Night-Table Reading

Rudolph Giuliani, mayor of New York City: The Good Life and Its Discontents, by Robert J. Samuelson (Times Books). "It is an excellent analysis of modern-day America."

Nicole Miller,designer: Henry James' Midnight Song, by Carol De Chellis Hill (Norton). "Despite its being a novel, this book uses real historical figures. It is a mystery that takes place at the turn of the century."

Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld, physician, author: Konin: A Quest, by Theo Richmond (Pantheon). "I'm riveted by Konin—a haunting return to the generic shtetl of my forebears."

Oliver Stone,director: Giants and Heroes: A Daughter's Memories of Y. A. Tittle, by Dianne Tittle de Laet (Steerforth). "A strangely intimate memoir of the great quarterback, about a time when guys struggled at paying jobs in the offseason and played football for the sheer hell of it."

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