VIDEO: Esfandiari, Banham, and Aksyonov Highlighted at Fall for the Book

In this video, Bill Miller, Festival Director for Fall for the Book and George Mason University English professor, previews the upcoming 2009 Fall festival. Dr. Todd Kashdan explains his new book Curious? and gives a preview of his upcoming appearance at the festival. Jack Censer, Dean of George Mason University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences, describes Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiari's book My Prison, My Home and explains what festival-goers might experience at Esfandiari's event. 
Haleh Esfandiari

Haleh Esfandiari - Iranian-American Scholar and author of My Prison, My Home

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 3 p.m. - Research I, Room 163

Scholar and journalist Esfandiari, founder of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Middle East Division, was detained and then imprisoned in her native Iran by authorities who suspected her of plotting to overthrow the Iranian government. Her new memoir, My Prison, My Home: One Woman's Story of Captivity in Iran, offers a behind-the-scenes account of her harsh ordeals and ultimate release, a poignant memoir of growing up in Iran, and an on-the-ground history of relations between the U.S. and Iran under four presidents.

Vasily Aksyonov

The Life and Work of Vasily Aksyonov

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 6 p.m. - Harris Theater

Child of the gulag, exiled from his homeland, the Russian writer touched the lives of Mason's students during the years he served here as a Robinson Professor. With changes in the political climate, he was able to return to Russia, where he was welcomed as a hero.  His most popular novels, The Burn, The Island of Crimea, and Generations of Winter, have been republished continually and sell out immediately throughout the Russian-speaking world.  Many-times laureate, Aksyonov is considered one of the greatest Russian novelists of the 20th century.  Join a panel of writers and scholars who knew him and his work, and see how his work made him a legend in his time.

Russ Banham

Russ Banham - Business Journalist and author of The Fight for Fairfax

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 7 p.m. - Johnson Center, Room C

The author of The Fight for Fairfax discusses the past half-century of efforts to transform Fairfax County, Virginia, from a suburb of Washington, D.C., into a vibrant economic hub in its own right, boasting modern industries, high paying jobs, superior public schools, multicultural workforce and abundant open spaces.