December 27, 2001:
Hotel of the Saints/Ursula Hegi
Stones from the River/Ursula Hegi
World War I! and the Holocaust are never far from the mind of this superb German-born author, particularly in her masterful novel Stones from the River and its associated works Floating in My Mother's Palm and The Vision of Emma Blau. Her short fiction in Hotel of the Saints is beautifully written but not as accessible.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
December 20, 2001:
Coming Soon!/John Barth
Barth is one of the leading proponents of postmodern writing. Readers are advised to avoid his recent work and instead pick up his first four novels, The Floating Opera, End of the Road, The Sot-Weed Factor, and Giles Goat-Boy. They're all brilliant.
Interviewers: Richard A. Lupoff & Richard Wolinsky.
December 13, 2001:
Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West/Gregory Maguire
Lost/Gregory Maguire
Wicked, Maguire's breakthrough novel is the story of Oz as seen through the eyes of its uniquely green-skinned resident. His latest novel, Lost, is a ghost story with echoes of Charles Dickens.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
December 6, 2001:
Portrait in Sepia/Isabel Allende
Excellent sequel to Daughter of Fortune takes us from San Francisco back to Chile as the 19th Century draws to a close.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky
November 29, 2001:
The Practical Heart/Allan Gurganus
Four brilliant novellas concerning secular sainthood, double lives, and familial relationships.
Interviewers: Richard A. Lupoff & Richard Wolinsky
November 22, 2001:
Drowning Ruth/Christina Schwarz
Somber best-selling novel set between World War I and II in the wilds of Wisconsin involving a girl whose mother mysteriously drowned. Now in trade paper
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
November 15, 2001:
Literary Review & Analysis Program
Portrait in Sepia/Isabel Allende
The connecting novel between Daughter of Fortune and House of the Spirits is a wonderful examination of an era, the late 1800s in Chile, and of character. RW.
Coming Soon/John Barth
The Sot-Weed Factor/John Barth
Barth's latest novel, Coming Soon, is a post-modern, metafictional mess. Readers should stick to his classic '60s novel set in pre-Colonial Virginia, The Sot-Weed Factor. RW & RAL.
Carter Beats The Devil/Glen David Gold. First-rate novel set in the 1920. RAL & RW
November 8, 2001:
A Traitor to Memory/Elizabeth George
The nature of memory is explored in this very long addition to George' series of mysteries set in London and featuring a large continuing cast of characters.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky
November 1, 2001:
Carter Beats The Devil/Glen David Gold
A brilliant and evocative first novel of Oakland in the 1920s, centering on Charles Carter, the great magician of the time, and the mystery surrounding the death of Warren G. Harding.
Interviewers: Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky
October 25, 2001:
True Enough/Stephen McCauley
The author of the acclaimed novel "The Object of My Affection" presents another work examining the friendship between a straight woman and a gay man.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky
October 18, 2001:
Lake Wobegon, Summer 1956/Garrison Keillor
A coming of age novel set in Keillor's fictional town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. Wholesome Americana, if you like that sort of thing.
Interviewers: Richard A. Lupoff/Richard Wolinsky.
October 11, 2001:
Fire/Sebastian Junger
A disparate collection of essays mostly concerned with the professions of Forest Service fire fighting and foreign journalism. The final essay, the last known interview with the late Afghani leader Massoud, is a must-read. By the author of The Perfect Storm.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
October 4, 2001:
Bel Canto/Ann Patchett
South American terrorists take people hostage during a party in a thinly disguised Peru. Well-written and disturbing, particularly in these troubled times.
Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
September 27, 2001:
Literary Review & Analysis Program
The Great American Paperback/Richard A. Lupoff
Gorgeously reproduced collection of paperback covers, with text on the history of paperbacks by program co-host Lupoff.
Fury/Salman Rushdie. Well-written tale of New York professor coping with his life and loves, with subtexts made more disturbing by the events of September 11.- RL & RW.
Money Money Money/Ed McBain
Candyland/Ed McBain & Evan Hunter
Two light mysteries by a premiere storyteller, though the new 87th Precinct novel Money Money Money, again, has subtexts that take you away from the book's escapism. -RL & RW
September 20, 2001: Pre-empted
September 13, 2001: Pre-empted
September 6, 2001
The Wind Done Gone/Alice Randall
The controversial parody of "Gone With The Wind" from an African-American perspective. Hosts: Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky
August 30, 2001
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio/Terry Ryan
An amusing memoir about growing up with a mother who made a living entering contests and winning prizes. Host: Richard A. Lupoff
August 23, 2001
Funny Accent/Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
A literary first novel about the effects of childhood sexual abuse by the former film critic for the San Francisco Examiner. Hosts: Richard A. Lupoff and Richard Wolinsky.
August 16, 2001
Le Mariage/Diane Johnson
Le Divorce/Diane Johnson
A pair of comedies of manners set in and around Paris, by the author of, among other things, the screenplay to Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." Both books are available in trade paperback. Host: Richard Wolinsky.
August 9, 2001
Fraud/David Rakoff
Amusing and thought-provoking essays, mostly concerning travel. Rakoff writes for magazines such as Outside, and is a regular contributor to the series "This American Life." Host: Richard Wolinsky.
August 2, 2001
Book Review Program
The Book of the Dead/E. Hoffman Price. Autobiography of the fantasy/horror writer. Colorful, spunky, sparkling. A grand window into another world - RL
Wonder's Child/Jack Williamson. The 25-year old autobiography of Science Fiction's oldest grand master, now pushing a century and still writing. Worthwhile. -RL
The Bush Dyslexicon/Mark Crispin Miller. A detailed examination into the real George W. Bush, and how he became president. Required reading for anyone interested in the W. "phenomenon." - RW
The Wind Done Gone/Alice Randall. The controversial fictional "rebuttal" to Margaret Mitchell's racist "Gone With the Wind." The best of intentions does not make this a good novel. - RW & RL
A Traitor to Memory/Elizabeth George. Or how a very good 350 page mystery can be bloated into a 722-page tiresome whale. - RW.
July 26, 2001
Carry Me Across The Water/Ethan Canin
An elegaic look at an elderly man's life, from his birth in pre-Nazi Germany through his years as an American GI and later, as a businessman and father. Superbly crafted novel by the noted literary author. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
July 19, 2001
A Year In Van Nuys/Sandra Tsing Loh
A humorous look at life in Los Angeles and the culture of celebrity by a regular contributor to NPR's "This American Life" and one-time performance artist. Interviewers: Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff.
July 12, 2001
Nursery Crimes/Ayelet Waldman
The Big Nap/Ayelet Waldman
"Mommy Track" mysteries featuring a young mother accidental detective. In "The Big Nap" Juliet Applebaum must solve the disappearance of her Hasidic babysitter. Waldman is a former public defender now stay-at-home mom, and the wife of Michael Chabon. Interviewer: Richard A. Lupoff.
July 5, 2001
Five Finger Discount/Helene Stapinski
A memoir of growing up in Jersey City in a somewhat shady family. At the same time, a history of corruption in the state of New Jersey. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
June 28, 2001
Hotel Honolulu/Paul Theroux
Fresh Air Fiend/Paul Theroux
Sir Vidia's Shadow/Paul Theroux
The noted travel writer's most recent collection of essays, "Fresh Air Fiend" is now available in trade paper. "Hotel Honolulu" is his novel set in Hawaii, a series of 80 vignettes and short stories joined together by a single narrator. "Sir Vidia's Shadow," Theroux's brilliant memoir about his friendship with writer V.S. Naipaul is now available in trade paper. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
June 21, 2001
Kingdom of Shadows/Alan Furst
Thriller set in Paris and Hungary during the era just prior to World War II, Furst's sixth novel set during this time. The other five novels are out of print (available in used paperback if you want to look) but are being reissued in trade paperback in fall, 2001. For those interested in the era, Furst recommends the film "Hotel du Nord" as well as the book "Memoirs of an Anti-Semite" by Gregor Van Retsori. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
June 14, 2001
Blood Washes Blood/Frank Viviano.
The SF Chronicle foreign correspondent's memoir about his search for his family history in Sicily and how it intersects with the origins of the Mafia. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky
June 7, 2001
Book Review Program
Kingdom of Shadows/Alan Furst. Superb thriller set in Europe just before World War II. - RW
The Constant Gardener/John Le Carre. Brilliant novel that combines Le Carre's mastery of the spy genre with a scathing indictment of the international pharma industry. - RW
Blood Washes Blood/Frank Viviano. The at-large SF Chronicle foreign correspondent discovers his roots in Sicily in this superb Memoir. - RW
An Officer and a Lady/Rex Stout
Target Practice/Rex Stout
Two fascinating collections of short stories by the prolific late creator of the Nero Wolfe mystery series. - RL
In The Stone House/Barry Malzberg. An excellent collection of short stories of all sorts by a science fiction writer whose name has slipped into obscurity. - RL
May 31, 2001
Tender at the Bone/Ruth Reichl.
Comfort Me With Apples/Ruth Reichl.
Reichl, currently chief editor of "Gourmet" Magazine, has written two lively memoirs The first, "Tender at the Bone" takes us up to her appointment as food critic for the LA Times, the second, "Comfort Me With Apples" brings us to her appointment as food critic for the NY Times.
Interview hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
May 24, 2001
Pre-empted
May 17, 2001
Emerald Germs of Ireland/Patrick McCabe
The Irish author of "The Butcher Boy" and "Breakfast on Pluto" with another category-defying novel about a man who might or might not be a serial killer. Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky
May 10, 2001
Trial By Ice/Richard Parry.
The true story of a 19th Century failed attempt to reach the North Pole. Interviewers: Richard A. Lupoff & Richard Wolinsky.
May 3, 2001
Paradise Park/Allegra Goodman
Three-decade spanning novel about a free-spirited Jewish girl searching for faith by the author of the acclaimed novel "Kaaterskill Falls." Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
April 26, 2001
True History of the Kelly Gang/Peter Carey
Novelized biography of noted Australian bank robber and popular hero Ned Kelly, by the author of "Oscar and Lucinda" and "Jack Maggs." Interviewer: Richard Wolinsky.
