College teachers - Fiction; Loss (Psychology) - Fiction; Class reunions - Fiction; First loves - Fiction
Alan Lightman discusses his book, “Reunion.” He begins by explaining the plot, which follows the protagonist Charles who is a middle-aged professor at a second tier liberal arts college who magically witnesses a replay of his senior year of...
Israel; Conflict of generations - Fiction; Parent and adult child - Fiction; Young men - Fiction
Amos Oz discusses his book, “The Same Sea.” He explains that the novel contains several characters whose lives are intertwined. The plot is set in Israel and follows the character Albert, an accountant whose wife Nadia has died. Albert’s son...
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. ...
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...
Daniel Levitin discusses his book, “This is your Brain on Music.” He begins by explaining that the book examines the nature of hearing and the making of music. The book is a study of why music affects people so deeply and goes to great pains to...
Memory - Popular works; Memory disorders - Prevention - Popular works; Physical fitness; Health
Dr. Gary Small discusses his book, “The Memory Prescription.” He begins by explaining that he wrote this book because many of his patients asked him what to do to improve their memories. He creates a system to remember names and faces that he...
Mothers and daughters - Fiction; Jewish women - Fiction
Erica Jong discusses her book, “Inventing Memory: A Novel of Mothers and Daughters.” Jong tells the stories of four generations of Jewish women in America. Sarah, the matriarch, is born in Russia and comes to the United States and works as a...
Psychotherapist and patient - Fiction;
Missing persons - Fiction;
Married people - Fiction;
Psychologists - Fiction;
Adultery - Fiction;
Brothers - Fiction;
Refugees - Fiction;
Upper West Side (New York, N.Y.) - Fiction;
Lake District (England) -...
Frederick Busch discusses his novel, “A Memory of War.” He begins by explaining that his book takes a look at the generations of family members in the post World War II era. He talks about his main character who is a successful psychoanalyst...
Girls - Fiction; Young women - Fiction; New York (N.Y.) - Fiction
Gloria Vanderbilt discusses her book, “The Memory Book of Starr Faithfull.” Vanderbilt says the story is both fact and fiction and goes on to describe Faithfull’s life and her relationship with Andrew J. Peters. Vanderbilt's interview ends...
Southern States - Poetry Book; African American families - Poetry
Janice Harrington discusses her book, “Even the Hollow My Body Made is Gone.” She begins by explaining that her work received the 2008 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. She then discusses her career as a librarian before becoming a writer and...
Terrorism - United States - Fiction;
Conspiracy - Fiction
Jess Walter discusses her novel, “The Zero.” She begins by talking about her main character who is paid to clean up at Ground Zero after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. She discusses how America stopped remembering the violent parts of...
Margot Livesey discusses her book, “The Missing World.” She begins by explaining that the book is somewhat autobiographical in that she always longs for second chances in the way that some of the characters in the book do. She then explores the...
Mary Higgins Clark discusses her book, “We’ll Meet Again.” She describes the scene where the character, Molly, is found covered in blood with no memory, after her husband, Dr. Lasch, is found dead in the library by their housekeeper. Clark...
Norman Mailer discusses his book, “Tough Guys Don’t Dance.” Mailer details the plot, which is set in Provincetown, Massachusetts and follows the protagonist Tim Madden. Madden is an alcoholic writer who is attracted to wealthy blondes. When...
Social skills in children;
Learning disabled children;
Social acceptance in children;
Interpersonal relations in children
Richard Lavoie discusses his book, “It’s So Much Work to Be Your Friend.” He begins by talking about how important school is for learning disabled children because they need to learn proper social interaction. He describes qualities all...
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...
Seth Swirsky discusses his book, “Something to Write Home About.” He begins by explaining that the point of the book is that everyone has a story to tell about baseball. The book includes letters from President George Bush, Senator Ted Kennedy,...
Becker, Suzy - Health; Brain - Surgery – Patients - Humor; Brain - Surgery – Patients - Biography; Brain - Surgery - Patients - Caricatures and cartoons
Suzy Becker discusses her autobiography, “I Had Brain Surgery, What’s Your Excuse?” She begins by telling the story of how she found out about her brain tumor through having seizures. She then discusses how she broke the news to her family...
