READING L.A.

Barry Sanders, professor:

“A Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland” by Rebecca Solnit (Verso).

“Solnit soars--back and forth between Ireland and America, in a 747, in her mind, on just the grain of an idea. She has the great advantage in this book of traveling back to the place she was born and of not being an academic.”

****

Scott Wilson, actor:

“The Collected Plays and Writings on Theatre “ by Karol Wojtyla, translated by Boleslaw Taborski (University of California Press).

“I first became fascinated by the pope’s theater work when I acted in a film of his play, ‘Our God’s Brother.’ His works depict human suffering and the need to devote one’s energies to helping others.”

****

Stan Lee, writer:

“Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” translated by Edward FitzGerald (Doubleday).

“My all-time favorite poem: magnificent rhymes combined with philosophy that echoes my own. Add Shakespeare and Mark Twain, on a desert island, and I’d be a happy camper, provided my wife is there.”

****

Lynn Lipinski, media relations director:

“Censored 97: The News That Didn’t Make The News” by Peter Phillips and Project Censored (Seven Stories Press).

“This book reports 25 news stories that affect all of us and that, somehow, were missing from the newspaper and the evening news. It should be required reading for everyone.”