Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography; Dean, James, 1931-1955
George Perry discusses his book, “James Dean.” He begins by explaining that the book is a biography of the actor, James Dean. In the work, Perry explores the early history of Dean using various interviews, including several with Dean’s cousin...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Pictorial works; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Social life and customs; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Intellectual life - 20th century; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography; Motion picture producers...
Dominick Dunne discusses his book, “The Way We Lived Then.” He explains how the work began as a picture book and later evolved into a book chronicling Dunne’s famous Hollywood parties and social soirees. The collection of photographs,...
Life change events - Fiction; Loss (Psychology) - Fiction; Sisters - Death - Fiction; Middle-aged men - Fiction; Overweight men - Fiction; Travelers - Fiction; Cycling - Fiction
Ron McLarty discusses his book, “The Memory of Running.” He begins by explaining that he always knew he wanted to be a writer and that he wrote a lot while he was in the army. This book is the third of ten he has written, but the only one that...
Women soldiers - Fiction;
Lesbians - Fiction;
United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865 - Fiction;
Southern States - Fiction
Rita Mae Brown discusses her novel, “High Hearts.” She begins by explaining that her book is about the Civil War told from a woman’s point of view. She talks about how she modeled the book's characters after people she knows in real life. ...
Authorship; Fiction - Authorship; Novelists, American - 20th century - Biography; See, Carolyn - Authorship
Carolyn See discusses her book, “Making a Literary Life.” She begins by explaining that the book's target audiences are aspiring writers and dreamers. She wrote the book in an effort to teach them how to live their dreams. The book is a...
John Menkes discusses his book, “After the Tempest.” He begins by explaining the book’s plot, which begins in post World War II Venice. One of his central characters is a young man who was drafted into the army and worked in a concentration...
Bill Bryan discusses his book, “Keep It Real.” He begins by commenting on the similarities between the book’s plot and some major modern television shows. He then details the plot of the novel which follows the protagonist Ted who over hears...
Middle-aged women - Poetry;
Self-realization in women - Poetry
Sonya Sones discusses her book, “The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus.” She begins by explaining that she wanted to write about things that have been happening in her life as she gets older. Martinson asks Sones to read a passage about a mother’s...
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Police - California - Los Angeles - Fiction
Joseph Wambaugh discusses his book, “Hollywood Station.” He begins by explaining that the book takes place in the present day Los Angles Police Department. The book’s plot follows the officers of Hollywood station as they deal with the...
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana discuss their novel, “Zeke and Ned.” Ossana and McMurtry begin the interview by explaining how the novel is a dramatization of the Cherokee struggle for independence following the conclusion of the Civil War. The...
Viken Berberian discusses his book, “The Cyclist.” He begins by explaining the plot, which follows a terrorist who plans to blow up a hotel during a cycling race. From there he goes on to explain that he wanted to debunk the idea that political...
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1606-1669 - Fiction; Netherlands - Fiction; Painters - Fiction; Aristotle; Painting - Fiction
Joseph Heller discusses his new novel “Picture This.” Heller explains that the book’s plot spans several temporal and spatial locations including, ancient Athens, 17th Century Holland, and the modern United States. Connecting these eras is...
Boris Akunin discusses his book, “Winter Queen.” He begins by sharing that this novel is the first from the Erast Fandorin series of historical detective novels that will eventually consist of 16 books. Akunin explains that the book’s...
London (England) - Fiction; Dobbs, Maisie (Fictitious character) - Fiction; World War, 1914-1918 - Veterans - Fiction; Women private investigators - England - London - Fiction
Jacqueline Winspear discusses her book, “Maisie Dobbs.” She begins by discussing the book’s plot. She explains that the protagonist, Maisie Dobbs began her working life at the age of thirteen as a servant in a mansion, only to be discovered...
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction; Women journalists - Fiction; Diamond, Eve (Fictitious character) - Fiction
Denise Hamilton discusses her book, “Sugar Skull.” She begins by explaining that this book is part of her Eve Diamond crime novel series. The book’s plot follows “Los Angeles Times” reporter Eve Diamond as she investigates the murder of...
Augusta (Ga.) - Fiction; Antisemitism - Fiction; Trials (Murder) - Fiction; Male friendship - Fiction
Sol Wachtler discusses his book, “Blood Brothers.” He begins by sharing the book’s plot. He explains that during the late 1950s, fifteen-year-old Luke Lupton befriends T.C. Simmons. Since Luke is one of the town’s very few Jewish residents...
United States. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms - Officials and employees -Fiction; Kidnapping - Fiction
Eric Van Lustbader discusses his book, “First Daughter.” He begins by discussing the timeliness of the book and how he has been thinking about writing about political issues for several years. He then explains the book’s plot, which centers...
Lisa Rosenbaum discusses her book, “A Day of Small Beginnings.” She begins by discussing the book’s plot, which starts with the protagonist, Itzik who protects three small Jewish boys from a Polish peasant, only to result in the accidental...
Physicians’ spouses - Fiction; Loss (Psychology) - Fiction; Children - Death - Fiction; Parent and child - Fiction; Married people - Fiction; Physicians - Fiction; Bombay (India) - Fiction
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi discusses his book, “The Last Song of Dusk.” He begins by discussing the book’s plot, which is set in turn of the century India. He explains that in the book he explores the complexity of love through his two...
World War, 1914-1918 - Veterans - Fiction; Radiation - Fiction; Tennessee - Fiction
Marianne Wiggins discusses her book, “Evidence of Things Unseen.” She begins by examining the book’s characters Fos and Flash who met while serving in France during World War I. While on a trip to the Outer Banks in Tennessee to study a...
