Books & Literature

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews John Henry Days, the new book by Colson Whitehead.

He commanded the NATO troops during the Kosovo conflict, the first and only NATO war. His new memoir is Waging Modern War

Historian David Mccullough is the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Truman. His new book is the biography of founding father and second President of the United States. The book is John Adams.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews The Dying Animal by Philip Roth.

Writer David Rakoff is a regular contributor to Outside, the New York Times Magazine, and public radios This American Life. One of his peers, writer Paul Rudnick says of him, –Rakoff is a comic saint... an ideal mix of the crabby and the debonair.— Rakoff has a new collection of essays, Fraud. He's also appearing in Amy & David Sedaris new off-broadway show.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Nikel and Dimed" (Metropolitan Books) by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Womens Tales from the New Mexico WPA" (Arte Publico Press) a collection of interviews with rural Hispanic women conducted as part of the Federal Writers Project during the Depression and published here for the first time.

Writer Michael Chabon (SHAY-bon). Chabon won a year 2001 Pulitzer prize for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Random House). His other books include The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and a collection of stories called Werewolves in Their Youth. Last year his book Wonder Boys was adapted into a film starring Michael Douglas. He has also written for many publications including The New Yorker, Harper's, and Esquire.

Paul Robeson Jr. has just written a new memoir called The Undiscovered Paul Robeson, the first of a two part series on his father, the famed actor, singer and athlete. He talks about his fathers rise in show business and what it was like growing up as the son of an icon. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Kent Walker is the oldest son of Sante Kimes, the 66-year old con-artist and convicted killer. Last year Kimes was convicted along with her other son Kenny Kimes of murdering an elderly Manhattan millionaires. The two have also been connected to the deaths or disappearances of three other wealthy people. Sante Kimes has been dubed the "Dragon Lady." Her other crimes include shoplifting, arson, and slavery. Kent Walker's book is "Son of a Grifter"

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the "Death in holy orders" by P.D. James.

African novelist and chemist Emmanuel Dongala. He was born in the Congo Republic, was educated in the U.S., and left the Congo with the outbreak of civil war in 1997. Two of his novels have just been translated to English: “Little Boys Come From the Stars” and “The Fires of Origins” (both by Lawrence Hill Books). With the help of writers Philip Roth and William Styron, Dongala now has a visiting professorship in chemistry at Simon’s Rock of Bard College in Massachusetts. Dongala is also president of the Congolese PEN Centre.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "The Gardens of Kyoto" (Scribner) the debut novel by Kate Walbert.

Irish writer Nuala OFaolain. Her first novel, My Dream of You, (Riverhead Books) has just come out in paperback. Her critically acclaimed 1998 memoir, Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman was on the New York Times bestseller list. OFaolain is also a columnist for the Irish Times; she has been at the paper for over 12 years.

Probably best known for his mystery writing, Sallis is the author of the new highly anticipated biography of African American mystery writer and realist Chester Himes. Himes wrote several books in the late 50s like The Real Cool Killers, and Cotton Comes to Harlem. Sallis has also published several science fiction stories as well as the Lew Griffin mystery series. His book about the lives of noir writers Difficult Lives, came out last year.

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new true crime book, Facing the Wind .

Former Chicago policewoman Gina Gallo. While she was part of the force, she also wrote about her work in columns for NYCop online magazine and Blue Murders online magazine. They were collected in the book Crime Scenes (Blue Murder Press). She has a new memoir, Armed & Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman

rime novelist Dennis Lehane. Hes written five novels featuring the working-class Boston private detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. They include A Drink Before the War, Darkness Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone, Baby, Gone, and Prayers for Rain. Lehane abandons the duo for his new book about the affect of an abduction on a group of boys. Its a thriller, Mystic River (William Morrow). A critic with The New York Times writes of the book, This one is terrific: soulful, atmospheric, suspenseful and propelled by deep, wrenching emotions.

His string of bestsellers, such as The Bourne Identity, The Osterman Weekend, and The Icarus Agenda, established him as one of literature's most successful espionage novelists. Ludlum died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 74 years old.