Boys - Fiction; Men - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
Alan Rifkin discusses his book, “Signal Hill.” He begins by describing how living on the outskirts of Los Angeles inspired his stories. He talks about children of divorced families and the psychological trauma that they can grow up with. He...
Mexican Americans - Fiction;
Santeria - Fiction;
AIDS (Disease) - Patients - Fiction;
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
Alex Abella discusses his novel, “Dead of Night.” He begins by explaining that Santeria is the fastest growing religion in the United States. He talks about how his book is based on a real medical case of a man who murdered his victims in...
Guevara, Ernesto, 1928-1967 - Fiction; Cuban American women - Fiction; Illegitimate children - Fiction; Mothers and daughters - Fiction; Americans - Cuba - Fiction; Revolutionaries - Fiction; Women - Cuba - Fiction; Birthmothers - Fiction; Miami...
Ana Menéndez discusses her novel, “Loving Che.” She begins by describing the use of photography in her book to give the story a non-fiction quality. She explains that “Loving Che” is about a young girl in Miami who wants to get to know...
Catholic Church - Clergy - Fiction; Problem youth - Fiction; Scandals - Fiction; Memory - Fiction; Scotland - Fiction
Andrew O’Hagan discusses his novel, “Be Near Me.” He begins by describing the plot of the book about how a Catholic priest finds ways to connect to children. He talks about the importance of Scottish legends, folktales, and customs. ...
Cooks - Fiction;
Mafia - Fiction;
Restaurants - Fiction;
Cooking - Fiction;
New York (N.Y.) - Fiction
Anthony Bourdain discusses his book, “Bone in the Throat.” He begins by explaining that his book is about a young sous chef who gets involved with the mafia in New York City. He explains his own career as a chef and that he graduated from the...
Saroyan, William, 1908-1981 - Death and burial; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography
Aram Saroyan discusses his book, “Last Rites.” He begins by explaining that he is the son of famous Depression Era writer William Saroyan. He talks about the strained relationship between his father and the family. He describes that he...
Vaudeville - United States - History - 19th century; Vaudeville - United States - History - 20th century
Arthur Wertheim discusses his book, “Vaudeville Wars.” He begins by describing the history of vaudeville and how it had been around since the 1700s. He talks about the first modern day vaudeville circuit started by B. F. Keith and Edward...
Ferraro, Barbara; Hussey, Patricia, 1949-; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur - United States - History - 20th century; Catholic Church - United States - History - 1965-;
Catholic Church - Doctrines;
Ex-nuns - United States - Biography;
Abortion -...
Barbara Ferraro and Patricia Hussey discuss their book, “No Turning Back.” They begin by explaining that they are both former nuns in the Catholic Church. Ferraro talks about the Church’s taking away of individuality, spirit, femininity,...
Barbara Goldsmith discusses her book, “Obsessive Genius.” She begins by explaining that her book is part of Norton’s Great Discoveries Series, and she wrote about the life of Marie Curie and her discovery of radioactivity. Goldsmith talks...
Adult child abuse victims - Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction; Motion picture industry - Fiction
Benjamin Stein discusses his novel, “Her Only Sin.” He begins by introducing his main character, a woman who suffered abuse as a child and can’t tell the difference between real life and movies. This woman grows up to run the largest movie...
Dating (Social customs) - Fiction; Skis and skiing; Ski resorts - Fiction; Short stories
Benjamin Weissman discusses his book of short stories, “Headless.” He begins by explaining that he divided the book into 4 parts and did the illustrations for each section too. He describes one of his stories “Marnie,” and talks about how...
Blair, Betsy, 1923-2009; Motion picture actors and actresses - United States - Biography
Betsy Blair discusses her book, “The Memory of All That.” She begins by describing the beginning of her career in New Jersey dancing in a chorus line. It was during this time in her life that she met, then choreographer, Gene Kelly whom she...
Women - India - Calcutta - Fiction; Sisters - Fiction; Calcutta (India) - Fiction
Bharati Mukherjee discusses her book, “Desirable Daughters.” She begins by describing the plot of the book, which focuses on the lives of three Indian sisters, two of whom live in the United States and one in Bombay, India. Mukherjee explains...
Mass Media; African Americans - Caricatures and cartoons - Social aspects; Racism - United States
Bill Overton discusses his book, “The Media.” He begins by explaining how people create an image in their heads because of what they read in newspapers or see in television. He says that he covered multiple races, religions, and nationalities...
Government investigators - Egypt - Fiction; Egyptians - Iraq - Fiction; Iraq - History - To 634 - Fiction; Babylon (Extinct city) - Fiction
Brad Geagley discusses his novel, “Day of the False King.” He begins by talking about the history of ancient Egypt and Ramses IV’s health conditions and concerns. He gives background information about how Babylonian people preserved their...
World War, 1939-1945 - Europe - Fiction; Americans - Europe - Fiction; Women journalists - Fiction; Europe - Fiction
Brock and Bodie Thoene discuss their novel, “The Twilight of Courage.” They describe how the book took one year to write with 8 months of research and 4 months of writing. The novel is a historical fiction account of events during World War...
Davis, Sammy, 1925-1990; Entertainers - United States - Biography
Burt Boyar discusses the life of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. and talks about Davis’s autobiography, “Sammy.” Boyar describes how he and his late wife Jane decided to contribute new material to “Sammy” after the death of their long-time...
Serial murders - Fiction; New York (N.Y.) - Fiction
Caleb Carr discusses his novel, “The Alienist.” He begins by defining the word ‘alienist’ as a pre-20th century name for a psychiatrist. The novel is set in 1896 New York City, where young men are being forced into mafia-controlled...
Nguyễn, Cao Kỳ; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Prime ministers - Vietnam (Republic) - Biography; Vietnam (Republic) - Politics and government
Cao Kỳ Nguyễn discusses his autobiography, “Buddha’s Child.” He begins by explaining how he was elected as the prime minister of Vietnam during the United States invasion in the 1960s. Nguyễn talks about how television was important to...
Channing, Carol; Actors - United States - Biography; Singers - United States - Biography
Carol Channing discusses her autobiography, “Just Lucky I Guess.” She begins by explaining her early life and childhood, and how she grew up singing and acting. She talks about her early acting career and how she tried out for a part in the...
