Books

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "Bengal Nights," and "It Does Not Die," two autobiographical novels about the same romantic affair. They've just been republished. "Bengal Nights" is by Mircea Eliade, "It Does Not Die," is by Maitreyi Devi. (Both University of Chicago Press).

South African writer Gerhard Maré is the author of the biography "Appetite for Power." He discusses the upcoming elections in South Africa.

Journalist and author Lawrence Wright. Wright's latest book is "Remembering Satan: A Case of Recovered Memory and the Shattering of an American Family" (Knopf) Wright explores the nature of memory and the notions of recovered memory and repression. "Remembering Satan" is the story of Paul Ingram and his family. Ingram was a Washington state deputy sheriff. His two grown daughters accused him of sexually abusing them. They said that Ingram and other members of the sheriff's department had committed Satanic ritual atrocities.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes" by Janet Malcolm (Knopf). The book is a reflection on the various attempts by biographers to chronicle the life of the late poet Sylvia Plath.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews Carol Shields' novel "The Stone Diaries."

Professor John Dominic Crossan. A native of Ireland, ordained as a priest in the U.S. (he left the Priesthood in 1969), Crossan now teaches biblical studies at DePaul University. Crossan is a founding member of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars who meet to determine the authenticity of Jesus' sayings in the Gospels. Crossan's new work is "Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography" (HarperCollins) which seeks to place Jesus in the context of his Jewish, Mediterranean and peasant roots; to see him as a Socratic philosopher and radical egalitarian.

Dr. Ira Rutkow is a surgeon and the author of the new book, "Surgery: An Illustrated History," (Mosby). The book has 386 illustrations including documents, photographs, cartoons, drawings and paintings related to surgery, taken from museums throughout the world. Rutkow has also written a two-volume history of surgery in the U.S. and has written studies on Civil War surgery. He's also consulting editor for surgical history for the Archives of Surgery. Rutkow is founder and surgical director of The Hernia Center in Freehold, N.J.

Commentator Maureen Corrgian reviews "The Alienist" a new suspense novel by Caleb Carr. (Random House)

Commentator Maureen Corrigan has a review of a new biography of a turn of the century journalist: "Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist." (Times Books).

Former Drug Czar William Bennett. He is currently co-director of the conservative organization "Empower America." In 1981, he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 1985, he became President Reagan's Secretary of Education, and from March of 1989 to November of 1990, he served as President Bush's director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Bennett has written extensively on social and domestic issues and is the author of five books.