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Constantine Cavafy may not be a household name, but the Greek poet was admired by English novelist E.M. Forster, and Jacqueline Kennedy loved his poetry so much that it was read at her funeral mass. Author and critic Daniel Mendelsohn speaks to host Jacki Lyden about his new translation of Cavafy's collected poems.

The Tony Awards are tonight, and NPR entertainment editor Trey Graham will be watching. But he thinks it's too bad that there aren't any categories for the best backstage dramas. Until that day comes, here are three applause-worthy books about what goes on behind the scenes.

Henry Ford didn't just want to be a maker of cars — he wanted to be a maker of men. He thought he could perfect society by building model factories and pristine villages to go with them. And he was pretty successful at it in Michigan. But in the jungles of Brazil, he would ultimately be defeated.

Author Larry Tye discusses Satchel Paige, a negro league pitcher who helped integrate baseball by touring the country and playing exhibition games with white players.

Before Tony Montana, there was Meyer Lansky. True-crime writer T.J. English recounts the history of a mob-ruled Havana before the 1959 revolution.

In Chandler Burr's You or Someone Like You, the wife of a powerful Hollywood executive unexpectedly finds herself at the helm of a popular book group. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls it a "smart novel" that offers "a very tough reflection on the idea of 'group-ness' itself"

Humorist P.J. O'Rourke says that, as a good Republican, he blames everything on feminism and communism. For the demise of the American car, O'Rourke points the finger at feminism — and Facebook.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg has made a living out of parsing phrases. His new book, The Years of Talking Dangerously, analyzes the buzzwords, stock phrases and metaphors that were made popular during the Bush administration's tenure.

The wedding announcements of the Sunday New York Times — so careful in their cataloging of academic degrees and parents' professions — presented Rob Baedeker and his fellow members of the Kasper Hauser's comedy group with a perfect opportunity for satire.

Elsie Washington, who died last month, is hailed as the Barack Obama of romance writers. Colleagues say she showed that publishing novels with worldly black characters was possible. She established a precedent that influenced the genre over the past 20 years.