Books & Literature

Book critic John Leonard reviews the latest novel by Czechoslovakian writer Milan Kundera. He's the author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," and "The Book of Laughter & Forgetting."

Duberman has written a memoir about being gay in the 1950s -- before the gay liberation movement, and at a time when homosexuality was considered deviant behavior by the psychiatrists. It's called "Cures: A Gay Man's Odyssey.

Lax has written a new biography of the prominent New York actor and director. Lax first interviewed Allen in 1971 during the filming of "Bananas," and over the next 20 years they kept up an on-going conversation.

Journalist Gerald Posner's new book, "Hitler's Children," examines the lives of the sons and daughters of leaders of the Third Reich. It includes the accounts from the children of Dr. Joesph Mengele, Rudolf Hess, and Karl Saur--whose son joins the interview.

Nugent has written an account of his trip to India and the Himalayas in search of one of the world's rarest birds.

We talk with the Village Voice's food writer. He was diagnosed as a diabetic as a child, an experience that he credits with making him more aware of the role of food in life and family. His new books is called "Learning to Eat.

Writer Sam Fussell was scared of living in the big city, so he decided he'd look like less of a target if he took up body building. He chronicles his four year transformation in his book, "Muscle: Confessions of an Unlikely Body Builder."

John Richardson's new biography, "A Life of Picasso," has been hailed as the best book about the great artist. He's joined by Picasso's daughter, Paloma Picasso.

Historian Simon Schama. His new historical novel, "Dead Certainties," examines the deaths of two revolutionary figures from various perspectives.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Truth or Dare," the new documentary about pop singer Madonna. He says it reveals a lot about her carefully cultivated image, which finds power in sexuality.

Writer Nicholson Baker. His new book, "U and I," is a quirky look at how writer John Updike has shaped Baker's life

Samir al-Khalil is the pen name of Kanan Makiya. His book "Republic of Fear" became a best-seller during the Gulf War. Now he has a new book about how the regime of Saddam Hussain used public monuments as another tool to keep in power. The book's called "The Monument: Art, Vulgarity, and Responsibility in Iraq."

Cooper just won PEN's Ernest Hemingway Foundation Award for a first work of fiction for his collection of personal essays, "Maps to Anywhere."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Seizing the Enigma" by David Kahn. It's about the Enigma Project--the Allies' attempt to break Nazi codes during World War II. Corrigan says it's the only moment in history where scholars helped win the war.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Gaza: a Year in the Intifada." It's journalist Gloria Emerson's account of the life of Palestinians living under Israeli rule.

Garbus recently defended Peter Matthiessen's controversial book, "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse," against two separate libel suits. Among many other projects, Garbus is currently helping to write a new constitution for Czechoslovakia.

Pollan is executive editor of "Harper's Magazine." He's written a new book, "Second Nature: A Gardener's Education," in which he examines the relationship between Americans and their lawns and gardens.

Mira is a third-generation Japanese-American who, in 1984, visited Japan for the first time. His own grandfather left that country at the turn of the century, and during World War II Mura's parents were interned in a relocation camp. He's written a memoir about his heritage, called "Turning Japanese: Memoirs of a Sansei."

Book critic John Leonard reviews Alberto Manguel's novel, "News From a Foreign Country Came," about families and terrorism in cities around the world.

Brown delivers what he calls "The Big Picture," a tongue-in-cheek political commentary on Saturday Night Live. He's just collected those commentaries in a new book, also caled "The Big Picture."