Inside July's issue of BookPage

July 2003
In This Issue

FIRST PERSON
July BookPage interviews:

Alafair Burke: A young suspense writer follows in her father's footsteps

In art as in nature, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Case in point: Alafair Burke. The daughter of acclaimed crime writer James Lee Burke was reading aloud from Cool Hand Luke at age 5 and crafting complete mystery stories with cool Burke titles such as The Case of the Cat Who Lost Its Meow long before her classmates had even mastered their ABCs. Forget nature vs. nurture—Alafair Burke had both growing up at the foot of one of the hardest working authors in crime fiction.

Elinor Lipman: Prescribing laughter in a funny new novel

To hear Elinor Lipman tell it, the colorful characters who populate her novels practically whisper their stories in her ear. She's just the stenographer who gets it all down on paper. Take Ray Russo, the bad-guy-posing-as-savior in her new novel, The Pursuit of Alice Thrift. Ray meets surgical intern Alice Thrift while she's working the plastic surgery rotation. He wants a nose job. She tells him he doesn't need it.

Dorothea Benton Frank talks life, friendship and love in the Lowcountry

Meet Mo Willems

Southern writer Sharyn McCrumb adds another verse to her ballad series

Meet Candace Bushnell

FEATURES

Fourth of July: Books to honor the American spirit

William Brodrick reveals the true story Behind the Book

Well Read: Ursula K. Le Guin's alternate planes of reality

Tee up with books on Golf

Talented first time authors test the waters

Beach Reads: Let your body (not your brain) do the vegetating this summer

Advice for coddling our animal sidekicks

FICTION

Tietam Brown by Mick Foley

The Clearing by Tim Gautreaux

The Effect of Living Backwards by Heidi Julavits