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Sena Jeter Naslund's latest novel, Four Spirits, melds real people and fictional characters to tell the story of the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, Ala. during the early 1960s. The title refers to the four schoolgirls killed Sept. 15, 1963, in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Hear an extended interview with the author.

Writer and Paris Review editor George Plimpton dies at his Manhattan apartment. He was 76. Plimpton's writing combined elegance and wit, and often showed a willingness to make himself the butt of the joke. Paper Lion was the most famous of several books he wrote chronicling Walter Mitty-like experiences in sports and other endeavors. Hear NPR's Bob Edwards and NPR's Frank Deford.

The Bottom Line -- the Greenwich Village cabaret where Bruce Springsteen got his start, and where musicians from Miles Davis to Dolly Parton and Aaron Copland have performed -- faces financial problems and could be shut down. NPR's Jennifer Ludden speaks with Bottom Line co-founder Allan Pepper.

'This Dog's Life'

Journalist Mark Jacobson and his wife Nancy of Brooklyn, New York, thought a three-month trek around the world might remedy a serious case of teenage alienation and addiction to pop culture. Jacobson relates their travels to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, Jordan, Israel, France, and England in the book, 12,000 Miles in the Nick of Time. Jon Kalish reports. (Publisher: Canongate Books, ISBN: 0871138522)

In 2000, author Jhumpa Lahiri won a Pulitzer Prize for her very first book, a collection of stories titled Interpreter of Maladies. Lahiri returns to the literary scene with her first novel, The Namesake. NPR's Melissa Block talks with Lahiri about the book, which tells the story of an Indian immigrant family in America.

The Dancer Upstairs, a political thriller, features the directing debut of noted American actor John Malkovich. It's a character study of a detective who must negotiate political and personal issues while tracking a rebel leader in Latin America. NPR's Bob Mondello offers a review.

The latest Masterpiece Theater presentation is a relatively new masterpiece. It's Zadie Smith's White Teeth, from a novel published just two years ago. NPR's Lynn Neary reports.

George Wyle, who composed one of the most popular TV theme songs, dies of leukemia at age 87. Wyle wrote more than 400 songs, including the Christmas classic "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," but he was best known for "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island," a song he wrote in just one sitting with the show's creator Sherwood Schwartz. NPR's Lynn Neary has a remembrance.

Good Morning Midnight tells the story of renowned mountain climber Guy Waterman, who committed suicide atop New Hampshire's Mt. Lafayette. Waterman became passionate about the outdoors after leaving an unhappy marriage and abandoning his career as a Republican speechwriter. Host Melissa Block talks with author Chip Brown.