Books & Literature

Reporter Patrice Gaines was a teenage mother with a drug rap when she spent the summer of 1970 in jail. She is now a regular reporter for the "Washington Post," and has written a book about how she turned her life around. It's called "Laughing in the Dark: From Colored Girl to Woman of Color."

The former television executive has written a memoir called "Tinker in Television." He was co-founder of the production company MTM Enterprises with his then wife Mary Tyler Moore. He left MTM at the peak of its success to become the chairman of NBC, and made it the top-rated network, with shows like "Cheers," "The Cosby Show," and "St. Elsewhere."

As a child, Lucy Grealy spent five years being treated for cancer, which left her face disfigured. She has since had over thirty reconstructive procedures and years of living with a distorted self-image. She's just written "Autobiography of a Face," her memoir about coming to terms with looking less than perfect in a society that values female beauty.

Faithfull got her start in the English music scene of 1964, when she dated Mick Jagger and had the hit song, "As Tears Go By." In the following years she had a drug addiction that almost killed her, before recovering in 1985 and releasing new albums. Her memoir, "Faithfull: An Autobiography," tells her story of highs and lows with music and drugs.

Feather, one of the world's most prominent jazz critics died of pneumonia, yesterday at the age of 80. He grew up in England and moved to America in 1940. His most important writing was his encylopedia of jazz, an essential reference work of musician bios. Feather spent his final months editing a new edition, which is scheduled for publication next year. Feather also produced about 200 recording sessions, composed for many of the musicians he worked with, and even played piano on some of their sessions.

British mystery writer Anne Perry is the author of 19 crime novels based in Victorian England. It was recently discovered that, forty years ago, Perry took part in a murder. She was 15 and on medication for an illness she had at the time. She went to jail for five and a half years. Her newly released 20th book, "The Sins of the Wolf" is about a nurse imprisoned for a crime she didn't commit.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews Quindlen's second novel -- Quindlen's first since her announcement that she's going to give up her editorial page column to become a full-time novelist.

In 1990, an American Association of American Women survey found that the self-esteem of young girls plummets during adolescence. A year later, journalist Peggy Orenstein was commissioned to do a follow-up study, which resulted in her new book, "Schoolgirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap." Orenstein talked to girls in two junior high schools, and examined some of the factors that influenced their feelings about themselves, including schooling, family, and class.

Comedy writer Alan Zweibel discusses his 14 year friendship with Gilda Radner. They met working on the original Saturday Night Live and teamed up to create such memorable characters as Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella. Zweibel has written a new memoir about their friendship, called "Bunny Bunny: Gilda Radner: A Sort of Love Story."

James Carville was President Clinton's chief strategist in the 1992 election. Mary Matalin was a top political aide to George Bush. They dated during the campaign and are now married. They've just written a book together, "All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President," that tells the story of their unlikely romance.

Sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot has written a new book about the Black middle class, called "I've Known Rivers: Lives of Loss and Liberation." She follows the lives of six middle-aged, African American people on the "necessary losses" they paid for their privilege. Her book was written, in part, as a response to the 1957 book "Black Bourgeoisie," by the black sociologist Franklin Frazier.

Columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer Steve Lopez. He's just written his first novel, "Third and Indiana" about the hard life of North Philly. The origin of the story was a two-paragraph item Lopez read in the paper about a 14-year-old boy shot and killed on a drug corner. He was disturbed by the casualness and brevity of the report. Terry talks with Lopez about his new book, and about his popular columns.

Former First Lady, Barbara Bush. She's written her memoir, which she describes as a story of a "life of privilege." The book chronicles her early life, her marriage to George Bush during World War Two at the age of 19, and the political path that took them to the White House. She also writes about a depression she fell into in the mid-1970s in which she wept each night in the arms of her husband, and had thoughts about crashing her car into a tree or oncoming auto. The depression finally lifted on its own.

Conway grew up in a remote sheep station in the Australian outback, and later became the president of Smith College. Her girlhood memoir, "The Road from Coorain," was a bestseller, In her new book, "True North," she continues her story, writing about organizing for women's rights on campus, and creating a marriage in which she and her husband are equal partners. Conway was the first female vice president of The University of Toronto, and from 1975 to 1985 was the president of Smith.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews the new novel by the author of the critically praised "Machine Dreams." "Shelter" features narration from several children at an isolated summer camp.

Psychiatrist and novelist Roderick Anscombe. He oversees a psychiatric ward at a hospital outside of Boston, and has written a new novel that retells the Dracula myth, called "The Secret Life of Laszlo: Count Dracula." Anscombe says he wanted to "humanize" Dracula by making him more a man than a monster. In writing the book, Anscombe drew on his previous experience working with the criminally insane.

Evans is an actor and producer of such films as "The Odd Couple", "Love Story", "Chinatown" and "The Godfather." His new memoir about his career's peaks and valleys is called "The Kid Stays in the Picture."

Writer Colin Escott talks about his new book, "Hank Williams, The Biography." He's also the author of "Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records & The Birth of Rock & Roll", and he produced and annotated the CD Collection "Hank Williams: The Original Singles Collection...Plus."

Maureen Corrigan reviews Doctor Johnson and Mr. Savage, by Richard Holmes, about the legendary friendship between Samuel Johnson and Richard Savage.

Martha Reeves is the lead singer of Martha and the Vandellas, the Motown group which made it big in the 60's with such hits as "Nowhere to Run," "Heat Wave," and "Dancing in the Street." Her new autobiography, "Dancing in the Street: Confessions of a Motown Diva," is about her career, her conflicts with other Motown singers and managers, and her experiences touring during the height of the Civil Rights movement.