he's won the national critics circle award, the hermann hesse to prize and catherine porter award from the academy of arts and letters and tonight he will be joined by the journalists and. >> host: christopher. they will be discussing the latest book that publishers weekly described as a colorful recreation a convincing case for opening government archives and public scrutiny and the "seattle times" calls it a blend of history and memoir offering behind the scenes glimpses of his home life and worst fears about his own country. that makes it a reading for anyone trying to grapple with the role of the u.s. since the end of world war ii. we are happy to have them both here tonight without further ado, the digital podium is yours. >> thank you. almost as much fun as seeing you at the bookstore. thank you for inviting me. he is a friend and we have had this kind of conversation quite a number of times before. it's always an education to me. let me just say i don't need to introduce him to this audience but i think that it's really three kinds of books. one is what i would call the photo re