Legislators’ spouses - United States - Biography; African American legislators - Biography; Legislators - United States - Biography; United States. Congress. Senate - Biography; Bruce family; Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 1841-1898 - Family; Bruce,...
Lawrence Graham discusses his book, “The Senator and the Socialite.” He begins by explaining that the book is a biography of the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate, Blanche Kelso Bruce. Graham tells the story of...
Parables; Spiritual life - Anecdotes; Christian life; Christian life - Anecdotes
Mark Victor Hansen discusses his national bestseller, “Chicken Soup For the Christian Soul.” He begins the interview by talking about specific stories from the book and tells one about the creation of the Peanuts cartoon by Charles Schulz. He...
Susan Vreeland discusses her book, “Life Studies.” Vreeland shares stories from the book, which cast the profiled painters as peripheral characters. She tells the story of how Pierre-Auguste Renoir meets the little girl from his work, “A...
Hermien Lee discusses her book, “The Spot Reducing Diet.” She begins by explaining that her book is about how to lose weight in certain areas of the body and how to have more energy. She advises that people need to realize what they’re...
African Americans - Biography; Racially mixed people - United States - Biography; Racism - United States; United States - Race relations
Barack Obama discusses his book, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.” Obama shares his family’s background and its influence in his life. He tells of his mother’s emphasis of instilling a strong African and African...
Brooklyn Dodgers (Baseball team) - History; Baseball fans - United States - Biography; Historians - United States - Biography
Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses her book, “Wait Till Next Year.” Goodwin shares that she learned how to tell a story from beginning to end when her father asked her to keep score of baseball games when he was unable to watch them. She tells of...
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...
Leonard Wolf discusses his novel, “The False Messiah.” He begins by explaining that his book takes place in the year 1630 and follows a real man named Shabbethai Tzevi who believed he was the second coming of the Messiah. He describes the...
Wasserman, Lew; Music Corporation of America - History; Chief executive officers - United States - Biography
Connie Bruck discusses her book “When Hollywood Had a King.” She explains that the book tells the story of Lew Wasserman and the Music Corporation of America, more commonly known as the MCA. Bruck describes how Wasserman, a visionary...
Judy Garland show (Television program : 1963); Tormé, Mel, 1925-1999; Garland, Judy
Mel Torme discusses his book, “The Other Side of the Rainbow.” Torme begins by explaining that the book chronicles the events of the short-lived Judy Garland Show, while revealing a personal side of Judy Garland. Torme worked on the show as its...
New York (N.Y.) - Fiction; Poets - Fiction; Young men - Fiction; Gay men - Fiction
Allison Burnett discusses his book, “House Beautiful.” He begins by detailing the plot of the novel which tells the story of a summer in New York city in which B.K. Troop, a bipolar, alcoholic, homosexual turns his Manhattan brownstone into a...
Los Angeles (Calif.) - Social life and customs; Christmas decorations - California - Los Angeles; Christmas - California - Los Angeles; Skinner, George, d. 1978
Georja Skinner discusses her book, “The Christmas House.” She begins by explaining that the book tells the story of her father’s life. Her father, George Skinner, moved from Canada to Santa Monica with his father. When they left Canada he was...
Teenagers - Maine - Biography; Camps - Maine; Maine - Biography
Mindy Schneider discusses her book, “Not a Happy Camper.” Schneider describes her time at camp and her dream of meeting a boy and getting kissed. She talks about the rigid, structured camp in Maine and a bunkmate. Schneider tells a story of...
Jonathan Kirsch discusses his book, “King David.” He begins by explaining that the book is the story of King David from the Bible. He goes on to discuss the extensive research that he conducted in order to write this book. In this interview,...
Dublin (Ireland) - Fiction; Ireland - History - To 1172 - Fiction; Princes - Fiction; Mythology, Celtic - Fiction
Edward Rutherford discusses his book, “The Princes of Ireland.” He begins by explaining that the book tells its story over the course of a thousand years of Irish history that begins before the coming of Saint Patrick and ends around the time...
Robert Clary discusses his book, “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes.” He begins by explaining how the book is an autobiography of his life, which begins with his childhood in France during World War II. Clary discusses his career in...
United States - Biography - Anecdotes; United States - History - Anecdotes; Social movements - United States - History - Anecdotes; National characteristics, American - Anecdotes; Social reformers - United States - Biography - Anecdotes; Political...
James Fraser discusses his book, “A History of Hope.” He begins by explaining the premise of the book, which is that the United States was founded on hope for the future and has been powered by it throughout its history. From there he tells of...
Jews - Persecutions - Soviet Union - Fiction; Soviet Union - History - 1925-1953 - Fiction
Elie Wiesel discusses his book, “The Testament.” He begins by saying that both Fascism and Communism deny the value of man in the name of an abstract humanity that will never occur, that will never take shape. Because of this, cruelties were...
Disarmament - Fiction; United States - Armed Forces - Fiction
Steve Sohmer discusses his book, “Patriots.” He says he spent three years researching the book by meeting and talking with people in the military. Sohmer explains that the rules about romance between officers and enlisted personnel in the...
Linn Ullman discusses her book, “Before you Sleep." She begins by explaining that the book is told mainly in flashbacks and traces the history of a family filled with fractured personalities. The Blom family consists of Karin the narrator, her...
