Discussing the book "The Flaming Corsage" (published by Viking) with the author William Kennedy.

Peter Carey discusses and reads from his book "Oscar and Lucinda." The book is a love story that follows two characters, both gamblers, who make a bet to deliver a glass church to a new settlement. Carey begins the interview by recounting a particular event in his hometown that inspired the writing of this book: Carey witnessing a local church being removed from its location. A fascination with land occupation, church construction, and the human tendency towards obsession were driving factors in the writing of this book.

Rutherford Calhoun is the main character of Charles Richard Johnson's novel, "Middle Passage." In his quest to get away from his marriage and a bill collector, a freed slave himself, Rutherford stows away onto a ship not realizing that the cargo being carried are slaves from Africa.

Charles Dance, English actor, talks about his work in the British TV show "The Jewel in the Crown," based on the novel series, "The Raj Quartet," by Paul Scott. Dance also discusses his work on the play, "Thunder Rock" and film, "Plenty," and the TV shows, "The Secret Servant," and "Rainy Day Women."