Books & Literature

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews a new biography called The Dr. Ruth Phenomenon, about the popular sex therapist Ruth Westheimer. Westheimer is a Holocaust survivor and was wounded while fighting for Israeli independence. Stone says Westheimer's history of struggle and survival informs her sometimes fragmented career choices and sanitized public persona; while an imperfect spokesperson for the sexual revolution, Dr. Ruth deserves the fame she enjoys.

Scott Turow received a $200,000 advance for his legal thriller Presumed Innocent. Despite his financial success, Turow, a practicing defense attorney, says that no one in their right mind should believe they can make a career solely as a writer.

Novelist and professor John Barth tried to make his mark as a jazz drummer; instead, he became a maximalist writer known for his sprawling, metafictional books. He joins Fresh Air to discuss his early career, the nature of storytelling, and his experiences at John Hopkins University as both a student and instructor.

Howard Mohr wrote for the popular radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Steeped in the world of Midwestern humor, he has written a new book called "How to Talk Minnesotan."

Book critic John Leonard says many of the conclusions about indigenous culture in Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines are wishful thinking. But that doesn't mean the book isn't a great read.

Former diplomat and journalist William Attwood has a new book about the Cold War, called The Twilight Struggle. Reflecting on the history of McCarthyism, relations with communist countries, and undercover operations, he believes the Cold War's end is in sight.

Unlike most professional dancers, Paul Taylor didn't pursue the craft until he was 22. After a celebrated career under the tutelage of Martha Graham, he became a choreographer. His new autobiography, Private Domain, details his experiences.

Puerto Rican songwriter and performer Roy Brown discusses the Nueva Cancion movement, which sets politically-charged poetry to music. He performs several songs in studio.

Feminist activist and writer Liz Carpenter and her husband started their own news organization. Later, she worked in President Johnson's administration as a speechwriter and first lady Lady Bird Johnson's press secretary. Her memoir, about aging and widowhood, is called Getting Better all the Time.

Book critic John Leonard recommends Wilfrid Sheed's new novel The Boys of Winter. Set in the Hamptons, in questions the nature of authorship, narrative, and creativity.

Art photographer Tony Mendoza describes his newest book, Stories, as a photographic autobiography.

The San Francisco Chronicle columnist's new book explores womanhood and gentrification, among other things. The humorist is credited with coining the term "yuppy."

Writer James Miller talks about the history of the New Left and the work of the Students for a Democratic Society, who believed that college students and intellectuals were best equipped to lead democratic movements. In his new book, Democracy in the Streets, Miller outlines how their ideologies led to street protests.

Before becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning style writer for the Washington Post, Paul Hendrickson entered the seminary--just before Vatican II began to transform the Catholic Church. He left weeks before the time came to say his priesthood vows, and writes about the experience in his memoir, Seminary.

Psychotherapist Eileen Simpson grew up as an orphan; her mother died from tuberculosis. As a young adult, she moved to Greenwich Village and married the poet John Berryman. Writing came to her later in life, after she split up with the renowned poet. Her new book is called Orphans: Real and Imaginary.

New Yorker fashion reporter Kennedy Fraser has a new book of her work for the magazine, called Scenes from the Fashionable World.

Novelist and memoirist Susan Cheever never thought she'd follow in her father John Cheever's footsteps as a writer. Drawing on the memories of his final days, her newest book, Doctors and Women, deals with cancer patients and their families.

Book critic John Leonard says that the collected letters of humorist S.J. Perelman reveal a surprising amount of vitriol directed toward a number of notable film and literary figures. But it's not all doom and gloom.

Irwin Blye is a private investigator who has coauthored a book about his trade. He joins Fresh Air to talk about what his day-to-day work looks like--in contrast to the detectives of novels and films.

Former New York Times reporter Joyce Maynard moved to New Hampshire to start a family, where she started her Domestic Affairs column, which examines her new life as a writer and mother. A book of the same name has just been published.