Publishers Weekly articles from April 2009

Publishers Weekly archives from April 2009

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
April 27, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Scottoline's latest departs from her customary Philadelphia law firm setting, revolving instead around a reporter at a Philadelphia daily. Said PW's starred review, "Bestseller Scottoline scores another bull's-eye with...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
April 27, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In addition to Spelling's many media gigs (including last Saturday's L.A. Times Festival of Books), her TV show (Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood) returns for a fourth season On the Oxygen channel; the May 26...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
April 27, 2009... Been to the movies lately? Chances are you've seen the ubiquitous trailer (there are two versions) for the May 15 release of Angels & Demons. The film's splashy Web site is replete with location shots, plot summaries, downloads galore, an...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
April 27, 2009... What do the following movies have in common: X-Men Origins: Wolverine; The Kite Runner; Troy? Would it help if we added The 25th Hour? That movie's screenplay was penned by the book's author, David Benioff--who also wrote the screenplays for...

Around the booths: PW's select guide to exhibitors at BookExpoAmerica.(Exhibitors Guide)(List)
April 27, 2009... AA Publishing (U.K.) Featured: The Golf Tour by Jackie Staddon and Hilary Weston; The Racehorse by Elwyn Hartley Edwards; Exploring the Ancient World by Paul Bahn. Booth: 3728. Abbeville Press Publishing Group Featured from Abbeville...

The Imagination of the Heart.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... The Imagination of the Heart Barry Gifford. Seven Stories, $14.95 paper (176p) ISBN 978-1-58322-873-9 Gifford's final installment in the Sailor and Lula saga (which began with Wild at Heart, made into a film by David Lynch) finds high...

Meat Eaters & Plant Eaters: Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Meat Eaters & Plant Eaters: Stories Jessica Treat. BOA (Consortium, dist.), $14 paper (140p) ISBN 978-1-934414-22-4 In her skillful third collection, Treat offers short, sharp glimpses into her characters' yawning existential anxiety....

Savage.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Savage Jacques Jouet, trans. from the French by Amber Shields. Dalkey Archive, $12.95 paper (94p) ISBN 978-1-56478-535-0 Fashion, art, philosophy and anthropology converge in Jouet's (Mountain R) slim, semibiographical novella based on the...

Gold of Kings.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Gold of Kings Davis Bunn. S&S/Howard, $24 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-5631-2 The first of a new adventure series for this three-time Christy Award winner brings together an odd couple for an international trail of clues and near-death...

An Elegy for Easterly: Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... * An Elegy for Easterly: Stories Petina Gappah. Faber and Faber, $22 (192p) ISBN 978-0-86547-906-7 In her accomplished debut, Gappah, a Zimbabwean writer and international trade lawyer, casts her compassionate eye on a diverse array of...

Diamonds in Disguise: A Gregory Crowne Mystery.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Diamonds in Disguise: A Gregory Crowne Mystery Tessa Barclay. Severn, $28.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-7278-6736-0 Barclay's sixth Gregory Crowne mystery (after 2008's To Die For) puts a fresh spin on the classic theft, revenge and murder theme....

Warrior Wisewoman 2.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Warrior Wisewoman 2 Edited by Roby James. Norilana (www.norilana.com), $11.95 paper (272p) ISBN 978-1-60762028-0 Somewhat distanced from the first volume's attempts to be a science fiction companion to feminist fantasy series Sword and...

Street Magic.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Street Magic Caitlin Kittredge. St. Martin's Paperbacks, $6.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-312-94361-5 The first in the Black London series, this dark tale takes Kittredge's supernatural shadows to the next level. At 16, Pete Caldecott witnessed the...

Man of Fate.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Man of Fate Rochelle Alers. Kimani, $6.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-373-83160-9 Alers (Secret Agenda) kicks off the Best Men contemporary romance series with successful attorney Kyle Chatham, who gave up working at a Park Avenue law firm to start...

Amazon Ink.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Amazon Ink Lori Devoti. Pocket/Juno, $7.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4391-5427-4 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This intriguing series from urban fantasist Devoti (Dark Crusade) marks Juno's first outing as a Pocket imprint. A group of Amazon women in...

Tail of the Moon: Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u).(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Tail of the Moon: Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) Rinko Ueda. Viz, $8.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-4215-3053-6 Tail of the Moon, the original medieval/ romance/comedy series, probably wasn't crying out for a prequel, but fans of the long-running...

Renegade: The Lost Books, Vol. 3.(Chaos: The Lost Books, vol. 4)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Renegade: The Lost Books, Vol. 3 Ted Dekker. Thomas Nelson, $15.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-59554-605-0 Chaos: The Lost Books, Vol. 4 Ted Dekker. Thomas Nelson, $15.99 paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-59554-606-7 Released simultaneously, these...

A Mess of Everything.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... A Mess of Everything Miss Lasko-Gross. Fantagraphics, $19.99 paper (232p) ISBN 978-1-56097-956-2 In this intense but humorous follow-up to Escape from "Special" Lasko-Gross's semi-alter ego must navigate the perils of high school life....

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster Rebecca Solnit. Viking, $27.95 (432p) ISBN 978-0-670-02107-9 Natural and man-made disasters can be "utopias" that showcase human solidarity and point the way to...

The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business Nelson Lichtenstein. Metropolitan, $25 (320p) ISBN 978-0-8050-7966-1 Lichtenstein (Walter Reuther) offers a comprehensive if dry discussion of Wal-Mart--the world's...

Free: The Future of a Radical Price.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... * Free: The Future of a Radical Price Chris Anderson. Hyperion, $26.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4013-2290-8 In the digital marketplace, the most effective price is no price at all, argues Anderson (The Long Tail). He illustrates how savvy...

Devil's Sanctuary: An Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... Devil's Sanctuary: An Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes Alex A. Alston Jr. and James L. Dickerson. Lawrence Hill, $26.95 (400p) ISBN 978-1-55652-763-0 Mississippi State history mixes with the authors' personal memories in this...

Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... * Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World Glenn Stout. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24 (352p) ISBN 978-0-618-85868-2 In 1926, 18-year-old Trudy Ederle fascinated and inspired millions...

Guts: One American Guy's Reckless, Lucky Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 27, 2009... * Guts: One American Guy's Reckless, Lucky Life Robert Nylen. Random, $25 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6776-3 Vietnam vet, cofounder of New England Monthly and a media consultant, Nylen, who died last year, shares with punchy humor and...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
April 20, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] T.S. Eliot be damned. April is a most kindly month for Mary Higgins Clark, the acknowledged grande dame of mysteries--Simon & Schuster has been successfully publishing Clark's hardcovers and mass market reprints in...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
April 20, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cohan's House keeps adding new stories. On April 9 he appeared on The Daily Show and he continues to speak at large-scale events across the country--the Philadelphia Free Library Festival on April 19, the LAT Book...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
April 20, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "She claims to have recently grown bored with the life of a jetsetting supermodel and [has] decided to turn her hand to literary pursuits.... She currently entertains visions of a vast publishing empire a few times a...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
April 20, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Best friends forever. They'd believed it would last, that vow, that someday they'd be old women, sitting in their rocking chairs..., talking about the times of their lives, and laughing. Now she knew better; of course....

Children's picture book bestsellers.
April 20, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In addition to issuing a young readers' edition of his bestselling Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson has also penned a picture book version. Mortenson told Children's Bookshelf that Susan L. Roth's collage art was...

Recently reviewed online.
April 20, 2009... Nonfiction * Adam's Tongue: How Humans Made Language, How Language Made Humans Derek Bickerton. Hill and Wang, Mar. Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits Jack Murnighan. Three Rivers, May ...

Polo and Lily.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
April 20, 2009... Polo and Lily Regis Faller. Roaring Brook, $9.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-59643-496-7 In this outing, fans will discover a mellower side to the can-do canine that debuted in The Adventures of Polo. French artist Faller creates another inventive,...

When the Moon Forgot.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
April 20, 2009... When the Moon Forgot Jimmy Liao. Little, Brown, $17.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-316-11390-8 A boy discovers a fallen moon in this melancholy, small-format book. After the moon disappears from the sky, factories begin to mass-produce "truckloads of...

King of Rome.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
April 20, 2009... King of Rome Dave Sudbury, illus, by Hans Saefkow. Simply Read (PGW, dist.), $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-894965-94-1 Charlie Hudson, a laborer in pre-WWI Britain, sent his best racing pigeon off to Rome to compete against a thousand other...

A Mirror to Nature: Poems About Reflection.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
April 20, 2009... * A Mirror to Nature: Poems About Reflection Jane Yolen, photos by Jason Stemple. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-59078-624-6 Pairing lyrical poems and crisp photography to great effect, this collection is a gem. Each poem...

TMI.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 20, 2009... TMI Sarah Quigley. Dutton, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-525-47908-6 In Quigley's first book, the heroine is an "overshare artist": Becca cannot keep her thoughts to herself. Living in Pine Prairie, Minn., where "everyone sticks their cold,...

Publisher wanted ... must view 'book' as artifact of Web site.(Soapbox: If publishers don't want to join Xerox in the dunce hall of fame, they need to understand that they're in the intellectual property business.)(WholeEarth.com)
April 20, 2009... If the creator of The Whole Earth Catalog came up with the idea for it today, does anyone think his first call would be to a book publisher? Of course not. Stewart Brand would reach out to a Web designer. And as quickly as he could, he'd...

Green theology: fertile field: earth-minded books keep growing.(Feature: Religion Update)
April 20, 2009... With publishers singing the bottom-line blues, some are turning to green... green books, that is. Although they have long popped up on general trade publisher lists, environment-friendly titles are growing very visibly at religion and...

Green goes the office.
April 20, 2009... Publish green, work green. More than 200 publishers have signed the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use and/or developed meaningful policies consistent with the treatise. More than 40 publishers (some mentioned in this article) are...

Green: it's a family affair.(on Matthew Sleeth)(Brief article)
April 20, 2009... When Matthew Sleeth gave up a medical career to downsize his family's lifestyle and preach the green gospel, it launched publishing careers for him as well as three of the four members of the Sleeth family. Matthew's Serve God, Save the...

Indie booksellers debate the e-book conundrum: booksellers wonder what to sell and how to sell it.(Foreword)
April 13, 2009... "It's easy to experience fear and anxiety in the face of the e-book tipping point, which I believe is imminent," admitted Allison Hill, president and COO of Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, Calif. She's not alone. With so many e-book options...

Group speaks out over Kindle.(Authors Guild's on Kindle 2's text-to-speech function)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Some zoo people with print disabilities--physical impairments that restrict their ability to read print--protested in front of the Authors Guild headquarters in New York City last week, rallying against the Guild's...

Jassin resigns as NYCIP chair.(New York Center for Independent Publishing's Lloyd Jassin)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Lloyd Jassin has resigned as chairman of the executive committee of the New York Center for Independent Publishing, citing differences with the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen, which provides the financial support for NYCIP. The...

Consumer group protests Google deal.(Consumer Watchdog on Google-Association of American Publishers/ Authors Guild settlement)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... The consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog has asked the Justice Department to delaythe Google--AAP/ Authors Guild settlement until provisions regarding a most favored nation clause and orphan works can be reviewed. The group alleges that...

Quebecor in creditor deal.(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Quebecor has reached an agreement in principle with its major creditors on a reorganization plan that will allow it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although terms were not disclosed, Quebecor said the agreement "is consistent with [its]...

NavPress cuts nine.(NavPress Publishing cuts nine positions)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... A reorganization at NavPress has resulted in the elimination of nine positions. The evangelical Christian publisher divided its book publishing operations into trade publishing and direct publishing groups. Sue Kline will lead the trade...

Readers privacy campaign revved up.(Campaign for Reader Privacy)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... The Campaign for Reader Privacy sent a memo to Congress last week as the start of a new effort to have the USA Patriot Act revised before its likely extension by the end of the year. The memo notes that the Patriot Act, particularly Section...

Author Solutions buys Trafford.(Trafford Publishing and Author Solutions)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Author Solutions continued to expand its hold on the self-publishing market last week with the acquisition of Trafford Publishing. The purchase of Trafford, based in British Columbia and with a presence in the U.K., will help to accelerate...

O'Flynn reups with Holt.(Deals)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Helen Atsma at Holt has acquired two new novels by Catherine O'Flynn via Lucy Luck, who sold U.S. rights on option. The first is Evergreen, which follows a Birmingham, Ala., television news presenter who is "haunted by disappearances"...

Darhansoff duo.(Deals)(Liz Darhansoff on David Liss novels and The Marriage Book)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Liz Darhansoff at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman recently concluded a new deal for David Liss, with Jennifer Hershey at Random taking North American rights to two historical thrillers for mid six figures. Liss is most recently the author of The...

Beauty and beast at GC.(Deals)(Grand Central Publishing on George A. Romero's novels)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Karen Murgolo at Springboard outlasted multiple bidders in an auction for an untitled book by Cristina Carlino; Andrew Smart of the Stuart Agency sold world rights. This beauty book by Carlino, founder of and spokesperson for Philosophy, the...

Dijkstra in Oxford double.(Deals)(Sandra Dijkstra and Oxford University Press)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Susan Ferber at Oxford University Press has acquired world rights to Erika Lee and Judy Yung's Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America via Sandra Dijkstra. This narrative history of the immigrants who entered the country through the West...

Resetting the economy.(Deals)(Richard Florida's How the Economic Crisis Will Forever Change Our Economy, Society, and the Way We Live)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... James Levine at Levine Greenberg Literaty Agency has accepted several preempts for Richard Florida's Reset: How the Economic Crisis Will Forever Change Our Economy, Society, and the Way We Live. Hollis Heimbouch took the title in the U.S. for...

The briefing.(Deals)(Picador publishing on Jeff Chang's book)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... David Rogers at Picador has acquired world rights to a new book by Jeff-Chang for the imprint's Big Ideas/Small Books series; the topic is youth. Victoria Sanders made the sale; Picador published the paperback of Chang's Can't Stop Won't Stop.

Some support for CBA Confab.(Foreword)(Canadian Booksellers Association conference)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... The Canadian Booksellers Association's newly announced conference set for June 20 and 21 has received some backing from publishers. Penguin Canada is the largest house to commit to taking a table-top display, and a number of independent...

Anderson & Friends.(Foreword)(Laurie Halse Anderson)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On March 28 Laurie Halse Anderson finished a two-week book tour for Wintergirls (Viking Juvenile) at BookPeople in Austin, Tex. Anderson, holding that chicken, posed with staffers from BookPeople.

A good time to be selling used books.(Bright Spot)
April 13, 2009... Not all businesses do badly in a recession; one segment of the book market that appears to be holding up fairly well is used books. "People are looking for bargains," said Kathy Doyle Thomas, executive v-p at the used bookstore chain...

DVA expands book remainder niche.(Closeouts Up)(Distribution Video & Audio)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... In addition to used book retailers, another company that is having a good year is the closeout company Distribution Video & Audio. Although DVA has its roots in the DVD and CD market, it has a growing book business and now buys around five...

The incredibly shrinking Dalton.(Notes from the 10-k)(B. Dalton bookseller)
April 13, 2009... The closure of 33 Dalton outlets last year plus a drop in same-store sales resulted in a 20.1% decline in sales at Barnes & Noble's mall store operation, according to figures released in B&N's 10-k filing. B&N has been steadily phasing out...

HMH offers curious George iPhone App.(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt publishing on Curious George)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which started adapting its reference content for the iPhone and iPod Touch last summer, has released its first branded Curious George title, an app based on the August 2008 book Curious George's Dictionary. The app,...

Delacorte to do new Vonnegut.(Delacorte Press on Kurt Vonnegut's Look at the Birdie)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Kurt Vonnegut's longtime publisher, Delacorte Press, has announced it will issue 14 never-before-published short stories by the author, who died in 2007. The new collection, Look at the Birdie, is slated for publication in November, to...

Hachette, SBTB settle.(Strictly-by-the Book and Hachette publishing)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Hachette and the remainder company Strictly-by-the Book have reached a settlement in an exchange of lawsuits filed in February in which Hachette charged SBTB with breach of contract and SBTB claimed Hachette was trying to put it out of...

Healthy industry warily eyes the digital future.(Touring Germany)(German publishing industry on e-books)
April 13, 2009... On the third day of the American editors' tour of the German publishing scene, the group arrived at Suhrkamp, the well-regarded-Frankfurt publisher of German and international literature, philosophy and social sciences. Nonfiction editor Eva...

Stein to LBBYR.(People)(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers' Erin Stein)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Erin Stein has been named executive editor of franchise and licensing programs at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. She will manage ongoing franchises as well as movie and media tie-in programs, and help shape the middle grade and YA...

Boison to DC Comics.(People)(Jeff Boison)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Jeff Boison has been named executive director of publishing operations at DC Comics. Boison was most recently director of sales for the Random House Audio Publishing Group.

Schwartz up at Random House.(People)(Carolyn Schwartz)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Carolyn Schwartz, who oversees marketing for Bantam/Dell, has added Ballantine to her marketing duties and has been given the new title of v-p, director of marketing, Ballantine/ Bantam/Dell (the three RH imprints that publish mass market...

Bole returns to BISG.(People)(Book Industry Study Group's Angela Bole)(Brief article)
April 13, 2009... Angela Bole has returned to the Book Industry Study Group as deputy executive director. Bole had been associate director of BISG before leaving for a position as events manager at John Wiley.

Titan Books bucks the tide.(Pop Culture)
April 13, 2009... There's a recession going on, but Titan Books seems not to have noticed The U.K. publisher is a pop culture and entertainment powerhouse with an impressive list of blockbuster licenses from the film, TV, comics and toy businesses. Nick...

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.(List)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the suitably creepy YouTube video promoting Lisa Jackson's latest, a ready-for-in-tones, "I know I buried my wife 12 years ago, but I saw her--today. Blowing me a kiss as If she were alive, but she can't be...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.(List)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The tide of Michael J. Fox's bestseller refers to both his stature and his outlook on life (as the subtitle puts it, The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist). The indomitable spirit of this much-loved entertainer...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.(List)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The power of the tube strikes again. A Lifetime TV movie of Tribute debuted on April 11 (check your local listings for reruns), starring Brittany Murphy, Jason Lewis and Tippi Hedren. (Remember her? Alfred...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.(List)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As devotees know, Watchmen didn't burst on the scene as a #1 movie. (Though it's doing just fine in that format: as of April 9 its domestic box office gross was $106 million.) The graphic novel by Alan Moore and...

Comics bestsellers.(List)
April 13, 2009... March 1 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw. Jeff Kinney. Abrams/Amulet, $12.95 ISBN 978-0-810-97068-7 2 Naruto, Volume 41. Mashashi Kishimoto. Viz Media, $7.95 ISBN 978-1-421-528427 3 Naruto, Volume 40. Mashashi Kishimoto. Viz...

Children's fiction bestsellers.(List)
April 13, 2009... April 13, 2009 1 The Graveyard Book. Neil Gaiman. HarperCollins, $17.99 ISBN 978-0-06-053092-1 2 City of Glass. Cassandra Clare. McElderry, $17.99 188N 978-1-416-91430-3 3 Evermore. Alyson Noel. St. Martin's Griffin, paper $9.99...

Dominique Raccah: entrepreneur built Sourcebooks book by book.(CHANGE MAKERS)(Interview)
April 13, 2009... If publisher Dominique Raccah is jetlagged after returning from the Bologna Book Fair the previous evening, she doesn't look it. Exuding energy, she whirls through our interview at Sourcebooks' Naperville, Ill., office, illustrating her...

Hazelden looks back, moves forward.(Independent Publishing)(Hazelden Publishing )
April 13, 2009... Fifty-five years after releasing its first publication, Twenty-Four Hours a Day, a meditation book by Richmond Walker that still sells well above 100,000 copies every year, Hazelden Publishing is breathing new life into its trade list by...

Good worlds and bad: pure escapism and dystopian visions appeal to consumers unhappy with the here and now.(Cover story)
April 13, 2009... While some readers look for dark fiction to reflect Clark times, others just want to get away from it all. This has led to strong sales on all sides of science fiction and fantasy, from pulpy escapist romps to grim dystopian parables. "In...

Tasmanian devil.(Author Profile)(Richard Flanagan)
April 13, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Richard Flanagan gets attention for his politics and his recent credit as the screenwriter for the Nicole Kidman movie Australia, but the Tasmanian native, whose Wanting is out in May from Atlantic Monthly Press,...

An Expensive Education.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... An Expensive Education Nick McDonell. Atlantic Monthly, $24 (256p) ISBH 978-0-8021-1893-6 McDonell's third novel, a story of the messy consequences attendant upon a rogue American operation conducted against a Somalian freedom fighter,...

Absent a Miracle.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... Absent a Miracle Christine Lehner. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26 (496p) ISBN 978-0-15-1014294 Alice Fairweather, a Californian transplanted to the New York City suburbs with her Harvard-educated, Maine-born husband and their two...

Wife of the Gods.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... Wife of the Gods Kwei Quartey. Random, $24 (336p) ISBN 978-1-4000-6759-6 Quartey's winning debut, a police procedural set in modern Ghana, introduces gifted detective Darko Dawson. Dawson leaves the capital city of Accra to investigate a...

I'm So Happy for You.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... I'm So Happy for You Lucinda Rosenfeld. Little, Brown/Back Bay, $13.99 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-316-04450-9 Rosenfeld (What She Saw) delves into the thornier side of female friendship in this hip take on modern womanhood. Wendy and Daphne...

Huge.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... Huge James W. Fuerst. Crown, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-307-45249-8 In his mind's eye, precocious 12-year-old Eugene "Huge" Smalls, the narrator of Fuerst's quirky debut, is the lineal descendant of Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade and other pulp...

PW Talks with Kate Walbert: the woman question.(Q&A)(Interview)
April 13, 2009... NBA finalist Kate Walbert's A Short History of Women (Reviews, Feb. 2) follows several generations of women from the British suffrage movement through 1970s consciousness-raising to the age of Facebook as they struggle against oppression. ...

The Strain.(Brief article)(Book review)
April 13, 2009... * The Strain Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. Morrow, $26.99 (416p) ISBN 978-0-06-155823-8 Director Del Toro (who won an Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth) makes a dramatic splash in his fiction debut, the first volume in a vampires vs....