SEARCHING FOR SCHINDLER (A Memoir), Tom Keneally (Random House) $45

Keaneally describes the writing and filming of the story of Oskar Schindler and the holocaust victims he helped to save, with descriptions of his travels, interviews, research and writing style bordering on autobiography.

The deep friendship formed with Poldek, the man who introduced Schindler’s name to the author, is often humorous  — sometimes tragic.

Poldek had such belief in the story and its writer that he would never allow anyone, especially Keneally and Steven Spielberg, to give up on it.

Spielberg, who won an Oscar for Schindler’s List said that, had he read this book before, the film would have been an hour longer.

VERDICT: A fascinating and still-harrowing story, worthy of meticulous reading.