Books & Literature

Sallie Bingham came from a family of newspaper magnates. After she was ejected from her paper's board of directors, she sold her share of stocks to fund various organizations for women in her home state of Kentucky. The Bingham family's internecine conflicts later came under public scrutiny, and was the subject of two books. Sallie Bingham's new memoir, Passion and Prejudice, tells her side of the story.

Book critic Stuart Klawan reviews Frank Chin's new collection of short stories, The Chinaman Pacific & Frisco R.R. Co, features what the author deems "badass" working class Chinese Americans on the West Coast. Klawans says the book is written with wild intensity and a sense of sociocultural outrage.

Thomas Maeder's mother and father were both psychologists. Inspired by his own experience, Maeder interviewed dozens of other children of mental health workers to gain insights into their family life. His new book, Children of Psychiatrists and Other Psychotherapists, presents his findings.

Scholar and writer Thomas Schatz has a new book about the studio era of Hollywood. While efficient, the film industry during the first half of the century limited the roles available to actors and actresses, and tightly controlled the content and style of the movies it produced.

Michael Barson's new book, Lost, Lonely and Vicious, collects promotional postcards of B movies from the late 1940s through the early '60s. He says these films were all sizzle, and were tame compared to their lurid, sensationalistic descriptions.

Martin Duberman's new book delves deep into the complicated political and artistic life of the African American actor and activist. Book critic John Leonard admires how exhaustive the biography is, and how it never shies away from difficult topics like Robeson's womanizing and depression.

Tobias Wolff's acclaimed new memoir tells the story of the author's early life with his poor, single mother. The book serves as a unique counterpoint to Wolff's brother Geoffrey's own memoir about life with their father. Tobias Wolff joins Fresh Air to discuss his memories of growing up and how he transformed himself into the person he is today.

Estleman's gritty, Detroit-based mysteries feature the detective Amos Walker. Estleman was a crime reporter before he became a fiction writer. He joins Fresh Air to talk about his hardboiled influences, inside jokes in his books, and getting knocked unconscious.

Heinemann served for one year in Vietnam. The experience was so intense that he has built a literary career about it. His book, Paco's Story, won the National Book Award. After releasing two novels, he's working on a nonfiction book about post-traumatic stress disorder.

Benet worked as a longshoreman in San Francisco until gentrification and automation rendered his labor unnecessary. He says he mourns the workers' culture more than the job itself. Benet later went to graduate school and became a novelist and poet. His newest book is called A Short Dance in the Sun.

Writer Eva Hoffman moved with her family from Poland to the Canada when she was thirteen. Her new book about assimilating into the culture of her new country is called Lost in Translation. Hoffman is also an editor for the New York Times Book Review.

Writer and theologian Harvey Cox says the current rise of religious fundamentalism stems in part from a disillusionment with modern technology. He has also witnessed the increasing politicization of religious messages. Cox joins Fresh Air to discuss the current state of interfaith relations in the United States and abroad.

Freberg created several humorous and memorable ad campaigns for television and radio, and continues to work in the trade today. His new memoir, the first of two volumes, is called It Only Hurts When I Laugh.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new detective novel Ratking, by Michael Dibdin. Leonard says the narrative, set in Italy, keeps the mystery genre alive by confronting bourgeois life and corrupt politics.

As a reporter, Ward Just covered the Vietnam War and, later, Washington politics. Now, he devotes himself to fiction writing. While his novels often draw on his knowledge of D.C. culture, Just is careful to invent his own characters, rather than use fictionalized versions of real politicians.

Peter Nabokov cowrote a book with Robert Easton about the dwellings of American Indians, which he uses as a lens through which to learn more about their lives and traditions. For his research, Easton lived near several reservations and visited the homes of Native American families.

Davies began his working life as an actor in England. At the start of World War II, he returned to his home country of Canada and became a journalist. Now a popular author best known for his Deptfod Trilogy, Davies says he still only "squeaks by" as a writer.

Unlike many young writers, Carpenter avoided the siren call of New York City, instead documenting the life around his hometown of San Francisco. His new novel is called From a Distant Place.

The British author and travel writer recently passed away. His acclaimed books include Songlines, a semi-fictional account of the myths that structure the lives of Australia's aborigines, and the travel book In Patagonia.

Journalist Isadore Barmash joins Fresh Air to explain the process of leveraged buyouts and hostile takeovers of corporations, and how these affect employees, customers, and shareholders. His new book, Macy's for Sale, offers a case study.