Authors on the Air: Jesus Family Tomb ; Nobel Sperm Bank; Giovanni’s New Poems

Compiled by Diane Patrick, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 2/26/2007

This morning on Today:

Documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici cracked open The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History (Harper San Francisco, $27.95).

Kids’ cooking queen Barbara Beery, author of the Pink Princess Cookbook (Gibbs Smith, $14.95).

On The Diane Rehm Show, Sharon Moalem diagnosed Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease (Morrow, $25.95; HarperAudio abridged CD, $29.95). PW thought “his light style makes for easy reading for readers new to this subject.”

Bob Edwards interviewed David Plotz, who unlocked The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank (Random House, $14.95; Random House Audio abridged CD, $27.50). PW’s review had this to say: “The attempt to breed genius babies may have an aura of surreal humor, but the sensitive narration always reminds us of the real lives affected—and created—through this oddball utopian scheme.”

This evening, The Colbert Report hosts journalist and former Menachem Begin press secretary Zev Chafets, author of A Match Made in Heaven: American Jews, Christian Zionists, and One Man's Exploration of the Weird and Wonderful Judeo-Evangelical Alliance (HarperCollins, $24.95). PW called it an “intensely readable book, which ends with a warning that evangelical enthusiasm for Israel ought not to be taken for granted and is sure to spark heated debate.”

Tavis Smiley chats with distinguished author/poet/essayist Nikki Giovanni, whose latest collection of poetry is Acolytes (Morrow, $16.95). From PW’s review: “Giovanni's most serious verse and prose link her own struggles—as a black woman, as a latter-day icon, as a cancer survivor, as a teacher—to the larger patterns of black American history, of striving toward freedom always.”

Programming is subject to change. For more detailed information about author appearances on these shows and others as well as listings of book mentions and book reviews, see TitleSmart.

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