Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says the movie star had a range of about six notes, but he had personality and a swinging house band. Yet Astaire deserves praise for making famous several songs which later became standards.
Walt Frazier was a superstar NBA player for the New York Knicks in the 1960s and '70s. During that time, he was known for his ostentatious fashion and extravagant lifestyle. Now older, he's returned to the world of basketball as a sports commentator. His new memoir is called Walt Frazier.
Critic Ken Tucker revisits the classic Jack Nicholson film, now on home video. He says the movie is idiosyncratic, but fizzles out by the end, after Nicholson's character has killed off so many of his emotions.
Sportswriter John Feinstein says there's nothing more exciting than watching a college basketball game from the stands. His new book, A Season Inside, looks at the failures and success of young athletes, and argues that coaches are the real heroes of the game.
Paleontologist Jack Horner discovered some of the most significant fossil records of dinosaurs, which suggest that the animals cared for their young and traveled in herds.
Former Monkees member Michael Nesmith helped pioneer the music video and created the blueprint for MTV. He now runs the home video production company, Pacific Arts Video, which he financed with an inheritance from his mother, who invented Liquid Paper.
The new film, a thriller about drug smuggling, was written by Robert Towne, who is considered by many to be the best screenwriter in Hollywood. Film critic Stephen Schiff says the movie is a sensual feast.
Rock critic Ken Tucker says that the band's new album lives up to its name: 'Til Tuesday is now no longer a band, but a vehicle for singer and songwriter Aimee Man. Tucker says the heartbreak-riddled record has an elegantly formal structure.
Hamilton says he'll always be pigeonholed as a New Yorker cartoonist; his work regularly appears in that magazine. His new novel, The Lap of Luxury, is about marrying into a rich family.
Lloyd Schwartz says that Spanish cellist's renditions of Bach are unrivaled. He reviews Casals' complete performances the composer's cello suite, as well as a more recent recording of Beethoven's trios.
Peter Sichrovsky's lives in Austria, and is the child of Holocaust survivors who grew up alongside the children of former Nazis. He is interested in how the generation after World War II dealt with their parents' experiences during this time, either as perpetrators or victims of violence. Sichrovsky's books include Strangers in Their Own Land and Born Guilty.
Smith is host of a popular PBS television program and author of the best-sellers The Money Game, Supermoney and Paper Money. His new book, titled The Roaring 80s, looks at the previous decade, which he says has been characterized by easy debt, easy spending and an amiable hands-off attitude by Washington. Smith says a camparison with another era of high living - the roaring 20s - is unavoidable.
Book critic John Leonard reviews African Madness, a new collection of travel essays by Alex Shumatoff, a New Yorker staff writer who seeks to capture the changing face of sub-Saharan African.
The British journalist reports on Washington politics for The Nation, Spectator, and Harper's. He's frustrated by the tendency of news outlets to avoid reporting facts about political figures that may seem partisan or outwardly critical. A collection of his columns, titled Prepared for the Worst, has just been published.
Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the career of the late musician, who, as a teenager, first plucked America's heartstrings on the TV show "The Adventure of Ozzie and Harriet."
Saxophonist Bobby Watson learned a lot about band dynamics from performing with the acclaimed drummer. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Watson's new album, No Question About It, features excellent performances from all the players, but the arrangements go on a little too long before the improvising begins.
Erwitt got his start early, shortly after he left the Army. He's worked as a photojournalist and commercial photographer, and takes personal pictures as well. Erwitt's new book is called Personal Exposures.
Television critic David Bianculli reviews the new show TV 101, about a student who covers his high school's news on closed-circuit television. Bianculli says the premise and cast are excellent; he only hopes that the show can eventually live up to its potential.
