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In Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami spins whimsical and daring short stories about a talking monkey, man-eating cats on a Greek island and the girl from Ipanema. The writer himself appears in a few of them.

Michael Gordon, chief military correspondent for The New York Times, discusses efforts to recruit Iraqis for the Iraqi army, and looks back at the invasion of Iraq. He co-authored the recent book Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq. Gordon is also a correspondent for The New York Times Magazine.

Joan Cheever, author of Back from the Dead, followed former death row inmates who were released when the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972.

Astronomers meeting in Prague are considering a new definition for the word "planet." Under the new rules, Pluto would still qualify as a planet, despite its small size. But some say the rules would open the door to dozens of new planets.

Charles Vitchers and Bobby Gray, authors of the book Nine Months at Ground Zero: The Story of a Brotherhood of Workers Who Took on a Job Like No Other, talk about their experiences clearing the site in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The chairman of the Sept. 11 Commission, Tom Kean, and vice-chair Lee Hamilton have written the new book, Without Precedent: the Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission. The two write about the challenges of completing their work on the commission with little money, a tight timeline, constant wrangling to gain access to classified documents, and the necessity of forging a consensus among Republican and Democratic commissioners.

Darrell Mease, a convicted murderer, was scheduled to die in Missouri when his prayers were answered. Pope John Paul II won Mease, a Christian convert, a commutation of his death sentence during a 1999 Missouri visit.

Andrea Giovino got some unusual advice from her mother when she was growing up: marry a mobster and your future will be secure. The Brooklyn native took her mom up on the suggestion, marrying a string of mobsters and thugs.

Fiction writer Claire Messud has twice been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award. Our book critic says Messud's just-published novel, The Emperor's Children, might just be the one to propel her out of the "finalist" category and win her the gold.

Journalist Lawrence Wright is the author of the new book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. The book is based on more than 500 interviews, some with friends and relatives of Osama bin Laden and examines the circumstances that led to the formation of his terrorist group.