Pressing Issues "Unwinding" in the Book World

A very busy time of the year for the book world and those of us who cover it! The National Press Club held its annual author night on Tuesday, and we talked with World War II experts, reporters who covered the bombing in Mumbai, a woman who endured degradation at a lunch counter in Mississippi in 1963, a biographer of Mary McLeod Bethune, an international aid worker who loves "Chasing Chaos," and a journalism team who celebrated the life and victories of the only Native America to ever win a war against the U.S. All that was just in the first room! Video links coming as soon as we air the interviews.

Wednesday brought us the National Book Awards ceremony, where George Packer took home the top prize for "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America." In it , he explores the last 30 years of U.S. history by profiling numerous people, from blue collar workers to the former Speaker of the House. A link to the National Book Award coverage will be posted on Monday; meanwhile, here's Packer in his own words on his latest acclaimed work.
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/Unwin
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/Packer

Two dedicated lawyers from the Prisoner Advocacy Clinic at Georgetown Law, Abbe Smith and Vida Johnson, made their case for the underrepresented last weekend, talking about a compilation of essays from defense attorneys on the question they're asked most often (also the title of the book): "How Can You Represent Those People?" The most common answer, by the way, is that most "criminals" are poor people committing misdemeanors; so it's pretty easy to come to their defense. The compilation includes an essay from famed attorney Alan Dershowitz.
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/Abbe

Lastly, this weekend the 30th annual Miami Book Fair International will be livening up the streets around Miami Dade College, on Second Avenue. http://www.miamibookfair.com/ Links to the taped coverage will be posted on Monday, if you miss any of the live coverage. The weekend's line-up of authors is available here:
http://www.booktv.org/Program/15116/2...
http://www.booktv.org/Program/15117/2...

Have a book filled weekend!