NIGHT TABLE READING

OSCAR THE GROUCH

Sesame Street resident

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible,

No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst (Aladdin). "A great book with lots of complaining! The only problem is it has a happy ending.

Happy endings make me mad ... but grouches love being mad, so that makes me happy ... and I hate being happy, so that makes me mad ... "

OSCAR PETERSON

jazz musician

The Bible.

"The solution to all mankind's problems if they would listen. I chose the book to investigate how far away we are from its teachings at this date."

OSCAR DE LA HOYA

boxer

The Perfect Storm, by

Sebastian Junger (HarperPaperbacks). "To someone who has never been out on the ocean, this book was as thrilling as most championship fights."

OSCAR DE LA RENTA

designer

A Taste for Freedom: The Life of Astolphe de Custine,

by Anka Muhlstein, and

Leopardi: A Study in Solitude, by Iris Origo (both from Helen Marx). "Two brilliant biographies."