Books & Literature

Book critic John Leonard reviews The New Confessions, a novel by the British writer William Boyd. Boyd's earlier novels include Stars and Bars and An Ice Cream War.

John Rothchild. His new book, A Fool and His Money is a personal account of his adventures as an average investor trying to figure out the complexities of the stock and commodities markets.

Novelist and theater and film director Elia Kazan. He directed Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront," and James Dean in "East of Eden." He was a member of the Group Theater and co-founded the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.

Israeli novelist Amos Oz. He lived on a kibbutz for many years and is a veteran of the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. His books include A Perfect Peace, In the Land of Israel and his new book, Black Box.

Poet Mark Halliday. He'll read "Memory Sampler," a poem he composed in an attempt to dispose of a whole series of troubling past experiences. Halliday is an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His first volume of poetry is titled Little Star.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Quinn's Book, the new novel by William Kennedy.

J. G.Ballard, the author of the largely autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun, which film director Steven Spielberg made into a movie of the same name last year. Ballard was born in Shanghai and was interned by the Japanese during World War II. He has written 19 books.

Thomas Martinez. His book Brotherhood of Murder, details his involvement with The Order, the extremist, right wing hate group that was implicated in numerous bank robberies and three assassinations, including the murder of Denver talk show host Alan Berg. The book details how Martinez, who grew up in a white slum in Philadelphia, was persuaded by The Order's teachings and how he was recruited for the criminal activities that supported the group. He later turned informant for the FBI.

Image consultant Dorothy Sarnoff. In her new book, Never Be Nervous Again, Sarnoff shares some of her advice on how to overcome nervousness and anxiety when speaking to others.. Her clients include politicians, authors on tour, diplomats and television newscasters

Book critic John Leonard reviews Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Nan Robertson.

Short story writer and novelist Alice Adams. Her fiction deals often with women in transit and transition. She's best known for the 1984 novel Superior Women. Her new novel is titled Second Chances.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Love in the Time of Cholera, the new novel from Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

New York Times reporter Nan Robertson. Her new book, Getting Better: Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, reveals the inner workings of Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the most successful self-help movements of modern times. The book is based on four years of research, which included access to A.A.'s archives and some of the key figures who helped chart the course of the movement, as well as interviews with A.A.'s rank-and-file members. Herself a recovering alcoholic, Robertson won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize-winner for her account of her own near-fatal attack of toxic-shock syndrome.

Journalist James Adams, the defense correspondent for the Sunday Times of London. His new book, Secret Armies, explores the role of covert special fighting forces who combat terrorism around the world.

Television writer Gerald Gardner. His new book, The Censorship Papers, is a collection of memos from the Hays Commission, which was the censorship arm of Hollywood's production studios from 1930 to 1968. The dossiers were released last year and Gardner covers those concerning 70 of Hollywood's best known films, including "The Maltese Falcon," "Pal Joey" and "Notorious."

Rock Critic Ken Tucker reviews "I'm Your Man," the new Leonard Cohen album.

George Whitmore, author of Someone Was Here, profiles of people whose lives have been transformed by AIDS, like the 32-year-old New York advertising executive, a counselor in a gay men's health center, health workers at an AIDS clinic in a municipal hospital. The book grew out of a highly acclaimed 1985 article in The New York Times Magazine about a man with AIDS and his counselor at a health center.

Essayist Harry Stein. Stein wrote the popular "Ethics" column for Esquire Magazine. He writes a syndicated column for the United Features Syndicate. He's written a book titled One of the Guys: The Wising Up of an American Man. In it, he shares his thoughts on why men are the way they are.

Actress Patricia Neal. A star of stage and film, Neal is almost as well known for her private life - her love affair with the married Gary Cooper, the tragedies that befell several of her children, the breakup of her 30-year marriage to the British writer Roald Dahl, and the stroke that almost took away her speech. Her films include "The Breaking Point," "The Fountainhead," "A Face in the Crowd," and "Hud," for which she won the Oscar.

Guest book critic Le Anne Schreiber reviews Night Over Day Over Night, the first novel by American Paul Watkins.