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Presents a list of the best books of 1991, according to the `Publishers Weekly' Forecasts editors. Includes the novel `The Sweet Hereafter,' by Russell Banks; `A Dangerous Woman,' by Mary McGarry Morris; `A Thousand Acres,' by Jane Smiley; `Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years,' by Brian Boyd; `Life of Picasso, Vol. 1: 1881-1906,' by John Richardson; `Heartthrobs,' by Max Cabanes. INSET: How the choices were made, by S.S.S..

Presents a list of the year's best books. Includes Fiction; Nonfiction; Paperbacks; How-to; Children's books.

Profiles David McCullough, 58, author of the 1117-page biography `Truman,' just published by Simon & Schuster. Details about the book; The process of writing the book; Overview of McCullough's career; The research he did for the book; Educational background; His family; His other books, including `The Path Between the Seas.'

Interviews writer Perri Klass, and discusses her new book `Baby Doctor.' Klass's internship and residency at Children's Hospital in Boston; Her bestselling novel `Other Women's Children'; Progress on her two-year research fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Boston City Hospital; Klass's companion, Larry Wolff, and her mother also writers; What Klass attributes her writing career to; Modest about her achievements; Her comments about career and family.

Profiles the 58-year-old author Richard Marius, and focuses on his third novel `After the War,' just published by Knopf. His other books `The Coming of Rain' and `Bound for the Promised Land'; East Tennessee has served as Marius's fictional terrain; How he fictionalizes and tells the truth about the life of his father; Comments about his longtime editor at Knopf, Ann Close; Background on his career; Educational background.

Presents a `Publishers Weekly' interview with Irish-born novelist Edna O'Brien who says she writes `under a dark shadow.' O'Brien's novels; Views on art; More.

Profiles novelist Terry McMillan, who explores African American life from the point of view of a new generation. McMillan's novels, including her most recent, `Waiting to Exhale'; Her debates with Houghton Mifflin over her second novel, `Disappearing Acts'; The lawsuit provoked from Leonard Welch, the father of her child; Career highlights; More.

Profiles Bronx, New York-born writer Richard Price. Details about Price's new book `Clockers'; Plot of `Clockers'; Price's problem in writing the book; Universal put down $1.9 million for movie rights and a Price screenplay; Background on his career; Educational background; His first novel `The Wanderers'; The busy year ahead for Price.

Profiles author Stanley Crawford. Discussion of his latest book `A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small New Mexico Farm'; His last book `Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in North New Mexico'; Winning the Western States Arts Federation 1988 BookAward; Review of his other books, including `Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine'; Background on his life; Educational background; Overview of his career; Why he lost faith in the fiction-making process; Expectations.

Profiles crime writer James Lee Burke, whose new book `A Stained White Radiance,' the fifth in a series of crime novels, is just out from Hyperion. Characteristics of his series hero, Robicheaux; Overview of his writing career; His family; Review of his books `Black Cherry Blues,' `Heaven's Prisoners,' and `The Neon Rain'; Comparison between the character Robicheaux and Burke.

Profiles writer Francine Prose. Review of Prose's latest novel `Primitive People'; Her background; Education; Her family; Characters in her books, including `Household Saints'; Details.

Profiles the work of Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. Wiesel's book `Night,' became a classic some 30 years after it was written; Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986; His newest work is `The Forgotten'; The plot of `The Forgotten'; His wartime experiences; Overview of Wiesel's childhood and career.

Presents an interview with author Alice McDermott, 38, in which she discusses her third novel, `At Weddings and Wakes,' due to be published in April. Disk likes real-life parallels; Career; Background; Education; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with author Ellis Cose, which focuses on his book `A Nation of Strangers: Prejudice, Politics and the Populating of America,' due to be published this month by Morrow. Editorial page editor of the `New York Daily News'; Background; Career; Education; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with author P.J. O'Rourke, and discusses the growing popularity of his last book, `Parliament of Whores.' Shrewd observations of contemporary scenes informs his irreverent humor. Genesis of his political conservatism; Background; Education; Career; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with author A.B. Yehoshua, which discusses the release of his latest novel, `Mr. Mani,' translated by Hillel Halkin. Yehoshua's new novel digs into `the soul' of a Sephardic Jewish family, searches for an Israeli identity and traverses politics and history. Background; Education; Career; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with novelist Ellen Gilchrist, which discusses her newest novel, `Net of Jewels,' to be published this month by Little, Brown. Gilchrist's problems of consistency and overlap; Background; Career; Education; Other works; More.

Presents an interview with author and political activist Jeremy Rifkin, and discusses his new book `Beyond Beef,' out from Dutton next month. `Beyond Beef,' looks at the relationship of humans and cattle through the prisms of sociology, anthropology, psychology and theology. Background; Career; Education; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with British novelist Graham Swift, 42, and announces the release of his latest work of fiction, `Ever After.' The novel is a mediation on love and death and grief, and on the mysteries of the human heart as well as the secrets of the past. Background; Career; Education: Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with Nan Robertson, 65, the former `New York Times' reporter, who has written `The Girls in the Balcony: Women, Men and the New York Times,' due from Random House this month. The book outlines how the women's department where she began `was the `Times'' dirty little secret' where editorial copy once was pegged to advertisers' buys. 33 year career at the `Times'; Background; Education; Other works; More.

Presents an interview with James McConkey, which introduces his book `Rowan's Progress,' (Pantheon) available in February. Much of McConkey's writing has pursued the intermingling of past and present that often characterizes dreams. McConkey's career; Background; Education; Other works; More.

Presents an interview with Jonathan Carroll, which discusses his soon to be released novel `Outside the Dog Museum,' a literary, fast-moving comedy/thriller/surrealist fantasy. Carroll writes about mystical experiences as ordinary parts of life;Background; Education; Career; Other works; Details.

Presents an interview with Eileen Goudge, 41, a bestselling writer who has sold her first two adult novels to Viking for a whopping $900,000. Her new novel, `Such Devoted Sisters,' depicts Annie Cobb's ascent from poverty to a position of power;Background; Recounts her life story; Career; Other works; More.

Presents an interview with Ridley Pearson, author of `Hard Fall,' a novel about international terrorism, which is due out this month from Delacorte. `Dark side' of Pearson's fiction; Background; Education; Career; Other works; Pearson as a musician; Aspirations; More.

Presents an interview with Robert Goddard, author of the new novel, `A Debt of Dishonour.' Goddard strikes one as having a very strange life story for a novelist, both for the ordinariness of his origins and for the ease with which he stepped aboard the decks of Bestsellerdom. Background; Education; Career; Other works; Details.

Profiles Jonathan Franzen. His first novel, `The Twenty-Seventh City,' which was given a good deal of publicity and hype. Not normal publicity for a first novel; `Strong Motion'; Writing style; Approach to fiction; Second novel's comparison to his first novel; Background.

Presents an interview with the author Angelo Pellegrini whose latest work is entitled `Vintage Pellegrini: The Collected Wisdom of an American Buongustaio,' edited by Schuyler Ingle. Subjects of his writings; Writing career; Education;Past works; How he started writing; Writings about Italian immigrants.

Presents an interview with physician and author Ferrol Sams. `When All the World Was Young,' is the last book in his trilogy featuring Porter Osborne. Medical career; Autobiographical trilogy; How his first novel came to be published; Education.

Presents an interview with music critic and social analyst Greil Marcus, whose latest work is entitled `Dead Elvis: A Chronicle of a Cultural Obsession.' Education; How he received material for this book; Past works.

Presents an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Robert Massie. Newest work entitled `Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War'; Background; Education; Relationships with publishers; Former president of the Authors Guild.

Presents an interview with poet and naturalist writer Diane Ackerman, who reports on adventures with unusual animals in essays distinguished by sensory detail. Latest book `The Moon By Whalelight: And Other Adventures Among Bats. Penguins, Crocodilians and Whales'; Educational degrees she has; Past works; Pre-expedition research; Childhood; Education.

Profiles Mexican author Carlos Fuentes whose latest novel, `The Campaign,' is the first of a trilogy about what he calls `the romantic time,' in 19th-century Latin America. Background; Childhood; Political outspokenness; Religion; Other works; Education; Forthcoming books.

Asserts that, fascinated by American family traumas, author Joe McGinniss is preserving the painful art of writing about true crime. His latest book `Cruel Doubt'; Levels of harsh criticism that he has endured.

Presents an interview with author Larry Brown. His long apprenticeship as a writer; Why he feels that writing is an acquired skill, not something people are born with; Overview of his works; Prospects for his future.

Profiles author Pete Dexter. His roistering lifestyle; Why his career as a novelist is a different kind of adventure; Overview of his books; Ways in which his attitudes have changed over the years.

Presents an interview with writer David Rieff. His sense of identity; Descriptions of the reality gap in Los Angeles; Rieff's vision; Plans for books that he hopes to write in the future.

Presents an interview with Haruki Murakami and describes the reasons why Japan's premier novelist is `seeking a new style.' Murakami's background; Discussion of his books; His own translations of his books; Future projects.

Interviews author Wiliam Caunitz, a former New York City cop who has parlayed his experiences into bestselling thrillers. Discussion of his novels; His background; Writing philosophy; Additional anecdotes regarding Caunitz's experiences as a cop.

Presents an interview with critic and novelist Doris Grumbach. Her contention that `writing is an act of healing'; Relationship between life and art in her novels; Her background; Her feeling that publishing has ceased to be a craft and is now a business; More.

Interviews dancer/choreographer/author Agnes de Mille and discusses her recent book `The Life and Work of Martha Graham.' De Mille's background; How she developed into a writer; Current and future projects.

Profiles novelist Richard Powers, a man who is finally emerging from his self-imposed anonymity--almost. Why the reclusive author savors his obscurity; Discussion of Power's books; Why they are so intelligently written; The writing of the novel `The Gold Bug Variations'; More about Power's personality.

Present an interview with novelist cum historian Ellis Peters. Her background; Thoughts about historical novels; Artists and craftspeople inspired by Peters' character Cadfael; Comments about Cadfael's extraordinary popularity; More about Peters' plans for the future.

Presents an interview with the irrepressible author/illustrator duo of Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Their backgrounds; Discussion of their books; Their approach to writing and illustrating.

Presents an interview with author Witold Rybczynski, a self-described workaholic whose has chosen leisure as his latest subject. Rybczynski's lifestyle in Montreal, Canada; His background; Origins of his literary career; His appeal as an essayist; His dual careers of architecture and writing.

Presents an interview with ex-combat flyer and author Dale Brown. Brown's love of B-52's; How he goes about finding the premises for all his aviation adventures; Discussion of his novels; Thoughts about the American government; His military career; Prospects for the future.

Presents an interview with Sylvia Ann Hewlett and discusses how her own conflict between career and family influenced her controversial books. Hewlett's efforts to persuade America's public officials and corporate leaders of the need to reorder their priorities in support of the family; Breakdown of the American family; Triumph of education over economic disadvantage; More about Hewlett's background.

Presents an interview with author Shirley Abbott. Her background and literary style; Growing up under the influence of her father; Educational experience; List of her books; Interests and beliefs; More about her literary philosophy.

Presents an interview with critic, novelist, and poet Leslie Fiedler. Fiedler's background; Involvement with radical politics; Late start in bookwriting; Plans for essays in his `Fiedler on the Roof' trilogy; More about his future plans and current philosophy of life.

Presents an interview with Stephen Dobyns. Dobyns is an author of mysteries, poetry, and novels. How he writes novels; Background; His reputation for being a prolific writer; Mixed-genre novels; Role of intuition; More.