When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan , by Peggy Noonan. Viking, 338 pages, $24.95.
A bunch of old Reagan hands got together this spring, a couple of months into the new administration, and reminisced about their old boss, now 90 and lost to Alzheimer's. They also took some shots at the new President. Read MoreWhen Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan , by Peggy Noonan. Viking, 338 pages, $24.95.
A bunch of old Reagan hands got together this spring, a couple of months into the new administration,and reminisced about their old boss, now 90 and lost to Alzheimer's. They also took some shots at the new President. They Read MoreDog Bites Man: City Shocked! , by James Duffy. Simon and Schuster, 302 pages, $24.
There will be only three New York City newspapers that matter a couple of years from now, according to James Duffy's entertaining comic novel about the downfall of our next Mayor. One is The Times , thank goodness, which will remain Read MoreElvis and Nixon , by Jonathan Lowy. Crown, 335 pages, $22.95.
You've seen the picture, in a dorm room, perhaps, or a coffee-table book. And you've paused, because it is extraordinary to contemplate Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley in the same place, in the same historical moment, in the same frame, shaking hands. Nixon looks a Read MorePublic Intellectuals: A Study of Decline , by Richard A. Posner. Harvard University Press, 408 pages, $29.95.
The goofy centerpiece of this book is a series of 10 tables ranking and sorting the top 500 or so public intellectuals by mentions in the media, on the Web and in scholarly work. Richard A. Posner, a distinguished Read MoreMall , by Eric Bogosian. Simon & Schuster, 246 pages, $23.
hopgirl , by Steve Martin. Hyperion, 130 pages, $17.95. We doubt the dabblers, the dilettantes–and that goes double for celebrities. Who can take completely seriously the actor who wants to direct, the singer who wants to be a movie star? We raise an eyebrow, we Read MoreYou're Too Kind: A Brief History of Flattery , by Richard Stengel. Simon & Schuster, 315 pages, $25.
"TK," to a journalist, means "to come." It's a placeholder in draft copy for something to be added later. The first page of my review copy of Richard Stengel's history of flattery says "Acknowledgments TK," the second says Read MoreDeliberate Intent: A Lawyer Tells the True Story of Murder by the Book , by Rod Smolla. Crown Publishers, 276 pages, $23.
Rod Smolla is a turncoat. A respected First Amendment scholar and author, he violated the fundamental taboo of the media law bar–never work for the enemy–and sued the publisher of a book called Hit Read MoreThe Redhunter: A Novel Based on the Life of Senator Joe McCarthy , by William F. Buckley Jr. Little, Brown, 421 pages, $25.
Now here is an unpromising project: "a novel based on the life of Senator Joe McCarthy." I suppose we should be grateful it's not an opera or epic poem. William F. Buckley Read MoreLittle Green Men , by Christopher Buckley. Random House, 300 pages, $24.95.
Christopher Buckley has called himself the Cyndi Lauper of American letters. He just wants to have fun. He's good at it, he has lots of it. Mr. Buckley produces high-end humor in vast quantities. He tosses off, with alarming ease, New Yorker casuals and Read MoreThe Secret Lives of Citizens: Pursuing the Promise of American Life , by Thomas Geoghegan. Pantheon Books, 240 pages, $25.
A bunch of us were sitting around drinking and playing Celebrity after a dinner party. Celebrity is what they used to call a parlor game. You write down the names of a lot of famous Read More
