The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (November 13)
Recommendations from our book reviewer of new fiction and non-fiction titles for the fall, including works by Barbara Kingsolver and Booker Prize-winner Shehan Karunatilaka.
Books
Book excerpt: "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver
The bestselling novelist is back with her take on Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" – a story equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, about an irrepressible boy nobody wants.
Book excerpt: "Chuck Berry: An American Life"
A big, new biography of the father of rock 'n' roll explores what author R.J. Smith calls "the often triumphant, sometimes anguished details" of Berry's career and personal life.
Book excerpt: "The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" by Shehan Karunatilaka
The Booker Prize-winning comic novel is narrated by the ghost of a war photographer who's granted seven days to figure out who killed him.
Book excerpt: "Dr. No" by Percival Everett
It's not James Bond; it's a clever comic romp about a math professor who specializes in the study of nothingness, whose work attracts the attention of a supervillain.
Novelist Ian McEwan: Writing is "a way of being"
"Lessons," the latest book by one of Britain's most successful writers, features a plotline inspired by a secret McEwan's mother kept from him until her death: that she'd given up a baby brother for adoption.
Book excerpt: "Lessons" by Ian McEwan
The Booker Prize-winning author of "Amsterdam" and "Atonement" is back with a new novel, a winding, lifelong journey chronicling love, child sex abuse, and lost opportunities.
Book excerpt: "The Song of the Cell" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the cancer history "The Emperor of All Maladies" returns with the story of the discovery of cells, and the science of manipulating them.
Book excerpt: "Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story" by Bono
A memoir by the activist, artist and lead singer of U2, about a lifetime of music, personal challenges, and fights for social justice.
John Irving on a writer's obsessions
The author has mined his life as the starting point of such acclaimed works of fiction as "The World According to Garp" and "The Cider House Rules." Now 80, he has published his first novel in seven years, "The Last Chairlift," a tale of sexual politics and ghosts.
Bob Woodward on Donald Trump: "He is a threat to democracy"
The veteran Washington Post reporter discusses his collection of recorded interviews, "The Trump Tapes"; what this audio portrait reveals about the former president; and his belief that Trump is "dangerous."
Book excerpt: "The Last Chairlift" by John Irving
The acclaimed author's first novel in seven years tells the story of a writer's search for answers about his family's past, and of the Aspen, Colorado, hotel that becomes the focus of his quest.
History lessons: When America's politics turn ugly, violent
Historian Jon Grinspan, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution, has studied how intense partisanship in the 19th century was driven by people feeling isolated, their lives unstable, feeding an aggressive, even violent political discourse. Sound familiar?
Book excerpt: "The Age of Acrimony," or how American politics devolved
Historian and Smithsonian curator Jon Grinspan writes about how today's hyper-partisan and violent political discourse is not so different from how American democracy was practiced in the wake of the Civil War.
Pulling back the veil of secrecy surrounding McKinsey
In their new book, "When McKinsey Comes to Town," New York Times investigative reporters Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe dig inside the consulting firm that, they say, has been a major force for spreading ideas globally, both good and bad.
More From Sunday Morning
A pilgrimage to the desk with the greatest view
In the late 1970s, a group of university students in West Texas, wanting a place to study with a view, hauled a desk to the top of Hancock Hill in the town of Alpine. Today, the desk is a pilgrimage for hikers seeking a meditative place.
"Severance" star Adam Scott
The former "Parks and Recreation" star heads the surreal, critically-acclaimed series about workers at a mysterious corporation whose brains are altered to create distinctly separate personalities in and out of the office.
Laufey on creating her own sound
Whimsical and romantic, the music of Icelandic singer and cellist Laufey Lín Bing Jónsdóttir blends pop, jazz, classical and bossa nova – a "mishmash," she calls it. Her latest album is "A Matter of Time."
Capturing the melting of glaciers, with data and art
For more than 40 years, glaciologist Mauri Pelto has been measuring shrinking glaciers in Washington State. He's been joined by his daughter, artist-scientist Jill Pelto, whose watercolors provide another view of the drastically-changing landscape.
This week on "Sunday Morning" (August 17)
A look at the features for this week's broadcast of the Emmy-winning program, hosted by Jane Pauley.
To tip or not to tip: That is David Sedaris' question
The humorist has some thoughts about gratuities, especially when they're pre-programmed onto a screen.
The JFK Files
More than six decades after the Kennedy assassination, the existence of unreleased documents from the investigation has continued to fuel questions - and conspiracy theories - in search for a "smoking gun." What did the recent release of thousands of documents reveal?
At 75, "Sunset Boulevard" is ready again for its closeup
Billy Wilder's caustic tale of Hollywood, obsession and murder, in which a fading star of silent pictures tries to recreate her fame, is back in its full dark glory.
Steve Wozniak on fighting internet scams
The computer inventor and co-founder of Apple is sounding the alarm about one of the great threats of this new Information Age: internet fraud. He talks about how he is fighting for the victims of online scams involving AI, cryptocurrency and faked messages.
The crypto craze sweeping Washington and Wall Street
While many Americans are still baffled by cryptocurrency, enthusiasm for these digital assets is growing - despite the potential risks of integrating digital currencies with the mainstream economy - in part due to support coming from the White House.