Books & Literature

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two new mysteries: Soul Circus by George P. Pelecanos (Little, Brown), and The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell (The new Press).

His book about breeding racehorses is now out in paperback. It's called Stud: Adventures in Breeding. Stud explores the process of creating champions, from the farms of Kentucky, where studs command $500,000 a pop, to the horse auctions, where the world's richest people compete for the top yearlings. Conley is an editor at The New Yorker. This interview first aired March 25, 2002.

He's the creator of the Artemis Fowl series, featuring a 12-year-old millionaire criminal mastermind. Two of the three books in the series have been on The New York Times best seller list. The books are a combination of science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale and thriller. They are Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code.

Robert Dallek has written a new biography of John F. Kennedy, An Unfinished Life. He looked into medical records to reveal new information about Kennedy's health problems, and he also discusses Kennedy's extramarital affairs and his life as a soldier. Dallek is a professor of history at Boston University. He previously wrote the biography Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times.

Writer Sarah Waters is the author of three novels which she calls "lesbo-Victorian romps." The lesbian-themed books are: Tipping the Velvet (about "a sort of Moll Flanders in drag"); Affinity (a historical book set in a Victorian women's prison); and Fingersmith (a gothic melodrama). Fingersmith was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Tipping the Velvet was made into a BBC miniseries and it will be shown on BBC America, beginning Friday, May 23.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the stylistic differences between writers on the political left and right.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel “The Wife”(Scribner) by Meg Wolitzer.

She is the author of Crescent, a new book about a single Arab-American woman chef in Los Angeles. Her previous novel Arabian Jazz won the Oregon Book Award. Abu-Jaber grew up in America in a traditional Jordanian household. Abu-Jaber is a writer-in-residence at Portland State University.

This week he won his second Pulitzer Prize (the first was in 1999). He was cited for his "perceptive cartoons executed with a distinctive style and sense of humor." Many of the cartoons that earned him this recent prize poked fun at Bush administration policies. When he won the prize in 1999 many of his cartoons lampooned the Lewinsky-Clinton scandal. He has been the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's editorial cartoonist since 1979. Horsey has four collections of his cartoons, the most recent is One Man Show.

We remember Cecile de Brunhoff, who died April 7 at the age of 99. It was the bedtime story she made up and told her sons in 1930 that became the basis for the world-famous Babar the Elephant stories. Her husband, Laurent de Brunhoff, wrote down the story and provided the illustrations. Terry talked with their son, author and illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff, who followed in his father's footsteps, and has written and drawn the continuing adventures of Babar the Elephant for the past 40 years. This interview first aired Feb. 28, 1990.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Family History, the new novel by Dani Shapiro.

He's the author of a biography of World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle, who was beloved by the public, and G.I.s and generals alike. He witnessed the great American campaigns of the war — North Africa, Sicily, Italy, D-Day, Normandy, the liberation of Paris, and Okinawa. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I would not miss that column any day if I could possibly help it." Pyle was killed in Okinawa just three weeks short of the war's end. Tobin's book is Ernie Pyle's War: America's Eyewitness to World War II.

He has compiled a new anthology of 120 poems, titled Poets of World War II (American Poets Project). The poets include Kenneth Koch, James Dickey, Richard Hugo, Marianne Moore and Robert Lowell. Some of the poets have experienced combat, others have not. Shapiro is a decorated veteran of World War II; he flew 35 missions as an Air Force radio gunner.

During the 1991 Gulf War, he flew 30 combat missions in his F-16. He wrote about the experience in his book, Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot.

In January, Hamill was invited by first lady Laura Bush to the White House for a symposium on poetry. Because of his opposition to the war it was not an invitation he welcomed. In response, he created the Web site poetsagainstthewar.org. Thousands of poets responded, including Rita Dove, W.S. Merwin, Adrienne Rich and Poet Laureate Billy Collins. When the White House heard about the site, the symposium was cancelled. A new anthology, Poets Against The War, collects 13,000 of these anti-war poems.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new memoir, The Only Girl in the Car by Kathy Dobie.

Novelist Scott Spencer. His newest book is "A Ship Made of Paper," and it's receiving critical acclaim. Our book critic, Maureen Corrigan, describes Spencer as a brilliant storyteller. Spencer is the author of seven previous novels, including "Endless Love" which sold over 2 million copies. He's also written for Rolling Stone, the New York Times and The New Yorker.

His new book is Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage. During the Cold War, a small group of scientists, engineers, businessmen and government officials developed spy planes and spy satellites to collect information about Soviet arms. Taubman is the deputy editorial page editor of The New York Times. He has reported on national security and intelligence issues for over 20 years.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Gordon, the novel by Edith Templeton first published in 1966 and banned in Europe for indecency.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews A Ship Made of Paper, the new novel by Scott Spencer (Ecco).