with the other reviews of Under the Red Sky he's read: Bob Dylan's smugness and surface-level lyrics come across as little more than a joke.
The brothers team up to create strips, panels, and movie poster take-offs that appear in Spy Magazine, National Lampoon, and Raw. They are known for their realistic drawings and caustic wit. Their new book is called Warts and All.
In 1985, novelist William Styron fell into a deep depression. He documented the years he was incapacitated by the illness, and how he coped, in his new book, Darkness Visible. Looking back at his early writing, Styron believes depression informed his novels, like The Confessions of Nat Turner and Sophie's Choice.
