Literary Figures

Andrew Holleran has writes about the lives of gay men. Now that several years have passed since the height of the AIDS epidemic, he's observed a kind of resignation to mortality and changing sexuality within his community.. Holleran's new collection of essays is called Ground Zero.

Writer Sheila Ballantyne's newest collection of short stories explores mortality. She says her musings on death help her better appreciate the time she has right now.

Bobbie Ann Mason's new, Spence and Lila, is about a couple who copes with the wife's breast cancer. Her previous novel, In Country, is being made into a film. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her approach to writing and the clowder of farm cats she raised.

Sci-fi writer and editor Bruce Sterling says that the cyberpunk movement doesn't anticipate the future--it describes the how technological innovation affects culture today.

None of the stories in the writer's debut collection were previously published; magazines hated her dark, sexually charged stories of young women. But the book--and Gaitskill--have now found critical acclaim.

Horror writer Patrick McGrath. McGrath has been described as "a Poe for the 80's," a postmodern-gothic storyteller. His new collection of short stories is titled Blood and Water and Other Tales. Horror writing is a genre that comes easily to McGrath, who grew up on the grounds of an English asylum for the criminally insane.

Writer Bharati Mukherjee. Her new book of short stories, The Middleman and Other Stories, portrays immigrants from Third World countries who strive to maintain their indigenous identity while embracing much of Western culture and lifestyle.

Herbert Mitgang, cultural correspondent for The New York Times, and a former member of its editorial board. His new book, Dangerous Dossiers: Exposing the Secret War Against America's Greatest Authors, examines the 50-year espionage campaign waged by the CIA and the FBI against writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, William Faulkner and Norman Mailer.

Mary Gordon. Her novels include The Company of Women and Final Payments, an acclaimed exploration of a Catholic upbringing. Her recent collection of short stories is titled Temporary Shelter.

Tony Hendra. His new book, Going Too Far, is a history of "Boomer (as in Baby Boomer) Humor." Hendra was editor of The National Lampoon for eight years. He directed the Lampoon play "Lemmings" and co-created and wrote the British TV series "Spitting Image." In addition, he has written several books of satire and appeared in the movie "This is Spinal Tap."