Night-table Reading

Mickey Hart (musician ): The Ants,by Bert Holldobler and Edward 0. Wilson (Harvard). "It shows the spectacular forms and behavioral characteristics that make the ant an irresistible study. "

Peter Straub (writer): The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, by Oscar Hijuelos (Farrar. Straus and Giroux). "It's a lush, time-haunted novel.

Oprah Winfrey (talk-show host): The Book of Ruth, by Jane Hamilton (Ticknor & Fields). "By the time l got to the eleventh page l was crying. I never wanted it to end. "

Tommy HiHiger (fashion designer): The Garden of Eden,by Ernest Hemingway (Scribners). "It takes my mind out of Manhattan to the French Riviera—one of my favorite places. "