Maureen Corrigan

A new made-for-TV movie about the late actress's life and television career, called Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter, is as awful as any tele-movie, says critic Maureen Corrigan. Since Ball's death last year, networks have been trying to recapture the magic of Lucy's sitcom -- an impossible task since, according Corrigan. the original show was nearly perfect.

After ceasing publication last November, the feminist magazine, founded by Gloria Steinem, is back on (at least some) newsstands. Book critic Maureen Corrigan praises its return and its inclusion of more diverse writers. But the changes comes at a price -- now ad free, the cost of each issue has gone up.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the scholars's new book, You Just Don't Understand, which examines what the distinct speech patterns adopted by men and women say about gender roles and expectations. Corrigan says Tannen is insightful, and avoids any attempt to account for this difference.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews detective novelist Robert B. Parker's newest Spencer novel, "Stardust."

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews "Wildlife," the new novel by Richard Ford. (It's published by Atlantic Monthly Press).

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "Homeward Bound," historian Elaine Tyler May's look at family life in the 1950s.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan reviews two new autobiographies by women: "How I Became Hettie Jones," by Hettie Jones, and "Love and Other Infectious Diseases," by Molly Haskell.

Critic Maureen Corrigan gives us her family's version of how to celebrate St. Patricks Day, and recommends the novel "Motherland" by Timothy O'Grady as perfect St. Patrick's Day reading.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews a new book, "Uncommon Genius: How Great Ideas Are Born." It examines creativity and how to nurture it by talking to some MacArthur Prize winners. The MacArthur Prize is an award of approximately $50,000 over 5 years to people who have demonstrated genius in their work.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan shares her thoughts on David Lodge's "Souls and Bodies."