Books & Literature

Former Police Commissioner of New York City and Boston William Bratton. When taking over as New York's commissioner in 1994 he publicly vowed to bring the crime rate down. His new memoir is about how he accomplished his goal," "Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic." (w/Peter Knobler, Random House). (

Photographer David Plowden. He's spent forty years chronicling the changing face of America. His new book "Imprints: A Retrospective" (Little, Brown & Co.) encompasses that work. Plowden's work is at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian and The Library of Congress.

Writer Eddie Little is making his debut with the semi-autobiographical novel, "Another Day in Paradise" (Viking) about a 14 year old boy who gets caught up in a world of drugs and theft. Little himself is a former heroine addict, who spent time in prison for armed robbery and grand larceny. He also helps run We Care, a Los Angeles organization that provides assistance to house bound people with AIDS and elderly shut-ins.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Paradise" (Knopf) the new novel by Toni Morrison.

British novelist Martin Amis. He is considered one of the leading British writers of the late-twentieth century and one of the most controversial. Amis' newest book is a detective story set in America "Night Train" (Harmony Books) about a suspicious suicide. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Fresh Air's book critic Maureen Corrigan interviews British mystery novelist P. D. James. James has just published her fifteenth book, "A Certain Justice," which is already on the New York Times Best Sellers List. James talks to Corrigan about the nature of the mystery novel and the differences between British and American mystery novels.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Carl Perkins died yesterday at the age of 65. He died of complications from a series of strokes. Perkins is the pioneer of a style of music called Rockabilly, which is described as "a country man's song with a black man's rhythm." He's the man who wrote "Blue Suede Shoes," the hit song sung by Elvis Presley which became the first Sun label record to sell over a million copies.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan list some of her best bets for the holidays, including Eudora: A Writer's Life by Ann Waldron, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys by Carole Kismaric and Marvin Heiferman and Holes by Louis Sachar.

Langford, who co-founded the British punk band, now lives in the US. He's plays in the country-inspired band the Waco Brothers. Langford is also a visual artist. and, under the pen name Chuck Death and draws the comic Great Pop Things, which is published in the LA Weekly, and collected in the new book. "Great Pop Things: The Real History of Rock n Roll from Elvis to Oasis" (Verse Chorus Press) Langford has just released his first solo CD called: "Skull Orchard."

Bible Scholar James Kugel is a professor of Hebrew literature at Harvard and Professor of Bible at Bar Ilan University in Israel. He's the author of the new book "The Bible As it Was" (Harvard University Press). In it, Kugel reconstructs the Old Testament from ancient times, as it was understood by the first readers, and then traces the interpretations that follow.

Author, and advocate for children, Geoffrey Canada. He is President of the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in New York City. He's written a new book about the crisis among young boys, and the need to redefine their sense of manhood. He writes that "Our belief about maleness, the mythology that surrounds being male, has led many boys to ruin. The image of male as strong is mixed with the image of male as violent." Canada's new book is "Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America" (Beacon Press).

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Alice McDermott's novel "Charming Billy."

Today, we remember Sonny Bono. He died yesterday afternoon in a skiing accident. He was 62. Bono was completing his second term in the U.S. Congress. He was the second most-requested speaker at House members events during the 1996 campaign season. Although he ended up in politics, many of his know him best for his work in music and show business. Terry Gross spoke with him in 1991, three years before he was elected to Congress. (Rebroadcast of 7/17 and 7/18 1991).

When the main character in Laura Zigman's new comic novel is dumped, she looks for explanations in the mating habits of animals. Hence the unusual title of this novel, "Animal Husbandry." It's Zigman's first novel, but it's not her first experience in the publishing world. She worked as a book publicist for a decade.

If your New Year's resolutions include getting a better grasp on your personal finances and putting money away for your retirement, you'll want to hear what my guest Mary Rowland has to say. She's written a new book called "A Commonsense Guide to Your 401(K)."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan on the year's best books (that she's read): "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier; "Matters of Chance" by Jeannette Haien; the reprint "Independent People" by Haldor Laxness; the short stories "Publish and Perish" by James Hynes, "Lives of the Monster Dogs" by Kirsten Bakis; for non-fiction: "Big Trouble" by J. Anthony Lukas; "Halfway Heaven" by Melanie Thernstrom; "The Gay Metropolis" by Charles Kaiser; volume 2 of "W.B. Yeats" a biography by R.F.

Writer Brendan Gill died Saturday at the age of 83. We'll remember him with a excerpt from a November 1987 interview. He's best known for his work with The New Yorker magazine, for which he was hired in 1936. He wrote 15 books including biographies of Charles Lindberg, Cole Porter, and Tallulah Bankhead, and his best-seller "Here at the New Yorker." He was also an active campaigner for historic preservation in New York City. (REBROADCAST from 11/12/1987)

Commentator Milo Miles recommends three music books that might make suitable last minute gifts. “The Rough Guide to World Music,” (Penguin) “The Rough Guide to Reggae,” (Penguin) and “Portrait of The Blues.” (DaCapo Press). Miles is former music editor of The Boston Phoenix. He writes about music for The Village Voice and The New York Times.

We remember poet and author Denise Levertov who died on Saturday at the age of 74. Her publisher says the cause was complications from lymphoma. (Rebroadcast of 12/4/1987)

Novelist Russell Banks and Canadian Film Director Atom Egoyan discuss their new film “The Sweet Hereafter”. The film is adapted from Banks’ 1991 novel. It’s the story of how a small town deals with a tragic school bus crash. Banks has written 12 novels which include: “Affliction,” “Rule of the Bone,” “Searching for Survivors,” “The Book of Jamaica,” and “Continental Drift.” Egoyan is best known for “Exotica” a film that won the International Critics Prize for Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival.