"One of the most innovative authors and distinguished literary critics of the twentieth century, Virginia Woolf examines family dynamics and the tensions between men and women in her 1927 novel To the Lighthouse. A pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device, Woolf explores multiple perspectives of the members of the Ramsay family as they navigate experiences of disappointment and loss. Divided into three sections, the story...

Set in the prewar Indochina of Marguerite Duras's childhood, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover. In spare yet luminous prose, Duras evokes life on the margins of Saigon in the waning days of France's colonial empire, and its representation in the passionate relationship between two unforgettable outcasts.

Susanna Clarke discusses and reads from her novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell.

Zadie Smith sits down with Laura Miller to discuss and read from her novel, On Beauty.

Edward P. Jones sits down with Wyatt Mason to discuss his collection, All Aunt Hagar's Children. Carmen De Lavallade reads an excerpt from the book.

Claire Messud joins Valerie Martin to discuss her book, The Emperor's Children. Hope Davis reads an excerpt from the book.

Edwidge Danticat sits down with director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs) to discuss and read from her book, Brother, I'm Dying.

Isaiah Sheffer sits down with two memoirists, Alexandra Fuller and Wendy Kann, to discuss their memoirs from Africa: Fuller's Scribbling the Cat and Kann's Casting with a Fragile Thread.

Susan Cooper talks with Symphony Space's education director about The Dark Is Rising sequence, her series of five thrilling fantasy novels for young readers, among them The Dark Is Rising and 1976 Newbery Medal winner The Grey King. The heroic series, originally published in the 1960s and 70s, is inspired by Arthurian myths and depicts an epic struggle between good ("The Light") and evil ("The Dark") in which children like 11-year-old Sign-Seeker...

David Wrobleski sits down with Dan Menaker to discuss and read excerpts from his book, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.