Books

Cartoonist Roz Chast, whose quirky pen-and-ink drawings appear in The New Yorker. She avoids the dry board-room humor typical of The New Yorker, preferring to draw dinosaurs, appliances with skirts, and cheese.

Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan, who headed the six-year effort to fly a plane around the world without refueling. They completed their nine-day flight in their light-weight craft called The Voyager on December 23, 1986. They have written a book describing the adventure.

Jack Gillis, director of public affairs for the Consumer Federation of America and author of The Car Book. He will release consumer test results on how the 1988 cars scored for safety, fuel economy, comfort, etc.

Charles Rosenberg. He's written a book on the history of American hospitals titled The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America's Hospital System. Rosenberg is a professor in the History and Sociology of Science department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Stephen Davis, whose new book Say Kids! What Time is it? recounts the history of the "Howdy Doody Show," TV's first hit kid's show. The book looks at the early days of television in New York, and the cast that made up Doodyville - Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, Clarabell and Chief Thunderthud.

New York Times columnist William Geist, who wrote the paper's popular "About New York" column. He has collected his favorite columns in a book titled City Slickers. Geist recently left the Times and is now a contributor for the CBS News show, "CBS Sunday Morning."

James Laughlin, founder and editor of New Directions Books, a small publishing house that has brought out the work of avant-garde poets like Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. Laughlin is himself a poet and an authority on Ezra Pound.

Architectural preservationist David Naylor, whose new book, Great American Movie Theaters, charts the past glory and current demise of a uniquely American architectural treasure, the downtown movie palace.

Brendan Gill. He has written for The New Yorker magazine for more than 50 years, writing poems, prose, profiles and film and theater reviews. Gill also writes about architecture and has just written a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Adventure essayist Tim Cahill. Cahill's writing appeared in the premiere issue of Outside magazine and has been a regular feature ever since. In his latest odyssey, Cahill drove from the tip of South America to Purdhoe Bay in Alaska. His newest collection of adventure tales is titled Jaguars Ripped My Flesh.