Books & Literature

The writer says that his desire to perform his weekly radio show stems from his restlessness after hours spent at his typewriter. He talks about how he developed a regional brand of comedy and his experiences working in public radio.

Writer E.L. Doctorow is known for using real-life historical figures as characters in his period novels. Best known for his book Ragtime, his novel Loon Lake is now available in paperback. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the day-to-day work of a writer and how his job as an editor affected his prose.

Baltimore-based filmmaker John Waters has released a new book which explores his love of bad taste in film. With a new movie, Polyester, soon to be released, he join Fresh Air to explain his transgressive aesthetic and share his experiences working on set with a regular crew of actors.

Writer and director Garson Kanin's new book explores the success of certain actor pairings in Hollywood history, arguing that the team members brought out the best in one another.

Humorist Fran Lebowitz talks about her career as a writer and how her choice of profession has affected her personal life. The interview is briefly interrupted by a press conference by President Reagan about the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The Village Voice writer has a new anthology of his music writing called Riding on a Blue Note. His tastes have expanded from jazz to pop vocals, including Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. Giddins also finds much to love about contemporary European and avant-garde jazz.

Lloyd Alexander channels his urge for adventure into his fantasy books for children. He explains how departing from realism has allowed him to write more meaningful stories.

Ellen Willis is a writer for the the New Yorker. Her collection of essays, "Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a Decade," covers many of the social and political issues of the last ten years. Feminism, rock music, 60s counter-culture and the backlash against it, the changing definitions of "family" amongst the left, religion, and abortion are covered. She also discovers her reconsidering of Judaism and God in general, after a her brother became Orthodox. She joins the show to discuss the book and its subjects.

Susan Strasberg is an actress and the daughter of Lee Strasberg the director of The Actor's Studio who trained such actors as Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Marilyn Monroe in what came to be known as "method acting." Susan Strasberg made her acting debut at 17 as Anne Frank in a Broadway production of "The Diary of Anne Frank." Strasberg has recently written her memoirs, "Bittersweet," which discuss growing up in her eccentric family, her love affairs with figures such as Richard Burton and Warren Beatty, and her daughter, who was born with a

Ezekiel Mphalele left his home country to escape persecution by the apartheid government. He lived in exile in Nigeria, Paris, and the United States, where he taught university classes. He talks about his work as a writer and the pernicious forms of racism he experienced in America.

Maurice Sendak is well-known for his children's books, including "Where the Wild Things Are," despite the fact that he grew up with a hatred for "kiddies' books." Sendak writes and illustrates his own work and has won many awards. Some find Sendak's work too scary for children. His latest book is "Outside Over There," in which a child is kidnapped by goblins.

Britt Ekland is an actress almost as well known for her private life as her professional. Her new memoir "True Britt" dishes on both, including her relationships with Peter Sellers and Rod Stewart.

Novelist Joyce Carol Oates delivers a talk at the Free Library of Philadelphia on the topic of "Women in Twentieth Century Literature." Oates traces women in the imaginations male writers of the era including John Updike, William Faulkner, Norman Mailor, William Styron, and D. H. Lawrence.

Novelist Richard Price is the author of "Bloodbrothers," "The Wanderers," and "Ladies' Man." All of his novels have been or will be made into films. Price joins the show to discuss his work.

Author and screenwriter Terry Southern joins the show to discuss writing "Dr. Strangelove," "Easy Rider," and "Barbarella."

Poet Dan Hoffman joins the show to discuss his poem "Brotherly Love," a long poem about William Penn and his vision for the United States. The poem focuses on Penn's treaty with the Native Americans in the area that would become Pennsylvania. Hoffman is the former Poet Laureate of the U. S. and currently works at the University of Pennsylvania.

Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller is a philosopher, architect, and inventor. His newest work "Critical Path" will be published in April. The book traces what Fuller calls "the greatest crisis in the history of the human race," not scarcity of resources, but human selfishness. He joins the show to discuss his work and philosophy.

Louis L'Amour is known as the "most famous obscure novelist." He has written 79 novels, mostly westerns. His novels have also been adapted into films such as "Hondo." L'Amour's latest novel is "Comstock Lode." He joins the show to discuss his work, western novels and films, the relationship between Native Americans and western settlers, and what he sees for the future.

Author and independent filmmaker Kenneth Anger joins the show to discuss his work as a director and writer, his spiritual beliefs, and selling his Nazi memorabilia to Keith Richards. His latest films are "Scorpio Rising" (about biker culture) and "Lucifer Rising" (based on the works of Aleister Crowley). His most famous book is "Hollywood Babylon."

Deirdre Bair is known for her biography of playwright Samuel Beckett, "Samuel Beckett: A Biography." She is now the "designated" (not "official") biographer for French feminist and writer Simone de Beauvoir. She recently interviewed de Beauvoir for the first time in Paris, and joins the show to discuss their conversation.