Books

Film critic David Thomson and filmmaker and director James Toback. They interview each other for a revival of round table discussion at "Spoken Word at the Algonquin" in New York city's famous Algonquin Hotel, and discuss the state of moviemaking and movie criticism today. Thomson's latest book is "Beneath Mulholland: Thoughts on Hollywood and its Ghosts" (Knopf). Toback directed the movies "Fingers," "Exposed," and "The Pick up Artist."

Writer David Shipler. A Country of Strangers: Blacks and Whites in America (Knopf) is his newest book. It looks closely at the ever present race question in the United States through interviews of folks across the country and analysis of stereotypes he found. Shipler is the author of Russia and won a Pulitzer Prize for Arab and Jew: Wounded Sprits in a Promised Land.

Basketball expert and playground legend Pee Wee Kirkland. Professor at Long Island University and basketball coach in Manhattan, Kirkland wrote the introduction to John Huet's photography book, "Soul of the Game" (Melcher Media/Workman pub.). It's about the impact playground basketball has on the sport. Kirkland also acted in and served as the Technical Basketball Advisor for the 1994 movie "Above the Rim."

Magician and trickster Teller of Penn and Teller. They've been performing for over twenty years, both on Broadway and around the world. The duo has just written "How to Play in Traffic" (Boulevard), an offbeat travel guide, and has also authored "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends" and "How to Play with Your Food."

Film critic Leonard Maltin. His new book, "The Great American Broadcast: A Celebration of Radio's Golden Age" (Dutton) celebrates America's most popular form of entertainment in the years before television. Maltin also appears regularly on Entertainment Tonight and has written two movie guides.

Biographer Frank McLynn and writer Richard Noll examine the life of 20th century Swiss psychologist Carl Jung in their latest biographies. Frank McLynn's work, "Carl Gustav Jung" (St. Martin's Press), touches on Jung's early career, his allegiance and later his break with Sigmund Freud, as well as Jung as a controversial figure and an icon of "new age" philosophy.

Master chef Georges Perrier of the nationally renowned Philadelphia French restaurant, Le Bec-Fin. He has revealed many of his recipes in his first cookbook, "Georges Perrier Le Bec-Fin Recipes" (Running Press).

Actress and Comedian Whoopi Goldberg. She's just written "Book," (Rob Weisbach Books) a collection of life observations, insights, and Whoopi-isms in 25 vignettes. Goldberg received a Grammy for 1985's Best Comedy Album, as well as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1990.

Will Friedwald has written a new encyclopedic guide to the music legacy of Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra! The Song is You: A Singer's Art" (Da Capo Press). The work chronicles Sinatra's five-decade career, drawing on interviews with his many collaborators, and interviews with Sinatra himself, and includes a discography of his well know, as well as little known recordings. Friedwald is also the author of "Jazz Singing."

Author and historian Joan Jacobs Brumberg. Her new book, "The Body Project," attempts to trace back through the century to discover why young women report unhappiness with their bodies now more than ever. Working with girls' diaries from the 1830's up to the present day, Brumberg outlines the shifting pressures that have altered the way females define themselves.