Books

Book critic John Leonard reviews Denis Johnson's novel, "Resuscitation of a Hanged Man," about a man recovering from a botched suicide attempt who goes on to become a part-time private eye in Provincetown.

Tammy Bruce of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women. That group opposes Ellis's book, and claims it's scenes of violence against women are pure exploitation, devoid of social commentary. NOW has set up a hotline explaining their objections to the book, featuring an excerpt from the novel.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a new Pablo Picasso biography, by the artist's friend John Richardson. The book reveals how Picasso was often cruel to women, deeply apolitical, and overworked.

Book ritic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man" by David Lehman. It's a cogent explanation of that literary theory, and a chronicle of the scandal surrounding one of its leading voices.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the author's newest book, about his journey through Yemen. Leonard appreciates the window into Middle Eastern culture, which the West often overlooks.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews a new biography of the former slave, writer, and abolitionist by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William McFeely. The book fills in the many gaps and silences in all three of Douglass's autobiographies.

Skovercky and his wife immigrated to Canada and started a Czech-language publishing house, 68 Publishers, which put out the works of Czechoslovak authors who were banned in their homeland -- including Skovercky's own novels. In light of improving conditions in his home country, Skovercky will soon be shutting down his publishing house.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Search for the Pink Headed Duck," by Rory Nugent, about his travels to India and Tibet. He says Nugent is a "splendid quack" whose stories are exotic and sometimes hard to believe.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Freud, Dora, and Vienna 1900," by historian Hannah S. Decker. It's an account of Sigmund Freud's work with his patient Dora -- a case which has often been viewed and critiqued through the lens of contemporary feminist scholarship.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Grossman's first novel, "The Smile of the Lamb," originally written in 1983. It explores the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians through the lenses of culture and language.