John E. O’Toole discusses his book, “The Trouble with Advertising.” He begins by explaining that advertising is changing because more people are watching cable instead of network television. He talks about the thought process that networks...
Calvin Trillin discusses his book, “Too Soon to Tell,” a collection of essays from his syndicated newspaper column and pieces from “The New Yorker.” Trillin talks about technology and how the computer has transformed lives. He goes on to...
Ray Bradbury discusses his book, “Bradbury Speaks: Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars.” Bradbury talks about his time in Europe, and his travels to England, Paris, and Rome. He goes into his relationship with Federico Fellini and...
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...
Dating (Social customs) - Fiction; Skis and skiing; Ski resorts - Fiction; Short stories
Benjamin Weissman discusses his book of short stories, “Headless.” He begins by explaining that he divided the book into 4 parts and did the illustrations for each section too. He describes one of his stories “Marnie,” and talks about how...
Divorced women - Fiction; Investment advisors - Fiction; Football players - Fiction; Dating services - Fiction; Unemployed - Fiction; Alimony - Fiction
Jane Heller discusses her novel, “An Ex to Grind.” She begins by explaining that the book is about a woman who is going through a divorce with her unemployed husband, and she has to pay him alimony. Her idea to get out of the payments is to...
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...
Edna O’Brien discusses her book, “In the Forest.” She begins by explaining that the novel is based on the real events of the triple homicide that shocked Ireland in 1994. She explains how a man abducted a young woman, her son, and a priest...
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826; Presidents - United States - Biography; United States - Politics and government - 1801-1809
Joyce Appleby discusses her biography, “Thomas Jefferson.” She begins by describing Jefferson’s complicated radical opinions and how former slaves and masters could not live together. She talks about how Jefferson started the Democratic...
Job hunting;
College students - Employment;
Students - Employment;
Summer employment
Lawrence Graham discusses his book, “Jobs In the Real World.” He begins by explaining that he is a job counselor at Princeton and wrote the book out of his own experience and from what other people have told him. He talks about the problems...
Henry Denker discusses his book, “Judge Spencer Dissents,” which is about Judge Spencer, who is a senior judge of the Federal Judicial District in his 70s, and is known to dissent from his counterparts. He believed his judge counterparts were...
Los Angeles (Calif.) - History - 20th century - Fiction; Murder - Fiction; Silent films - Fiction; Motion picture industry - History - Fiction; Motion picture actors and actresses - Fiction; Japanese Americans - Fiction
Nina Revoyr discusses her book, “The Age of Dreaming.” She begins by sharing the plot of her novel, which follows the character Jun Nakayama. Jun was a silent film star during the early days of Hollywood. Yet by 1964 he is living in total...
Married women - Fiction; Spouses of clergy - Fiction; African American women - Fiction; African American clergy - Fiction; Black, Curtis (Fictitious character) - Fiction
Kimberla Lawson Roby discusses her book, “Too Much of a Good Thing.” She begins by introducing her main character Curtis Black, a philandering Baptist pastor who joins a new congregation after being kicked out of his old one. She talks about...
Motion picture industry - Fiction; Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) - Fiction; United States - Social life and customs - 20th century - Fiction
Budd Schulberg discusses his book, “What Makes Sammy Run?” He describes the character, Sammy Glick, and his life starting as a copy boy and then becoming a Hollywood screenwriter. Schulberg then talks about feminists’ views of the...
Nguyễn, Cao Kỳ; Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Prime ministers - Vietnam (Republic) - Biography; Vietnam (Republic) - Politics and government
Cao Kỳ Nguyễn discusses his autobiography, “Buddha’s Child.” He begins by explaining how he was elected as the prime minister of Vietnam during the United States invasion in the 1960s. Nguyễn talks about how television was important to...
Dr. Sheldon Saul Hendler discusses his book, “The Complete Guide to Anti-Aging Nutrients.” He begins by explaining that his book looks at different supplements to determine which ones help the body stay young. He talks about places in the...
Reagan, Maureen, 1941-2001 - Family; Reagan, Ronald - Family; Regan family; Children of presidents - United States - Biography; Presidents - United States - Biography
Maureen Reagan discusses her autobiography, “First Father, First Daughter.” She begins by explaining how she is the daughter of President Ronald Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman. She talks about how she wasn’t allowed on her father’s...
Role playing - Fiction;
College students - Fiction;
Friendship - Fiction;
Mystery
Rona Jaffe discusses her novel, “Mazes and Monsters.” She begins by explaining that her book is about four college friends who bond over playing a medieval war game. She talks about the individual characteristics of the friends, and how the...
Self-actualization (Psychology); Self-actualization (Psychology) - Religious aspects - Judaism; Fate and fatalism - Religious aspects - Judaism; Providence and government of God - Judaism; Planning; Self-management (Psychology)
Rabbi Sherre Z. Hirsch discusses her book, “We Plan, God Laughs.” She begins by explaining her background as a female rabbi, and how she decided that the rabbinical path was right for her. She says that too many individuals live in the past,...
September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001 - Fiction; Fathers and daughters - Fiction; Loss (Psychology) - Fiction; Mothers - Death - Fiction; Teenage girls - Fiction; Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - Fiction; California - Fiction
Joyce Maynard discusses her book, “The Usual Rules.” She begins by explaining that she wanted to explore how the events of September 11th took normal lives and threw them into turmoil. She then discusses the characters and the plot, which...
