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With the Polar Ice Cap melting and geopolitical boundaries still shifting, map-making is an painfully ephemeral undertaking. Undeterred, the cartographers at the Oxford Press have produced a new edition of the Atlas of the World.

The life of David Sedaris took an unexpected, and not entirely unwelcome, turn when his "Santaland Diaries" were first broadcast on Morning Edition in 1992. We reprise his story of holiday cheer.

Foreign correspondent Neil MacFarquhar writes about a world he knows well — war- reporting in the Middle East — in a debut novel, The Sand Cafe. He tells Liane Hansen what it's like to go from hard news to fiction.

Suketu Mehta's new book is Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. It's an exploration of Mehta's hometown, where he returned after a 21-year absence. Born in Bombay, one of the world's most populous areas, Mehta still believes it's the city of the future.

Dutch-born painter Willem de Kooning is remembered as the first modern art star. The story of his life and influence on 20th century American art is told in the book De Kooning: An American Master. Liane Hansen talks with the authors.

Wesley Stace's first novel, Misfortune, started its life as a song. That's because the author is known first and foremost as singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding. Stace tells Scott Simon about the book and his music.

Journalist Neil MacFarquhar is a veteran Middle East foreign correspondent and was Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times. Next, he will cover Islam in North America for the Times. His new novel The Sand Cafe is set in Saudi Arabia and examines the day-to-day reporting life of foreign correspondents in the Middle East during the Gulf War.

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, the film Snakes on a Plane has generated legions of fans on the Internet long before its scheduled release this summer. The fan base has grown so large that New Line Cinema has added new scenes based on suggestions from enthusiasts.

Daniel Okrent was the first ombudsman of The New York Times. His new book is a behind-the-scenes look at the art and politics of America's most respected newspaper. Okrent has spent more than 25 years in the print-media business, with writing and editing jobs at Esquire, Time and Life magazines.

Before the 2006 North American International Auto show opened this past weekend, more then 35,000 industry professionals and members of the media attended "Industry Preview Days." Steve Inskeep talks to Paul Eisenstein, publisher of the internet magazine The Car Connection.