Books & Literature

Sociologist Barry Glassner's new book Bodies explores the pressures Americans face to conform to particular standards of health and beauty. He says this cultural expectation -- which even extends to the workplace -- has led to a proliferation of diet and exercise programs, which most participants are doomed to fail.

The African American writer is known for his experimental style, but in Such Was the Season, Major uses a straightforward narrative to tell the story about an older black woman in Atlanta and her doctor nephew. Guest critic Stuart Klawans says any bookstore that doesn't carry it needs to "wise up."

None of the stories in the writer's debut collection were previously published; magazines hated her dark, sexually charged stories of young women. But the book--and Gaitskill--have now found critical acclaim.

Novelist Donald Westlake has written everything, from confession stories to westerns to science fiction. But he's found the most success with his mystery and crime stories. He wrote a series of novels under the name Richard Stark featuring an emotionless criminal named Parker; his newest book, Trust Me on This, is a humorous tale of a tabloid journalist.

Poet Mark Halliday deals with troubling memories by writing about them. He shares a new poem, in which he tries to dispense with a number of bad memories all at once.

The novelist once said that science fiction is a branch of children's literature -- an assertion he largely stands by today. Nonetheless, he makes a concerted effort to write for adults, using the genre to satirize serious topics. His newest book for young readers is called The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars.

Mulcahy wrote for the New York Post's Page Six, and now works for New York Newsday. While the column she now helms features salacious stories, she considers certain topics off-limits, like AIDS and the outing of gay and lesbian public figures. Mulcahy's new memoir is called My Lips Are Sealed.

Writer Michael Tolkin's novel The Player is based on his experiences as a screenwriter interacting with film executives in Hollywood.

Guest commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews a new book critical of the college entrance exam, administered by the company ETS. ETS also developed the subject-specific Advanced Placement tests, which Corrigan graded for three years.

Book critic John Leonard says a new collection of essays called Introducing the Great American Novel, which features work by notable critics and famous authors, lacks women's voices, geographical inclusivity, and an overall point.

Washington Post staffer Paul Hendrickson has been writing about former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara for years, but hasn't yet found a way use his extensive research to write a book-length profile. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about McNamara's reluctance to share his feelings on the Vietnam War.

The groundbreaking psychoanalyst didn't trust future biographers, even going so far as to destroy some of his personal papers. Nonetheless, historian Peter Gay has found enough material to write his second book on Freud. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about Freud's personal life, theories, and views on female sexuality,

Novelist Alice Hoffman's new book is about a child who contracts AIDS. Her previous novel draws on her own experience with agoraphobia.

The writer published her first story she was 35; her first novel came out nine years later. Her latest book, Silver, is about marriage, domesticity and suburban life.

Book critic John Leonard says that Murial Sparks' new, slim novel is packed with plot. The result isn't clutter, but richness. A Far Cry from Kensington, about a woman in the publishing world of 1950s London, reminds Leonard of Doris Lessing, only with a sense of humor.

Mystery novelist Tony Hillerman's books feature Navajo detectives in the American Southwest, and are informed by that tribe's religious practices. He's not Indian himself, but grew up in their communities.

Harvard Law professor and professional negotiator Roger Fisher applies his principles to personal relationships in his new book, Getting Together.

Despite his association with the 1960s anti-war movements, SDS co-founder and current California State Legislator Tom Hayden says he was as unlikely to become a beatnik in the 50s as he was a hippie in the 60s. His new memoir, which reflects on his political activity over the decades, is called Reunion.

Book critic Stephen Schiff calls John Cheever, the subject of a new biography by Scott Donaldson, "the saddest man I ever met." The story of the author's life is brutal, told skillfully, but with prose that could't hope to match Cheever's.

Harry Whittington built a career on churning out pulp paperbacks. His mystery novels have received recent critical acclaim; four of them were just reissued by Black Lizard Books.