Books & Literature

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Brief Lives," the latest novel from professor and writer Anita Brookner. Brookner also recently edited a two volume collection of the stories of Edith Wharton. Maureen sees some similarities between the works of the two.

Poet Philip Levine. Levine's considered one of this country's preeminent poet, but before he turned to poetry he put in years working factory jobs. The images of those early days continue to influence his writings. Levine's latest collection of poems is called "What Work Is." (It's published by Knopf).

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Adventures of Amos and Andy," writer Melvin Patrick Ely's look at the comedy series, and the controversy it caused.

Writer Howard Rheingold. Rheingold's new book, "Virtual Reality," is a look at the growing promise and impact of a radical new technology. By combining computers with sophisticated equipment (such as 3-D video glasses and gloves that sense how the wearer is moving their hands), it's possible to create the illusion that one is in another world, one that may exist only inside the computer. The technology has implications for everything from space exploration to entertainment, medicine to warfare. (The book's published by Summit Books).

Part two of our interview with Sonny Bono. Today, he talks about the Sonny and Cher years, their breakup, and his going on to be elected mayor of Palm Springs, California. Bono has a new autobiography, called "And The Beat Goes On" (published by Pocket Books).

The first of a two-part interview with Sonny Bono. Today, Bono discusses his early years in the record business, his work with Phil Specter, and his meeting Cher. Tomorrow, he talks about the Sonny and Cher years, their breakup, and his going on to be elected mayor of Palm Springs, California. Bono has a new autobiography, called "And The Beat Goes On" (published by Pocket Books).

Record producer and consultant Colin Escott. Escott's had a long association with Sun Records, the company responsible for many of the great acts from the dawn of rock and roll. Escott has a new book about Sun, called "Good Rockin' Tonight" (published by St. Martin's Press).

Reporter Leonard Lee. Lee's new book, "The Day the Phones Stopped: The Computer Crisis-- The What and Why of It, and How We Can Beat It," examines how our growing dependency on computers, and the growing complexity of computer programs, have led to expensive, and sometimes deadly, computer failures. Prior to becoming a journalist, Lee was a systems engineer for IBM. ("The Day the Phones Stopped" is published by Donald I. Fine).

Book critic John Leonard reviews two collections of essays about Africa; "African Silences" by Peter Matthiessan and "Maneaters Motel" by Denis Boyles.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Wall to Wall," Mary Morris' memoir of her travels through China and the Soviet Union.

Maureen Corrigan reviews film maker John Sayle's new novel, "Los Gusanos."

Journalist Ron Powers. Powers new book, "Far From Home, " examines the decline of the small town in America. To illustrate the point, Powers profiled the decline of Cairo, Illinois and Kent Connecticut.

Rock critic Jimmy Guterman and editor Owen O'Donnell have a new book called "The Worst Rock 'n' Roll Records of All Time." Many of their selections are recordings made by some of the most popular artists, including the Doors, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, and the Moody Blues.

Miller was the first executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association when it was formed in 1966. He helped form a labor union to represent the athletes, which caused the dramatic increase in player's salaries, and ended the system that bound an athlete to one team forever. To some, he's the man who depreciated the value of teams. His memoir is called "A Whole Different Ball Game."

Boyd's new book, "The Revolution of Little Girls," follows a child coming-of-age in the South in the 60s. (It's published by Knopf). Boyd's the author of two earlier novels, and a collection of essays, called "The Rebel Way of Knowledge."

Jacobson is the executive director of the Center for Science in The Public Interest. He's one of the authors of the new book, "Safe Food." It's a guide to the dangers in what we eat. The book discusses pesticides, bacteria and other toxic substances found in food.

Dubus' short stories earned him this year's Bernard Malamud Award from the writers group, PEN. Dubus has just released his first work of non-fiction, a collection of essays, called "Broken Vessels." It deals with, among other things, a tragic car accident that killed one person and left him severely injured.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "Jernigan," the first novel from writer David Gates. It's about an erudite alcoholic's frustration with suburban life.

The Soviet Union just withdrew from Czechoslovakia. We talk to two people about what affect this will have on the literary culture in that country. Czech writer Ivan Klima was one of Czechoslovakia's leading dissident writers, and was recently elected the president of the Czech chapter of PEN. Michael March organized an international book and writers' festival in Prague last month.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the author's latest book, which he says doesn't live up to DeLillo's excellent novels from last decade.