for example, i would be to tie would not be surprised in the slightest if david maraniss brought obama biography does phenomenally well lawyers the because there have been all these tips of what's to come with vanity fair and other magazines. people are very curious. so does the first book that comes to my mind. and of their number of of political books that should be dropping very sent. >> and we have been talking with zero linemen, news director of publishers marketplace. interested in following publishing news, the website publishes marketplace. if you want to follow sarah on twitter persius a constant twitter. >> i tried to keep it very simple by getting on early. i was fortunate to have a few characters as possible. 134 left the ceremony this i. >> thank you for being on book tv. >> thank you very much, peter. >> you're watching book tv on c-span2, 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books every weekend. >> what are you reading this summer? book tv austin up. >> i have five books that are in my queue if you will. i'm reading them, 60 percent of the time mike ipad and 40 percent of

oy >> david maraniss, the d grandparents died in 1996. the president obama ever meet him? >> no, he did not. after his he left in the 1980s after his grandfather died. i heard he made a good father, outside from the very early days of his birth.e but he didn't get back to kenya until both of his grandparents were gone. and he lived with his wife for a period of time. there is a dramatic distance atr that point in time.s did yo >> for the book "barack obama: the story", how many interviews did you do? >> i would say almost 400 interviews.al and i had a wonderful assistant, gabriel banks, who helped with e some of the later interviews ane specific parts of the story. bu i traveled all around the world. d find in every part of the life every part of the life ofs president obama.rand >> barack obama senior was born born in 1936. what was his childlike? >> from a fairly early age, he a was dealing with western culture and thecu british.henairobi an he was lucky in the sense that he was smart enough to get into a really good school, the only t good school and noth area. although

david maraniss is working on another biography at this time, and there are lots of great books that had come out every year by a serious journalist/historian's that are worth reading. a book on steve jobs is a perfect example on that. is an international best-selling phenomenon and all the things we can learn from it. >> what are you currently reading? >> i read eclectically actually. i read a wonderful book written by a british -- about his father in world war ii. i read about the 48 campaign which is, you said it was really while. henry wallace and strom thurmond and tom dooley the first election after the war so reading about terry anderson and the book about george bush and how he decided to go to war. my wife just finished it and she just picked it off so i have to go back and get involved in that. i read a lot of magazines, a lot of essays. i read actually opened up a correspondence with donald hall as a result of something he wrote in "the new yorker" about growing old and it really spoke to to me anyway so we have a little exchange in that was quite gratifying. i i am in awe of

. >> david maraniss, his grandparents in kenya died in 1979 and 2006. did president obama and for mei2 to?iden >> no. meet he never met his kenyan grandparents. he got there in the 1980's after his grandfather died. he only met his own father, i e mean, aside from the very, very early days of his life, but he b did not get back to tinian and tell both of his grandparents were gone. he lived with his wife grandparent's. ..one so there's a dramatic difference in that part of the story. >> for barack obama the story how many interviews did you do over the course of the last four years? >> guest: i would say almost 400, and i had a wonderful assistant who helped with some of the leader interviews in the story but i traveled all over the world and so everybody could find in every part of the life of president obama and his parents and grandparents. >> host: barack obama sr. was born in 1936. what was his childhood like? >> guest: from a fairly early age he was dealing with western culture in the british. he was a very smart kid. his father was difficult to g

. >> how old was she when she killed herself the digital david maraniss? why did she kill herself? >> she killed herself because what we know is she left a suicide note that said she was distraught over her husband's philandering. that was the immediate cause. >> host: that was the president's grandfather's mother. >> guest: yes. she lived to be 26. because of that dramatic event, his older brother ralph moved back to eldorado with arthur dunham's parents. and his great-grandfather, christopher columbus clark who had fought in the civil war. >> host: where did stanley madeleine's grandparents meet? >> guest: they met in agusta which is 12 or 15 miles from eldorado. it is gone the way to wichita and that is where madeleine grew up. stan had been out of high school for several years. he was working in construction in renovation down there. >> host: what was their life like? >> guest: their life before they moved? after they married it was sort of her parents didn't really like him. the first thing that her father said was i don't want you marion that's what. he is dark skin and an el