Night-table Reading

John NiHorman {actor): Caribbean,by James Michener (Random House). "The way Michener combines fiction and history is endlessly fascinating. I consider him one of our great writers. ''

Lorrie Moore (author): You Must Remember This,by Joyce Carol Oates (Harper & Row). "This is Oates'sLook Homeward, Angel. It's a big, rich, gread book."

Bobby Short (entertainer): Along This Way,by James Weldon Johnson (Penguin). "This striking autobiography, by one of America's first black Renaissance men, has grabbed my attention. He remains a fascinating figure fifty years after his death. ''

Mark Salman (author): Wonderful Life,by Stephen Jay Gould (W.W. Norton). "I used to think a fossil was someone who wore bell-bottoms Now I want to join the junior-paleontologist club. Gould is my hero."