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...
Russian teachers - Fiction; Mothers and sons - Fiction; Football players - Fiction; Interracial dating - Fiction; Parent and adult child - Fiction; African American families - Fiction; African American women college teachers - Fiction; Pushkin,...
Alice Randall discusses her book, “Pushkin and the Queen of Spades.” She begins by explaining the plot of the novel, which follows Winsor Armstrong who is a Harvard-educated professor of Russian literature whose son, Pushkin-who she named after...
Parent and adult child - Fiction; Fathers and daughters - Fiction; Middle class men - Fiction; Middle-aged men - Fiction; Suburban life - Fiction; Air pilots - Fiction; Long Island (N.Y.) - Fiction
Chang-rae Lee discusses his book, “Aloft.” He begins by explaining that his book is about middle-aged people who suddenly find themselves unhappy with their lives. Martinson asks Lee to read a passage from the book about couples who fight...
Charles Johnson discusses his book, “Middle Passage.” He says the “middle passage” is the journey from the African west coast to the United States. Johnson describes the protagonist, Rutherford Calhoun, a former slave, his brother,...
American wit and humor; Euphemism - Humor; Language and culture - Humor; Dating (Social customs) - Humor
Chris Cerf discusses his book, “The Official Sexually Correct Dictionary and Dating Guide," co-authored by Henry Beard. Cerf talks about male professor eye contact, the political construct of masculinity, and feminism. Other topics discussed...
Bronx (New York, N.Y.) - Fiction; Orphans - Fiction; Nannies - Fiction; Rich people - Fiction; Benefactors - Fiction; Jewish families - Fiction; Refugees, Jewish - Fiction; Children of authors - Fiction; Inheritance and succession - Fiction
Cynthia Ozick discusses her book, “Heir to the Glimmering World.” She explains that the story is set in the Bronx during the 1930s, where it follows a family of German refuges, the Mitwisser family, who are provided for by their benefactor...
Identity (Psychology) - Fiction; City and town life - Fiction; Fate and fatalism - Fiction; Middle West - Fiction
Dan Chaon discusses his novel, “You Remind Me of Me.” He begins by explaining that his book is about the struggles and problems of family life. Martinson asks Chaon to read the first paragraph of the book about a young boy who has a near...
Catholic Church - Relations - Judaism;
Judaism - Relations - Catholic Church;
Christianity and anti-Semitism;
Papacy - History
David I. Kertzer discusses his book, “The Popes Against the Jews.” He begins by explaining that he is a professor at Brown University. He talks about how Catholics would baptize Jewish children and take them away from their parents. He...
Dr. David Spiegel discusses his book, “Living Beyond Limits.” He begins be explaining that his book helps people and their families deal with the news that they have cancer or another serious illness. He describes how he is a professor of...
Men - Ireland - Fiction; Fathers and daughters - Fiction; Painters - Fiction; Humorous stories, American; New York - Fiction; Ireland - Fiction
Dick Wimmer discusses his book, “The Wildly Irish Sextet.” He begins by explaining that he used his main character in other books before. He talks about the plot of the novel: an Irish painter who has an art show, is accused of murdering his...
Assassination - Fiction; Political corruption - Fiction; Love stories - Fiction
Edmundo Paz Soldán discusses his book, “The Matter of Desire.” He begins by explaining that he is a professor at Cornell University and talks about how he got his book translated into English from Spanish. The book is about a young man who...
Bradley, Ernestine, 1935-; Bradley, Bill, 1943- - Family; Legislators’ spouses - United States - Biography; United States - Biography; Germany - History - 1933-1945; Germany - History - 1945-1955
Ernestine Bradley discusses her book, “The Way Home.” She begins by explaining that the book is the story of her life growing up in post World War II Germany and how she later went on to become a professor of comparative literature and the wife...
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...
Harold J. Leavitt discusses his book, “Top Down.” He begins by explaining that he is a professor at the Stanford Business School. He says that this book was written for a middle manager who leads other people but who still answers to a higher...
Social classes - United States; African Americans - Interviews; African Americans - Social conditions - 1975-
Henry Louis Gates discusses his book, “America Behind the Color Line.” Professor Gates explains how he traveled across the United States interviewing African Americans in an attempt to discover why and how black America split into what he...
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...
John Allen Paulos discusses his book, “A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market.” He begins by discussing how people advertise stocks on the Internet. He talks about his decision to write the book after being involved in the WorldCom scandal,...
Witches - Fiction;
Young women - Fiction;
Paris (France) - History - Louis XIV, 1643-1715 - Fiction
Judith Merkle Riley discusses her novel, “The Oracle Glass.” She begins by explaining that her book is about a network of women in the 17th century who relied on their oracle powers to tell people’s futures. She discusses her job as a...
Leonard Guarente discusses his book, “Ageless Quest.” He begins by explaining that his book is about his personal search for eternal youth and to stop the aging process. He talks about his career as a biologist and professor at the...
Wharton, Edith, 1862-1937 - Appreciation - Fiction;
Women college teachers - Fiction;
English teachers - Fiction;
Biographers - Fiction;
Tarot - Fiction
Lynn Miller discusses her novel, “The Fool’s Journey.” She begins by explaining that her novel is about an associate professor who has an affair with the head of her department and gets fired from her job. She discusses the different jobs...
