READING L.A.

Warren Olney, radio talk show host:

“The Liar’s Club” by Mary Karr (Viking).

“It’s appalling and hysterically funny at the same time, a stark reporting of the ghastly facts of a childhood almost inexpressibly shocking, but which, in the end, in Karr’s telling, is immensely life-affirming and forgiving.”

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Doug Dutton, bookseller:

“Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance” by Lisa Jardine (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday).

“There’s nothing better than a well-written history. I’m especially enjoying her history of early book printing and production.”

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Paul Krassner, satirist:

“Subversive Laughter: The Liberating Power of Comedy” by Ron Jenkins (The Free Press).

“It’s a way of exploring my own satiric roots and as research for a novel I’m writing about a contemporary Lenny Bruce.”

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Michel Richard, restaurateur:

“Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Cookbook” by Robert Atkins (M. Evans & Co./New York).

“My New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. I want to buy some beautiful clothes.”