it's one of three books that's kicking off a series of such books from princeton university press. and to start our discussion, i want to read the press' description of what they're trying to do and then ask dr. marty to comment on it. they say that this new series recounting the complex and fascinating histories of important religious texts written for general readers by leading authors and experts is intended to trace how their reception, interpretation and influence have changed over time. often radically. as these stories remind us, all great religious books are living things whose careers in the world can take the most unexpected turns. now, dr. marty, you've also recently completed and published a biography of martin luther, a lutheran who somewhat predated dietrich bonhoeffer. [laughter] what's the difference between with writing a biography of a figure like luther and be -- and a book like bonhoeffer's? >> there are far more similarities than i thought i would find. when princeton university press described this series and asked me if i would be a kicker offer of it, it too

when princeton university press described this series and asked me if i would be a kicker offer of it took me about five minutes to sign the contract. it was a new challenge because i didn't know anything like this. the first thing you have to do if you're writing a biography of the book is forget about biological analogies. that is you don't want to say the book was born this way and went through adolescence and all those things. [laughter] they don't do that. but they have careers, and they change in the light of the passage of time. think of almost any book you read 20, 30 years ago and think of its reputation now. think of the vonnegut books and the books that were big in the '60s and '70s if you're old enough to have been around then. very different books now. malcolm muckeridge marshall mcclewin. i'm in the ms today. [laughter] cultural superstars then, and they don't show up now. so that's, i think, the first thing. the other thing is the biography of a person, you dig into letters, you dig into reminiscences and so on. here you have mainly a narrative of where it's gone, what'

press is writing about this announcement. in nominating alan krueger, president obama gained an economist with expertise on employment. he is a former treasury department official and princeton university economist. more from the white house would today's briefing would press secretary. he was joined by fema administrator on response to hurricane i've been. -- irene. >> welcome to the white house, everyone. this is your daily briefing. for those of you who were at martha's vineyard last week or on vacation, welcome back. that includes me. for those of you who were here, my condolences. before i get started on taking questions on other issues, i have with me today the administrator of the federal emergency management agency, craig fugate. as you know, mr. fugate has extensive emergency management experience. he was the former director of the florida division of emergency management, appointed to that position in 2001 by then governor jeb bush, and then later reappointed by governor bush's successor, charlie crist. he held that position until president obama asked him to lead fema. he is here to take your questions and give you an update on hurricane irene and its consequences. fugatedon

it's one of three books that's kicking off a series of such books from princeton university press. and to start our discussion, i want to read the press' description of what they're trying to do and then ask dr. marty to comment on it. they say that this new series recounting the complex and fascinating histories of important religious texts written for general readers by leading authors and experts is intended to trace how their reception, interpretation and influence have changed over time. often radically. as these stories remind us, all great religious books are living things whose careers in the world can take the most unexpected turns. now, dr. marty, you've also recently completed and published a biography of martin luther, a lutheran who somewhat predated dietrich bonhoeffer. [laughter] what's the difference between with writing a biography of a figure like luther and be -- and a book like bonhoeffer's? >> there are far more similarities than i thought i would find. when princeton university press described this series and asked me if i would be a kicker offer of it, it too