Night-table Reading

Diane Von Furstenberg{designer): War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (W. W. Norton). "Its slow pace should be a good counterbalance to the rapidly moving war as seen on television. "

Bernard Shaw (anchorman): Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modem Iraq, by Samir al-Khalil ( University of California Press), and Saddam Hussein and the Crisis in the Gulf, by Judith Miller and Laurie Mylroie (Times Books). "To better understand this man of war and his people. "

Robeis Lee Morris (jewelry designer): Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (Random House). "I am still high on The Fountainhead, which brought me to Atlas Shrugged."

Lewis Lapham (editor, TV host): Notes from a Bottle Found on the Beach at Carmel, by Evan S. Connell (North Point Press). "Depending on the circumstances and the time of night, the book can be read as journal, sermon, satire, or poetry. "