Books & Literature

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "A Morning for Flamingos," David Lee Burke's fourth novel in a series about a Cajun detective in New Orleans.

Fresh Air producer Amy Salit talks with Indian writer Gita Mehta. Mehta wrote the best-selling novel, "Raj," which has just been released in paperback.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Sarah Maitland's new novel, which masterfully weaves together real dragons, the end of childhood, cancer, and Christian symbolism in a narrative that somehow leads to salvation.

Michael Jackson (No, not THAT Michael Jackson). He's a beer expert who's written the "Pocket Guide to Beer (The Connoisseur's companion to over 1000 Beers of the World)," by Simon & Schuster. He lives in England and has also written "The New World Guide to Beer.

Faith Sale of PEN, the international writers group, and Christine Serfaty, whose husband is the Moroccan writer, Abraham Serfaty. He's been in jail for 17 years because of his writing. PEN just gave Serfaty its "Freedom to Write" award to call attention to his plight.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan review Kitty Kelley's salacious Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography. Corrigan, who is no fan of the former first lady, says it's perversely entertaining.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new collection of essays by veteran Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski, called The Soccer Game.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Mary Diana Dods: A Gentleman and a Scholar" by Betty T. Bennett. Dods was a Victorian writer who advanced her literary career by posing as men named David Lyndsay and Walter Sholto Douglas.

Barney Rosset published such controversial works as "Tropic of Cancer" and "Last Exit to Brooklyn," as well as Victorian literature considered by some to be pornographic Several years ago he was forced out of Grove and started his own publishing house, Blue Moon.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Eduardo Galeano's new book, which is filled with sprawling narratives, memories, and anecdotes about South America.

Galeano wrote the trilogy, "Memory of Fire," a surrealistic history of the Americas. Galeano comes from Urugua; he fled to Argentina when the dictatorship took over, and later fled Spain. His new book is "The Book of Embraces," and draw from his own life.

Journalist Andrew H. Malcolm's new book, "Someday," is his first-person account of his decision to take his terminally ill mother off life support, a decision made ironic by the fact that Malcom often covers issues of medical ethics and the right to die for the New York Times.

Amy Scholder and Ira Silverberg are the editors of "High Risk," a new anthology of writings that challenge the authors' self-imposed censorship concerning topics like unsafe sex, drug use, and sadomasochism.

Book critic John Leonard reviews Brett Easton Ellis' controversial new novel. The book's been vilified because of its many graphic scenes of rape, torture, murder, and cannibalism.

Travel and adventure writer Eric Hansen. His new book, "Motoring with Mohammed," is a first-person account of Hansen's attempt to recover the dairies he buried on the coast of Yemen a decade before, after being ship wrecked there.

Writer James Smith's new book, "The Idea Brokers," examines the growing influence and inner workings of Washington's many research organizations. Several think tank members provided commentary for news networks during the Gulf War.

Nature writer Rick Bass's new book chronicles his life in isolation on a remote ranch in Montana without electricity.

We examine how our notions of sex and gender has changed over the centuries with historian Thomas Laqueur, author of the book, "Making Sex."

Book critic John Leonard reviews Denis Johnson's novel, "Resuscitation of a Hanged Man," about a man recovering from a botched suicide attempt who goes on to become a part-time private eye in Provincetown.

McPherson is currently working on a new book about the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution. An excerpt of the book recently appeared in the literary magazine, "Granta."