Books & Literature

Bundles is former Washington deputy bureau chief for ABC News, and an award winning producer. Her new book is a biographer of her great-great-grandmother Madam C.J. Walker, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, . Walker was the daughter of slaves, and a widow at the age of 20. She built a business empire creating hair products for African-American women, and then turned her wealth into philanthropy. Her friends included W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington.

Maureen Corrigan reviews Demonology

Salzman is the author of the new novel, Lying Awake about a cloistered nun who discovers that her spiritual visions may be induced by epilepsy. The book explores the connection between neurologic disorders and mysticism. Salzman is also the author of the novel The Soloist, and a memoir, Lost in Place. He is also a cellist.

Peter Hessler is the author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (HarperCollins). Its about his two years in Fuling, China as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching English and American literature at a local college. The book was serialized in The New Yorker.

Hes just published his first novel The Death of Vishn. The book follows the lives of the many inhabitants of a Bombay apartment building—including Vishnu, the homeless man who lives in the buildings stairwell. Based on the writers childhood in Bombay, the book has met praise from critics for its inclusion of Hindu mythology and cinema. When not writing, Mr Suri is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Maryland.

Kraft was NASAs first flight director, from the first forays into space in the 1960s to after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969. Kraft also created Mission Control. He has written a new book, –Flight: My Life In Mission Control.

Iranian born novelist Salar Abdoh. His first novel The Poet Game, (2000, Picador USA) is a fictitious account of an Iranian secret agent sent to New York City to investigate rumored terrorist plots, in the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The main character, Sami Amir poses as a terrorist to try and stop the attacks. Salar Abdoh fled Iran with his father and brothers following the revolution in 1979. Abdoh earned a master degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York. He lives in New York City.

FBI special agent Christopher Whitcomb. He was part of the agency hostage rescue team. The team is the equivalent to the Navy SEALs and the Army Delta Force. As such he particpated in the missions at Waco, Ruby Ridge and Kosovo. He is currently director of strategic information management for the Critical Incident Response Group. He written the new book: Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team

Corrigan reviews two new novels about academia: The Lecturers Tale by James Hynes and Meetings of the Mind by David Damrosch.

In his new book Book Business , Epstein gives his insiders take on publishing today. He also talks about how publishing has changed since he entered the business in the early 1950s. Early in his career, Epstein created Anchor Books, which is said to have helped establish the trade paperback format. Epstein was also editorial director of Random House and has edited many well-known novelists including Norman Mailer, Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth, and Gore Vidal.

Corrigan reviews The Body Artist by Don DeLillo.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reads us her list of the best books of 2000.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews thrillers.

Comedian Richard Lewis. His new book is called “The Other Great Depression,” (Public Affairs, 2000) and chronicles his recovery from alcoholism. He’s an award winning stand up comic and has appeared in over twenty movies and TV shows. Currently, he co-stars in Larry David’s HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Critic Milo Miles reviews the new edition of “The Rough Guide to World Music.”

Garbage expert Benjamin Miller discusses the history of rubbish in New York. He’s the former director of policy planning for the New York City Department of Sanitation. He’s just written a book on the subject, entitled “Fat of the Land: Garbage in New York – The Last 200 Years.” (Four Walls Eight Windows) Miller says that the dumping of garbage has literally shaped New York City as it took over surrounding islands and bulked up Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews “Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years” (pub., Ivan Dee) a journal of Romanian writer Mihail Sebastian (“Me-hi-eel Sebas-ti-an”) about the Nazification of Europe.

Kenneth Kamler, MD is a surgeon who also climbs mountains. He was team doctor on three expeditions to the top of Mount Everest, including the disastrous 1996 trip during which 6 people died. Kamler is both storyteller and advisor in his book, “Doctor on Everest: Emergency Medicine at the Top of the World – A Personal Account including the 1996 Disaster.” (The Lyons Press) Blackened limbs due to severe frostbite were the least of his troubles. I-V fluids are frozen solid, and abrasions cannot heal at such high altitudes.

Serbian writer Jasmina Tesanovic. She’s just published a book called “The Diary of a Political Idiot,” (Midnight Editions 2000). The book, comprised of excerpts from her personal journal, narrates daily life in Belgrade during the political upheaval and bombings in Serbia. She is one of the founders of 94, the first feminist publishing house in Serbia. She lives and works in Belgrade.

Writer Michael Patrick Hearn. He’s edited “The Annotated Wizard of Oz: A Centennial Edition” (W.W. Norton). The book commemorates the 100th anniversary of the publication of L. Frank Baum’s classic “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” Back in 1900, the first 10,000 copies printed of Baum’s book sold out in two weeks. Baum wrote 14 Oz books in all.