World War, 1914-1918 - Turkey - Fiction; Mothers and daughters - Fiction; Plantation life - Fiction; Women - Turkey - Fiction; Silk industry - Fiction; Dwellings - Fiction; Turkey - Fiction
Alev Lytle Croutier discusses her book, “Seven Houses.” She begins by discussing the plot of the novel, which is set against the backdrop of twentieth century Turkey. The book tells the story of the Ipekci silk-making family that begins during...
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...
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...
Paesel, Brett; Mothers - California - Los Angeles - Biography; Motherhood - California - Los Angeles - Anecdotes; Character actors and actresses - California - Los Angeles - Biography; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Biography
Brett Paesel discusses her book, “Mommies Who Drink.” She begins by explaining that her book is a collection of essays about things she and her friends have experienced. She talks about her time acting on the television shows, “Curb Your...
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...
Dani Shapiro discusses her book, “Family History.” She begins by sharing the basic plot of the book that follows the narrator, Rachel Jenson who is a housewife and art restorer married to Ned, a former painter. The couple live in a small town...
Women lawyers - Fiction; Honolulu (Hawaii) - Fiction
Deborah Turrell Atkinson discusses her book, “Primitive Secrets.” She explains the opening scene of the book where her heroine Storm Kayama works at a law firm and finds her uncle dead in his office. She then explains how she allows the...
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...
Hell's Kitchen (New York, N.Y.) - Fiction; Italian Americans - Fiction; Jewish teenagers - Fiction; Male friendship - Fiction; Mafia - Fiction; Gangs - Fiction
E. Duke Vincent discusses his novel, “Mafia Summer.” He begins with his personal story of growing up in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of New York. He talks about how he was connected to prominent members of the Italian mafia, and how he...
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...
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...
Burstyn, Ellen, 1932-; Actors - United States - Biography
Ellen Burstyn discusses her book, “Lessons in Becoming Myself.” She begins by sharing stories from her childhood. She tells how she was sent away to boarding school at an early age and when she returned home she lived under the rule of a...
Dating (Social customs) - Fiction; Single women - Fiction
Eric Garcia discusses his book, “Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys.” He begins by saying how he wanted to write a novel from the point of view of a young woman although he initially had some challenges with getting into...
Broadcasting policy - United States; Mass media policy - United States
Eric Klinenberg discusses his book, “Fighting for Air.” He begins by talking about how a few large corporations own the majority of small local radio channels. He tells a story of how a toxic chemical spill in Texas endangered the lives 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...
Press, Shalom, 1940-; Abortion - United States; Physicians - United States - Attitudes; Abortion services - New York (State) - Buffalo; Pro-life movement - United States; Pro-choice movement - United States; Political violence - New York (State) -...
Eyal Press discusses his book, “Absolute Convictions.” He begins by sharing that the book is the story of his father who was an obstetrician who performed abortions in Buffalo, New York and the constant danger that this placed both he and his...
Jewish diaspora; Jewish diaspora - Pictorial works
Frédéric Brenner discusses his book, “Diaspora.” He begins by explaining that his book is divided into two parts: one of photographs, and one of writers commenting on what the photographs mean to them. He talks about how Jews have settled...
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...
Missing persons - Fiction; Arab-Israeli conflict - Fiction; Palestinian Arabs - Fiction; Jews - United States - Fiction; Los Angeles (Calif.) - Fiction
Gloria Miklowitz discusses her book, “The Enemy Has a Face.” She begins by talking about the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people in the Middle East. She discusses her characters in the book and how a young girl goes on 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...
