Books

Investigative sportswriter John Feinstein (FINE-steen) His new book is "Hard Courts: Real Life on the Professional Tennis Tours," looks at the inner workings of professional tennis. He traveled the circuit during 1990 and 1991. Feinstein has written for "The Washington Post," "Sports Illustrated," and other publications and he's also a commentator for NPR. (published by Villard Books). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Book critic John Leonard reviews, "Topless: a Novel" by D. Keith Mano, a thriller about a young priest who returns to his former New York neighborhood to help manage the family business. The family's business turns out to be a topless bar and the "girls" there begin to get murdered. Mano's other books include, "Bishop's Progress," "War is Heaven," and "Take Five." ("Topless" is published by Random House.)

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Nervousness." It's a new book by Tom Lutz about a turn of the century disease called neurasthenia. Neurasthenia was a term applied to a wide variety of conditions related to just being "stressed out" by 19th century life. Perversely, neurasthenia was taken as a sign of status, that if you suffered from it, it meant you were fashionably sensitive. (It's published by Cornell University Press).

Writer Joyce Schuck (shuck). In 1986, her husband ran for governor of Colorado, and lost in the primaries. But the experience gave Schuck the impetus to interview other wives of politicians. Schuck's book, "Political Wives: Veiled Lives," combines the interviews, along with excerpts from a diary Schuck kept during her husband's campaign. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Historian Glenda Riley. Riley's new book, "Divorce: An American Tradition," looks at the long history of divorce. Among the book's revelations: the first divorce in America happened way back in 1639 (on grounds of bigamy) and that in 1880 as many as one in 16 marriages ended in divorce. (The book's published by Oxford university Press).

Terry talks about crime watch groups with:
(1) Former chief justice and current judge on West Virginia's Supreme Court, Richard Neely. His new book, "Take Back Your Neighborhood," is about how ordinary citizens throughout the country have come together to protect their communities.
(2) Founder of the Mt. Airy Crime Watch Group in Philadelphia, Mark Hartsfield Two years ago he co-founded the group after witnessing and stopping crime in his neighborhood.

Journalists Katie Hafner and John Markoff Their new book "Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier" (Simon & Schuster) is about the growing importance of computer networks, and the growing importance of computer crime.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Brief Lives," the latest novel from professor and writer Anita Brookner. Brookner also recently edited a two volume collection of the stories of Edith Wharton. Maureen sees some similarities between the works of the two.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Adventures of Amos and Andy," writer Melvin Patrick Ely's look at the comedy series, and the controversy it caused.

Writer Howard Rheingold. Rheingold's new book, "Virtual Reality," is a look at the growing promise and impact of a radical new technology. By combining computers with sophisticated equipment (such as 3-D video glasses and gloves that sense how the wearer is moving their hands), it's possible to create the illusion that one is in another world, one that may exist only inside the computer. The technology has implications for everything from space exploration to entertainment, medicine to warfare. (The book's published by Summit Books).