Books & Literature

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Omens of Millennium" by literary critic Harold Bloom. Bloom examines the prophecies and hype around the coming year 2000.

Sociologist and foremost authority on urban poverty William Julius Wilson. He was with the University of Chicago for 24 years before becoming the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at Harvard. His new book is "When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor" (Knopf). He looks at how joblessness has affected inner city neighborhoods. He says that the consequences of high joblessness in the inner city are more devastating than those of high neighborhood poverty.

The Australian-born activist helped found and was the first president of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and the Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND). Her new autobiography "A Desperate Passion" is about her life, activism, and the effect of notoriety on her personal life. In 1985 PSR's umbrella affiliate, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, received the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Prize winner and activist talks with Terry about his newest book "The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis." It's been nearly a year since the Nigerian military government executed dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. The killing sparked international protests that today has left Nigeria politically isolated. The events that led up to the execution in November 1995 mark Nigeria's decline from a thriving post-colonial state to its present military dictatorship.

Chicago Tribune science writer Ronald Kotulak talks with Terry about his new book "Inside the Brain: Revolutionary Discoveries of How the Mind Works." It is published by Andrews and McMeel. Kotulak has interviewed more than 300 of the leading researchers and reveals the latest theories on how the brain thinks. Kotulak received the Pulitzer Prize for two related newspaper series on brain research: "Unravelling the Mysteries of the Brain" and "Roots of Violence."

Washington Post reporter Leon Dash won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his eight part series "Rosa Lee's Story." He has turned that into the new book ,"Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America." It shows Lee's day to day life in one of Washington D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods.

Former caseworker in New York City's Emergency Children's Services, Marc Parent. It was Parent's job to investigate cases of abused children during the evening and nighttime hours. He's written a new memoir about his experiences, called "Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk." Kirkus Reviews writes, "At once heart-wrenching and heart-lifting is this record of four years spent riding to the rescue of abused and neglected children."

Former Reagan advisor and Bush budget director, Richard Darman has written the book "Who's In Control?: Polar Politics and the Sensible Center," from Simon and Schuster. As Budget Director under President Bush, Darman pressured Bush to approve a tax increase. This broke Bush's promise "Read My Lips, No New Taxes." Terry talks to Darman about the tax increase, this year's Presidential elections, and about why Darmen thinks both parties are too polarized today to be effective.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Angela's Ashes," a new memoir by Frank McCourt. It's the 60-year-old author's first book.

Sweeney was elected in October 1995 and has been credited with revitalizing the labor movement. He's known for championing the cause of the poorest and least powerful members of the workforce. Last week John Sweeney spoke before the Democratic Convention. His new book is "America Needs a Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice."

Journalist Peter Godwin. His new memoir is "Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa," about growing up in Rhodesia in 1964 as the British colony is collapsing. Godwin was formerly a foreign correspondent for the London Sunday Times. He now makes television documentaries for the BBC.

Dr. Stephan Rechtschaffen is author of the book "Time Shifting: Creating More Time to Enjoy Your Life." It's about how to change the way we think about time. Rechtschaffen is also a pioneer of the wellness movement and founder of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York's Hudson River Valley.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Crows Over A Wheatfield" by Paula Sharp.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by Marilyn French, "My Summer With George."

Segment of a reading by playwright and actor Sam Shepard. It took place at the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center in New York on October 6, 1994. Shepard has a new short story collection called "Cruising Paradise."

McKenna has just written "Manhattan North Homicide: The True Story of One of New York's Best Homicide Cops." In his 30 years with the NYPD, he's worked on some of the cities most infamous cases and he describes them in the book: The Central Park Jogger Case, The Preppie Murder Case, The Brooklyn Bridge Shootings, and The Baby Maldonado Case. McKenna worked his way up as a uniformed patrolman to detective first grade to Manhattan North homicide--an elite force within the NYPD.

Scientists Dr. Joseph B. McCormick and Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch. Their book, in collaboration with Leslie Alan Horvitz, is "Level 4: Virus Hunters of the CDC." It's a personal account of this husband/wife team's work with the world's most horrible diseases: Ebola, Lassa fever, Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever, and AIDS. McCormick was instrumental in the creation of the high-tech "hot zone" lab at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. Fisher-Hoch was a pioneer in research on Legionnaire's Disease, Ebola and Lassa Fever.

Director and writer of the film version of Jane Austen's "Emma," Douglas McGrath. Already known as a playwright, screenwriter and columnist, this is his debut as a director. "Emma" is generally regarded as Austen's most accomplished and wittiest novel--a matchmaker doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons. McGrath is author of the New Republic column, "Flapjack File."

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews two novels from the series,"Old School Books": "The Angry Ones" by John A. Williams and "The Scene" by Clarence Cooper, Jr. "Old School Books" is a reprint series of black pulp novels originally published between the mid 1950s and the 1970s.

The Fresh Air classical music critic reads a new poem about his mother.