February 2001

Life With Archie-- Robert Siegel speaks with Bill MacLeish about his book, Uphill with Archie: A Son's Journey (Simon & Schuster, Feb. 2001). Archibald MacLeish was a true polymath: a poet, playwright, statesman, lawyer and journalist. Although intimidated by his father's considerable achievements, Bill MacLeish was able to make his own way professionally and to establish a degree of intimacy with the elder MacLeish. (7:30)

Son and Daughter -- Eliza Carthy and Moreno Veloso are children of somewhat well known musicians. Eliza is the daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, two British folk greats, and Moreno is the son of Caetano Veloso, Brazil's living music legend. Both offspring have new recordings. We have a review from Will Hermes. Eliza Carthy's CD is called Angels and Cigarettes on Warner Brothers records. Moreno Veloso's CD is called Music Typewriter and it's on the Hannibal record label. (3:45)

Blind Faith -- Music Critic Tom Moon says a new release by the old band Blind Faith is an example of the revival of free-form rock and roll. It's called the Deluxe Edition, and it contains some previously unreleased 1969 jam session recordings. (5:30)

The Deluxe Edition 2-CD set by Blind Faith is on the Uni/Polydor labels.

Demonology -- Alan Cheuse, who teaches writing at George Mason University in Virginia, reviews a new collection of short stories by Rick Moody, titled Demonology. (3:15)

Demonology is published by Little Brown and Company.

Why Spy? -- Noah Adams talks to Pete Earley, author of Confession of a Spy: The Real Story of Aldrich Ames, about what motivates spies. He says the biggest motivator is money. (4:15)

Earley's book was published by Bantam Books, 1988.

'Girls Can Tell' -- The Houston, Texas trio Spoon has recorded their first album in three years, it's called Girls Can Tell. The music is rock and roll with a tinge of punk -- and it was released today. Nick Mirov writes about music for Pitchfork Media-dot-Com, he has a review. (4:00)

The album Girls Can Tell by Spoon is available on Merge Records, catalog # MRG195, see www.mrg2000.com or www.pitchforkmedia.com.

Staff Meals -- Linda Wertheimer visits the acclaimed Chanterelle restaurant in the Tribeca area of Manhattan to talk to the chef and owner about his new cookbook, Staff Meals from Chanterelle. David Waltuck has put together the recipes for the meals the staff eats every day at 4:30 before they start serving dinner to customers. The staff meals are home-style in contrast to the sophisticated gourmet food served to the Chanterelle customers. Staff Meals from Chanterelle is written by David Waltuck and Melicia Phillips and is published by Workman Publishing. (8:00)

Double Murder -- Linda Wertheimer interviews the authors of two new thrillers: Michael Connelly, about A Darkness More Than Night, and Evan Hunter, about his collaboration with Ed McBain to write Candyland: A Novel in Two Parts. Connelly's book takes main characters from other novels -- an LAPD detective and a retired FBI investigator -- and pits them against one another. Hunter, an acclaimed author who wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, wrote the first half of Candyland, then looked to his alter-ego for the second half, when it becomes more of a murder mystery. (7:45)

A Darkness More Than Night, by Michael Connelly, is published by Little, Brown, ISBN # 0-316-15407-5.

Candyland, by Evan Hunter and Ed McBain is published by Simon and Schuster, ISBN # 0-7432-1316-5.

Chart Topping Hate Song -- Kate Seelye in Cairo reports a new pop song with a virulent message is topping the charts in the Egyptian capital. The song is entitled I hate Israel. To some extent, it reflects the popular mood. (5:30)

K. T. Oslin-- Noah talks with singer K. T. Oslin about her new single, Live Close By, Visit Often. The single will be released on Feb. 19. It's on her forthcoming album by the same name. (7:00) Live Close By, Visit Often, by K. T. Oslin is on BNA Records from Nashville.

Martyr's Crossing -- Prize-winning journalist Amy Wilentz, Jerusalem correspondent for The New Yorker magazine from 1995 to 1997, has just published her first novel. Alan Cheuse reviews Martyr's Crossing. (1:30)

Martyr's Crossing is published by Simon and Schuster.

We Are Three -- Tom Moon reviews the album We Are Three by Joi. Joi is an electronic band from London with a Bengali sound -- tabla drums, flutes, and other ornamentation woven in with the dance beats. Joi is the work of two brothers, Farook and Haroon Shamsher. In the spring of 1999, Farook went to Bangladesh to make a series of field recordings. He died shortly after returning from his trip. His brother Haroon took the recordings and fashioned them into the new album, We Are Three. (4:00)

We Are Three, by Joi is on REALWORLD Records.

In Search of a Father -- Commentator Rick Ridgeway recounts his return to a Tibetan mountain where twenty years ago an avalanche stopped his climb, and killed his friend Jonathan Wright. Ridgeway went back to Minya Konka with Wright's daughter, Asia, who had grown up without ever knowing her father. (4:00)

Below Another Sky: A Mountain Adventure In Search of a Lost Father, by Rick Ridgeway is published by Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-6284-X.

Call and Response -- Sarah Bardeen reviews the self-titled CD by a California band called Call and Response. (3:30)

Call and Response, is on Kindercore Records. See http://www.kindercore.com. Sarah Bardeen is an editor athttp://www.Listen.com

A Painted House -- Linda Wertheimer talks with John Grisham about his latest novel, A Painted House, which is based in the rural Arkansas of his childhood. The story is told from the point of view of a seven-year-old son of a tenant cotton farmer. His family has hired Mexicans and a family from the Ozarks to harvest the first good crop in years. Six weeks into the harvest, something happens which will change the boy's life forever. (7:30)

A Painted House, by John Grisham, is published by Doubleday.

Arthur C. Clarke -- Alan Cheuse reviews The Collected Stories, of Arthur C. Clarke, which contains more than 60 years of Clarke's short fiction. (2:00)

The Collected Stories by Arthur C. Clarke is published by Tor Books.

The Pinetop Seven -- David Greenberger reviews the new CD from the Chicago band The Pinetop Seven -- the CD is called Bringing Home the Last Great Strike. {The Pinetop Seven has been around for five years, and has had several changes in its line-up since then. But the core sound of the band -- quirky instrumentation, drawn on varied musical traditions -- remains the same, thanks to Darren Richard, who has written all the songs, and sings them. The band's music is full of juxtepositions -- intimate and vast, richly layered and stark -- and Greenberger tells us the sound is timeless and utterly modern at once.} (3:00)

Bringing Home the Last Great Strike, by The Pinetop Seven, is on Truckstop Records, from Chicago. The band's Web site is http://www.pinetopseven.com.

The Constant Gardener -- Robert talks with novelist David Cornwell, a.k.a John Le Carre about his latest book The Constant Gardner. In the novel, a British diplomat stationed in Kenya sets out in pursuit of his wife's murderers. At the heart of the story are the pharmaceutical industry, the British government, and a new world order. (12:45)

The Constant Gardener is published by Scribner.

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