Inside this month's issue of BookPage

June 2004
In This Issue

FIRST PERSON
June BookPage interviews:

Carl Lennertz: Bridging the generation gap with a musical memoir

Somewhere around the time his 11-year-old daughter grew bored with listening to his Beach Boys mix tapes and started worshipping Britney Spears, it dawned on Carl Lennertz that if he wanted to impart what he knew of life to his only child, he'd better do it soon. Cursed by a Happy Childhood is Lennertz's sweet and funny mix tape, a greatest-hits package of parental moments big and small, combined with a fond look back at his own boyhood spent happily lost in the music that changed the world.

David Sedaris: Seam-splitting humor in family ties

These days, there's no shortage of praise for the National Public Radio humorist who has spun his Greek-American family's hang-ups into pure comic gold. This month, fans can rejoice in the release of Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, which includes essays that originally appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker and on NPR's "This American Life." As in his previous collections, Naked, Barrel Fever, Holidays on Ice and Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris' tales crackle with the quirkiness that has become his cachet.

Acclaimed writer Dan Chaon's first novel explores the nature of identity and family

Meet Lisa Scottoline

Renowned children's author Eric Carle goes under the sea

Meet David Gordon

Blue Balliett's beguiling tale makes children think twice about art

FEATURES

SPOTLIGHT: Ideas for Father's Day to help Dad escape the necktie noose

Tributes to legend Johnny Cash

Well Read: Take a journey with an unusual family in George Hagen's debut novel, The Laments

Tee up with our Golf selections

Behind the Book: Douglas Brinkley shares the stories of D-Day survivors

Listen up! Our celebrations of audiobook month begin here

Highlighting jewels of the short story genre

Travel: Stylish books on America's hottest destinations

FICTION

Crossing California by Adam Langer

A Good Year by Peter Mayle