Our five-day book extravaganza kicks off with Erica Jong, Malcolm Gladwell, Curtis Sittenfeld and some of our other favorite authors weighing in on the best reads of 2006.
The real story of America is not about power, money or the march of armies. It is about a dream of liberty and justice and independence -- a dream that still comes true every day.
Greil Marcus and Sean Wilentz discuss their amazing new anthology of writing about the American ballad -- and wonder whether Republicans sing better songs of passion and murder than Democrats do.
At Seattle's Pop Conference, 500 academics and journalists swap theories on Springsteen's ass, racism in indie rock and Blue Oyster Cult's use of the cowbell as a "party signifier."