Bookworm

How Late It Was, How LateThe Scottish novelist whose recent book won the Booker Prize discusses current Scottish literature, the influence of the supernatural story and the fiction of the lower class.

Assembling California; The Ransom of Russian Art Essayist John McPhee talks about the essay as literature.

The Following Story   Death and metamorphosis play important roles in Cees Nooteboom's award-winning new novel...

But for the Lovers Nolledo---s long-out-of-print cult novel has been republished, provoking a conversation about literary destiny, and the complex position of a Philippine-born novelist writing in America.

The Inhabited Woman Activism, magic realism, Pablo Neruda, incantation, politics and history in the work of Gioconda Belli.

Author William H. Gass discusses the evolution and style of his thirty-years-in-the-making new novel, finally published this month.

Family In this conversation about autobiography, history and the texture of memory, the author discusses the dangers he faced in using a passionate, sincere style.

Collected Poems The award-winning poet reads from his work and discusses the formal structures behind his informal subject matter.

Playland (Random House) What has happened to innocence? A discussion of power and victimization in the thrillers of John Gregory Dunne .

The Wild Party: The Lost Classic by Joseph Moncure March (Pantheon Books) A talk -- about illustration and jazz-age poetry; political correctness and eroticism -- with the Pulitzer prize winning author of Maus .

Fatheralong The author on memory, paternity and ethnicity.

In the Lake of the Woods An argument: Who tells the story--the politician, the novelist or the killer?

The Informers Host Michael Silverblatt and author Ellis agree to avoid controversy and content, and instead discuss style, character, intention and technique.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life The lovable Anne Lamott reveals the techniques she uses to teach fiction to writers who are beginning to face creative and emotional blocks.

The Fran Lebowitz Reader On American humor: James Thurber, Robert Benchley, Dawn Powell--plus a digression on humorists who write children---s books.

A discussion of autobiography: Doris Lessing on self, memory and history.

Knowing When to Stop A demanding conversation with a modern composer about setting poetry to music, featuring a love duet with text by Frank O---Hara.

Closing Time Has Yossarian sold out? Can a sequel to Catch-22 be written? How does Heller feel about the fate of his later novels?

A conversation about personal voice, sexuality and the New York school of poetry.

Corelli's Mandolin A discussion about having it both ways: How Louis de Bernières maintains the passion of the traditional novel while exploring the complexities of post-modernism...

Dear Dead Person   Violence, comedy, style, the influence of modern German literature and the importance of extremity are today's subjects in our conversation with Benjamin Weissman.

For Keeps America---s greatest pop-culture critic talks about her new collection of movie reviews--a retrospective of a lifetime of passionate response.

Blacker than a Thousand Midnights Straight talks about mothering by day, writing deep into the night, and knowing enough to see into the life of a young, black father.