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Philip Hoare's book, The Whale, is an exploration of the role that the great animals have played in human history, from Moby-Dick to lamp oil to the author's own close encounter with a curious female sperm whale.

A first novel by a much-honored short-story writer imagines a financial system wracked by risk and on the verge of collapse. Yet Adam Haslett wrote Union Atlantic before the current financial crisis exploded, making him seem more prescient than he will confess to being.

Over a 40-year career, the star of Splendor in the Grass, Bonnie and Clyde, Shampoo and Bugsy seduced audiences, not to mention many of his co-stars. Peter Biskind's new biography casts Beatty as a ladies' man whose ambitions and neuroses aided his meteoric rise and his eventual fade.

The British comedian's latest project is an animated series on HBO, developed from his wildly successful podcast, The Ricky Gervais Show. He talks to David Bianculli about the new show — and explains what it was like to create the award-winning sitcom The Office.

This week, a crime novel from the other Swedish superstar; mystery and devilment by the son of a horror legend; and a reporter examines the growth in diagnosing kids with psychological disorders.

Ten years after President Clinton's impeachment, law professor Ken Gormley reviews the entire scandal in his new 800-page book The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr. Gormley joins Fresh Air to discuss the independent counsel investigation — and why it continues to resonate today.

In his new book, Birthright, author A. Roger Ekirch gives a historical account of the 18th-century kidnapping of 12-year-old British aristocrat James Annesley. The story captivated public attention and inspired at least five novels, including Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure tale Kidnapped.

Roger Smith's South African thriller is horrific to read, yet impossible to put down, says reviewer Martha Woodroof. Smith is also a screenwriter, and it shows in his pacing and construction; his short, fast-moving scenes tumble one on top of another in this haunting narrative of violence and survival.

Comedian Carol Leifer has written for Seinfeld, The Larry Sanders Show, The Ellen Show, and Saturday Night Live. She talks to Fresh Air about her career in comedy, her coming out story, and her memoir, When You Lie About Your Age, The Terrorists Win.

The Routes of Man is the new book by Ted Conover, a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. Reviewer Maureen Corrigan says Conover's newest effort, about how roads shape the world in which we live, has "vivid armchair travel" appeal.