A dazzling debut

Adam Felber, comedian, television writer , and radio personality, mined his student days at Tufts University for his time-bending debut novel, ``Schrö dinger's Ball."

Set in Cambridge, the book follows the antics of late physicist Erwin Schrö dinger and four young friends -- one of whom may or may not be dead. It landed on the Globe's paperback bestseller list last week at No. 3.

Felber was an English major at Tufts in the 1980s, but it was philosophy professor Daniel C. Dennett who captured his imagination and introduced him to Schrö dinger's unconventional theories about death and life.

Felber, who lives in West Hollywood, is a panelist on NPR's ``Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me" and a writer and performer on the new late-night comedy, ``Talk Show with Spike Feresten." A founding member of the Tufts improv group, Cheap Sox, and a former member of ImprovBoston, he called the book ``a love letter to my old stomping grounds."

The towering bookcases in a new exhibit at the Boston Public Library are a testament to John Adams's intellectual might. His 3,700-volume library -- representing seven languages and dating to 1510 -- is on display for the first time since the BPL acquired it in 1894.

From his books, Adams, a founding father and the nation's second president , culled precedents for legal cases and ideas for the US Constitution. On the shelves are a 22-pound volume of Aristotle's works, the first English edition of the Koran, and an account of the Pilgrims' first year of settlement called ``Good Newes in New England."

Adams talked back to his books. He wrote in 900 of them, leaving a signature, a doodle, equations (in a book by Isaac Newton), and, in a history of the French revolution by Mary Wollstonecraft, 10,000 words of vitriolic commentary. ``He's certainly not above making a cutting, withering comment," said Beth Prindle, lead curator for the exhibit.

The BPL is digitizing Adams's library -- including his annotations -- and expects to have the first 30 books online this fall. The exhibit continues through April 1. For information about tours, visit bpl.org.

Ron Rosenbaum brings fresh insights to history makers who have already been analyzed in mountains of books. In 1998, he wrote ``Explaining Hitler." His new book is ``The Shakespeare Wars." He will appear at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Brookline Booksmith, Brookline.

``Sippewissett : Or, Life on a Salt Marsh," by Tim Traver (Chelsea Green)

``The Confession ," by James E. McGreevey (Regan)

``Trouble," by Patrick Somerville (Vintage)

Megan Sullivan of Harvard Book Store in Cambridge recommends ``Abandon the Old in Tokyo" by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Sullivan writes, ``Manga master Tatsumi's stories are unlike anything else. With black-and-white drawings, he can bring out the subtle nuances of the Japanese streets as well as the elusive qualities of men and women caught up in their inner lives."

Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.