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...
Freedman, Eleanor, 1924-1974; Hatkin family; Jews - New York (State) - New York - Biography; Cancer - Patients - New Jersey - Highland Park - Biography; Bronx (New York, N.Y.) - Biography; New York (N.Y.) - Biography; Highland Park (N.J.) -...
Samuel Freedman discusses his book, “Who She Was.” He begins by discussing his reasons for writing the book. He shares that his mother died when he was a teenager and he later decided to research her life because he did not know that she had...
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...
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...
Suburban life - Fiction; Middle class - Fiction; California, Southern - Fiction
Merrill Joan Gerber discusses her book, “This is a Voice from your Past.” She begins by discussing how she uses experiences from her own life in her writing. Her book is a collection of short stories that begins with a story in which the...
Scheer, Robert; Presidents - United States - Interviews; United States - Politics and government - 1945-1989; United States - Politics and government - 1989-
Robert Scheer discusses his book, “Playing President: My Close Encounters with Nixon, Carter, Bush I, Reagan, and Clinton: and How They Did Not Prepare Me for George W. Bush.” He begins by explaining the differences between a political...
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...
Karp, Butch (Fictitious character) - Fiction; Ciampi, Marlene (Fictitious character) - Fiction; Brighton Beach (N.J.) - Fiction; Public prosecutors - Fiction; Trials (Rape) - Fiction; New York (N.Y.) - Fiction
Robert Tanenbaum discusses his novel, “Fury.” He begins by explaining how he wanted to write a book based on how people’s lives can change in one moment. He describes plot details and gives an overview of a rape case, trial, and legal...
Treatments (Motion pictures, television, etc.); Motion picture authorship; Television authorship
Michael Halperin discusses his book, “Writing the Killer Treatment.” He begins by explaining several ways a screenwriter can adapt a novel into a film, and how characters can be altered from the book to the movie. He talks about his personal...
Science fiction - Authorship; Authors, American - 20th century - Biography; Science fiction, American - History and criticism; Bradbury, Ray, 1920-
Sam Weller and Ray Bradbury discuss Weller's book, "The Bradbury Chronicles." Weller, a professor at Columbia College, Chicago, teaches a class on the life and works of Ray Bradbury. His book is a biography on the life and work of author, Ray...
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...
Motion picture authorship; Motion picture plays - Technique
Robert McKee discusses his book, “Story.” He begins by explaining how he is a screenwriter and professor, and how his students have won numerous Academy Awards, Golden Globe awards, and Emmy awards for their writings. He says that a writer...
Labor unions and communism - United States - History; Labor unions - Political activity - United States; United States - Politics and government
Maurice Zeitlin discusses his book, “Left Out.” He begins by talking about his career as a sociology professor at University of California at Los Angeles. He discusses the CIO, Congress of Industrial Organizations, which was a group of unions...
Galicia (Poland and Ukraine) - Fiction; Aristocracy (Social class) - Fiction; Intelligence officers - Fiction; Jewish preaching - Fiction; Revolutionaries - Fiction; Conspiracies - Fiction; Rabbis - Fiction; Europe - History - 1871-1918 - Fiction
Michael André Bernstein discusses his novel, “Conspirators.” He begins by explaining how he is a professor in Berkeley, CA and teaches English and comparative literature. He describes the plot of his book: a play writer who must go back over...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Trumpet players - United States; Jazz musicians - United States; Jazz - History and criticism
Scotty Barnhart discusses his book, “The World of Jazz Trumpet.” He shares that he is a leading trumpet soloist, writer, historian, and a professor. He describes the history of the trumpet and how the earliest examples were found in ancient...
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...
