David Talbot
David Talbot's latest book is Between Heaven and Hell. He is the founder of Salon magazine; the author of Brothers, The Devil's Chessboard, and Season of the Witch, and a journalist and columnist who has written for the New Yorker, Time, the San Francisco Chronicle, and others.
Murder on the Starlight Express
Murder on the Starlight Express, Afterword
An author’s note explaining the real story on which this Alta Serial is based.
Murder on the Starlight Express, Act 4
In which our young narrator joins the train’s boldface names in hunting for his beloved mentor’s killer and J. Edgar Hoover makes his presence known.
Murder on the Starlight Express, Act 3
In which our young narrator considers the death of his mentor and the FBI pays a visit. Later, so will Spike O’Donnell, a notorious Chicago mobster.
Murder on the Starlight Express, Act 2
In which our young narrator gets to know wisecracking Dorothy Parker and the Warners actors wow crowds in Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. By the time the train reaches Chicago, a murder will have occurred.
Murder on the Starlight Express, Act 1
In which a Warner Bros. public relations exec concocts a scheme to send stars like James Cagney, Bette Davis, and Lyle Talbot from Hollywood to Washington, D.C., aboard a chartered train.
What It’s Like to Have a Stroke
An acclaimed writer describes the harrowing experience that left him partially paralyzed and struggling to speak, swallow, or stand.