spinnaker joining us on booktv to the book critic on a program called fresh air. so, it was our book viewers will know that program but you've become an author as well. >> my book is called so we read on. it's about the great gatsby. it's about the greatest american and un-american awful and i've rated over 50 times and this book was born out of my passion.

>> american and un-american. >> he tells us that the american dream is worth reaching for and also tells us it is a con. when the book opens of course i'm not ruining anything that is on page number one. what kind of a novel is this a. he is a member everything in this novel. >> what do you do with shall we read on? >> i appreciate and talk about how fitzgerald came to write it and how it disappeared shortly

after it came out in 1925 in the contemporary review they mostly talked about as a crime novel and fitzgerald died in 1940 there were a remainder of copies in the warehouse. his last royalty check was for $14.14 and it was was world war ii that brought him back in a big way. the program called of the armed services editions distributed at the novels and the nonfiction to the soldiers and sailors overseas. he was chosen with 155,000 copies that get distributed through the armed forces overseas and after it is the paperback revolution and the gatsby is on its way. >> how many copies? >> how many copies? in a normal year, they publish -- driven thousand copies.

last year because of the movie, the awful movie they sold at least three times that. it's everywhere. it's conquered the world. >> that sounded like a deconstruction to me that i but i won't quibble with you on that. how did you get to be the book critic? the >> i listened that is the short answer. i listened while i was in philadelphia in graduate school at the university of pennsylvania writing my dissertation. and at halftime it was a three-hour live show. i heard that it was going national. i have been doing some book reviews for the village voice. they told me know thanks we think your academic. but then a few months later i did an exposé of what it was like to be greater for the ap english exam who said we want you to do this on air and the

nice part of the story is that john leonard who was the book critic for fresh air who i still think is the greatest book critic in the latter part of the 20th century in america was generous enough to say bring her on board as a second book critic there is more than enough to go around. >> how many books argue feeding each week? >> i'm reading at least three oh week. i get over 200 delivered to my small it to my small roadhouse in washington, d.c. every week. and about 50 more delivered in my office in georgetown. there is no shortage of books in america. >> what is a recent nonfiction book tv book that you reviewed and what did you say about his? >> i highly recommend "deep down dark" about the the chilean miners that were trapped

underground for something like 40 days. hector got exclusive access to the minors. he said they wanted him to them to write their story. it's kind of like into thin air except it's down. it's about being trapped down into the bowels of the earth. it is a fabulous nonfiction book. >> if you would like to watch the author talk about deep down dark. how the great gatsby came to be. next on booktv after words with political: mr. bret stephens author of a