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A First-Time Novelist and His Remarkable Debut

Dennis McFarland's severe stage fright led him to give up a career as a concert pianist. He chose writing instead, in part because it didn't involve performing in front of an audience. His first novel, about a divorcé whose brother commits suicide, is called The Music Room.

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Other segments from the episode on July 12, 1990

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 12 1989: Interview with Peter Bart; Review of 2-Live Crew's album "Banned in the USA"; Interview with Dennis McFarland; Review of the film "The Adventures of Ford…
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05:37

A Rap Group's Rebuttal of Artistic Repression

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Banned In the USA" by 2-Live Crew. Their previous album, As Nasty as They Wanna Be, was declared obscene, and they were later arrested for simply performing their music at a concert. Tucker doesn't find much merit in 2-Live Crew' often misogynistic songs, but he vigorously condemns the efforts to criminalize their music.

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03:31

The Diceman's Glossy, One-Note Film Debut

Critic Owen Gleiberman reviews The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, which stars comedian Andrew Dice Clay as a rock and roll detective. Gleiberman calls the movie monotonous; Clay's performance, like his standup, is crass, but not without charisma.

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42:59

'I Always, Always Fight': Octavia Spencer On Demanding More From Hollywood

Growing up, actor Octavia Spencer remembers being inspired by the story of Madam C.J. Walker, one of America's first black, female, self-made millionaires. Born on a plantation in 1867, Walker eked out a living washing clothes for white families before building an empire selling hair care and makeup products to women of color.

Actress Octavia Spencer smiles for the camera at a promotional event for the movie "Ma"

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Daughter of Warhol star looks back on a bohemian childhood in the Chelsea Hotel

Alexandra Auder's mother, Viva, was one of Andy Warhol's muses. Growing up in Warhol's orbit meant Auder's childhood was an unusual one. For several years, Viva, Auder and Auder's younger half-sister, Gaby Hoffmann, lived in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. It was was famous for having been home to Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Virgil Thomson, and Bob Dylan, among others.

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This fake 'Jury Duty' really put James Marsden's improv chops on trial

In the series Jury Duty, a solar contractor named Ronald Gladden has agreed to participate in what he believes is a documentary about the experience of being a juror--but what Ronald doesn't know is that the whole thing is fake.

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