Publishers Weekly articles from August 2004

Publishers Weekly archives from August 2004

Weak dollar crimps Pearson book results: Penguin Group USA has solid six months.
August 2, 2004... THE WEAK DOLLAR and lower sales in the company's U.S. school publishing group combined to drop book publishing sales 6%, to 1.21 billion [pounds sterling] (52.21 billion), at Pearson for the six-month period ended June 30. Operating loss...

Reading vs. the Media World.
August 2, 2004... The NEA's "Reading at Risk" report suggested that a major reason for the decline in reading was competition from new media. A new study from investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson adds some documentation. The study found flint while...

Media growth slows at Amazon.(News)
August 2, 2004... SALES IN AMAZON.COM'S North America media division rose 9% in the second quarter ended June 30, to $541.8 million, while media sales in its international group jumped 35%, to $495.5 million. The rate of the sales increase in both segments...

VSS study projects slow consumer book growth.(Forecasting)
August 2, 2004... VERONIS SUHLER STEVENSON'S annual Communications Industry Forecast & Report predicts that spending on consumer books will continue to grow at a slow pace over the next five years. The report projects that consumer book spending, which was...

Sales fall at Harlequin.(Second-Quarter Results)
August 2, 2004... HARLEQUIN, WHICH HAD a poor first quarter, also had a difficult time in the second period, parent company Torstar reported last week. Sales at the publisher fell 6.3%, to C$136.1 million ($102 million), and operating profit tumbled 22.6%, to...

Pearson in deal with IBM.(Partnering)(Pearson Technology Group)
August 2, 2004... PEARSON TECHNOLOGY GROUP has signed a three-year deal with IBM to print business and technology books under the IBM Press imprint. The agreement gives Pearson worldwide rights and covers CD-ROMs and e-books as well as print titles. A Pearson...

NEBA president steps down.(Bookselling)
August 2, 2004... After serving less than a year, Eric Wilska, co-owner of the Bookloft in Great Barrington, Mass., has resigned from his two-year appointment as president of the New England Booksellers Association, citing disagreements with the board over the...

Pop culture rules at San Diego Comic-Con.(Comics Plus)
August 2, 2004... COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL has been growing every year, and this year's convention--held in San Diego, Calif., July 21-25--was the biggest yet, with attendance estimated at over 100,000, according to CCI officials. CCI is the annual gathering of...

MHE sales on track.(Second-Quarter Results)(McGraw-Hill Education)
August 2, 2004... SALES AT McGraw-Hill Education fell 2.1% in the second quarter ended June 30, to $531.7 million, although operating profit rose 2.6%, to $57.1 million. A 7.2% sales increase, to $191.5 million, in the higher education, professional and...

Hailer moving to Harcourt.(People)
August 2, 2004... JENNIFER HALLER will join Harcourt trade's children's division September 7 as v-p of sales, children's books. In the newly created post, Haller will direct the sales and distribution efforts of the children's group, including its marketing...

Fall launch for progressive Book Club.(Niche)
August 2, 2004... A NEW BOOK club that will depend heavily on the Web for its success will be launched officially in October industry newcomer Elizabeth Wagley. The creation of the Progressive Book Club was announced last week in Boston during the Democratic...

The cost of regime change.(hot deals)(book deal for New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer)
August 2, 2004... Every time in its history that the U.S. has worked, militarily or clandestinely, to overthrow a foreign government, there have been consequences--and often they have been unwelcome ones. That's the message in a book by veteran New York Times...

Editor's first novel bought.(hot deals)(Amy Scheibe)
August 2, 2004... Free Press senior editor Amy Scheibe usually appears in this space as a perspicacious buyer; this time around she's in the happy position of a first novelist, whose initial effort was eagerly preempted for those magic six figures by a...

Another Kellerman heard from.(hot deals)(author Jesse Kellerman)
August 2, 2004... Two in the family, Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, are already best-selling thriller authors, and now their son, Jesse, seems about to join them. Chris Pepe at Putnam/Berkley paid a healthy six figures for North American rights to his first two...

Readers can edit author.(hot deals)(new edition of Lawrence Lessig's book on cyberspace and the law, from Basic Books)
August 2, 2004... In an opportunity seldom offered, would-be readers of a new edition of Lawrence Lessig's celebrated book on cyberspace and the law, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, will get a chance to offer editorial suggestions, the best of which Lessig...

Viking/Plume president Clare Ferraro, who says she is a fan of bestselling British women's author Jane Green, herself paid a healthy advance, reportedly into seven figures, to lure her, for three books, from Broadway, where she was previously published.(Short Takes)
August 2, 2004... Viking/Plume president Clare Ferraro, who says she is a fan of bestselling British women's author Jane Green, herself paid a healthy advance, reportedly into seven figures, to lure her, for three books, from Broadway, where she was previously...

A diet prepared for the director of the hit documentary Super Size Me to detoxify him and lower his weight after he had been eating solely at McDonald's for a month for the movie, was bought for Rodale by Margot Schupf.(Short Takes)
August 2, 2004... A diet prepared for the director of the hit documentary Super Size Me to detoxify him and lower his weight after he had been eating solely at McDonald's for a month for the movie, was bought for Rodale by Margot Schupf. It's called The Great...

Atria publisher Judith Curr re-upped for another pair of legal thrillers about popular D.A. Butch Karp by Robert K. Tanenbaum.(Short Takes)
August 2, 2004... Atria publisher Judith Curr re-upped for another pair of legal thrillers about popular D.A. Butch Karp by Robert K. Tanenbaum. It was a world English deal, for Wendy Walker to edit, with Pocket paperbacks to follow. Agent Robert DiForio made...

What is claimed as the first definitive account of the high school killings at Columbine was bought for Dutton by Mitch Hoffman.(Short Takes)
August 2, 2004... What is claimed as the first definitive account of the high school killings at Columbine was bought for Dutton by Mitch Hoffman. It's called A Lasting Impression on the World, and author Dave Cullen of Salon.com has spent five years of research...

An unusual literary history, tracing how thrillers have become America's favorite form of fiction in recent decades, was bought for Random House by Mark Tavani.(Short Takes)
August 2, 2004... An unusual literary history, tracing how thrillers have become America's favorite form of fiction in recent decades, was bought for Random House by Mark Tavani. It's called The Triumph of the Thriller and the author, who has written thrillers...

Atria withdraws controversial memoir.(Forbidden)(Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint and other houses withdraw Norma Khouri's memoir, 'Forbidden Love,' after investigation concludes that both book and author are fakes)
August 2, 2004... PUBLISHERS AROUND THE world have withdrawn a bestselling memoir after an exhaustive investigation by an Australian newspaper concluded that both the author and her book were fakes. Simon & Schuster's Atria imprint, Random House Australia...

Big gains for Consortium.(Fiscal 2004 Results)(Consortium Book Sales & Distribution Inc.)
August 2, 2004... ST. PAUL, MINN.--based Consortium Book Sales & Distribution Inc. reported a record year in fiscal 2004, which ended June 30. According to chairman and CEO Don Linn, sales were up about 40%, while earnings posted a solid increase. The privately...

Big gains, losses in June.(AAP Sales Report)
August 2, 2004... AAP Sales Report Big Gains, Losses in June % CHANGE % CHANGE CATEGORY JUNE YTD Adult Hardcover 58.7 26.9 Adult Paperback ...

Harlem Book Fair weathers problems.(Events)
August 2, 2004... DESPITE THE THREAT of rain and a shortage of volunteers, the sixth annual Harlem Book Fair drew more than 40,000 book lovers to 135th Street in New York City's Harlem July 25. Max Rodriguez, cofounder and organizer of the Harlem Book Fair,...

Reporting on the report.(behind the bestsellers)(The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States hits the bestseller list)
August 2, 2004... Q. When's the last time a government committee report hit the national bestseller lists? A. Almost six years ago, when The Starr Report became the hot-button book du jour in the fall of 1998. The report's two editions (from Prima and...

Harper vet to head Phaidon.(People)
August 2, 2004... CHRIS NORTH, who just one year ago took over as COO of HarperCollins Canada, is moving to the U.K to become managing director of the international art publisher Phaidon. A Phaidon spokesperson said that North essentially will be running the...

Showdown in Germany: battle of the titans: Amazon.de de-lists top German-language publisher from its Web site.(bookselling)(Amazon.de retaliates against Diogenes for refusing to accept Amazon's terms)
August 2, 2004... Paulo Coelho, the bestselling Brazilian writer whose works have been translated into 56 languages, is, of course, wildly popular in the U.S. and among readers in Germany, too. His best-known novel, The Alchemist, originally published in 1988,...

Beyond words won't go beyond August.(Closing)(Beyond Words Bookshop, Northampton, Massachusetts)
August 2, 2004... Twenty-five-year-old Beyond Words Bookshop in Northampton, Mass., will close its doors this week. It had been running a going-out-of-business sale during July. Founded in 1978, the 2,100-sq.-ft, store specialized in books on inner...

How do you say ...? Publishers and booksellers talk up foreign-language audio programs.(audio)
August 2, 2004... With the proliferation of high-speed Internet access, broad-range cell phone roaming and international travel, the world continues to become a smaller place. But globalization has a much better shot at being perceived as a positive thing when...

Darkly Dreaming Dexter.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER JEFF LINDSAY, READ BY NICK LANDRUM. Recorded Books, unabridged, seven CDs, 8.25 hrs., $22.99 ISBN 1-4025-8138-6 * Miami blood spatter specialist Dexter Morgan is not your average monster. He occasionally gives in to...

The Big Love.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... THE BIG LOVE SARAH DUNN, READ BY ELIZA FOSS. HighBridge Audio, unabridged, five CDs, 5.75 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 1-56511-859-6 When Alison Hopkins's live-in boyfriend, Tom, leaves mid-dinner party to buy mustard and then calls to say he's never...

The Bourne Legacy.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... THE BOURNE LEGACY ERIC VAN LUSTBADER, READ BY SCOTT BRICK. Audio Renaissance, unabridged, 14 CDs, 18 hrs., $49.95 ISBN 1-59397-514-7 Brick seems completely comfortable sitting in the narrator's seat of Lustbader's (Black Heart, etc.)...

In the Moon of Red Ponies.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... IN THE MOON OF RED PONIES JAMES LEE BURKE, READ BY TOM STECHSCHULTE. Simon & Schuster Audio, unabridged, eight cassettes, 12 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 0-7435-3720-3 Narrator Stechschulte does an excellent job giving voice to the many eccentric...

Therapy: an Alex Delaware Novel.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... THERAPY: An Alex Delaware Novel JONATHAN KELLERMAN, READ BY JOHN RUBINSTEIN. Random House Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $26.95 ISBN 0-7393-0967-6 In this audio adaptation of Kellerman's newest thriller (after The Conspiracy Club),...

The Other Side of the Story.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY MARIAN KEYES, READ BY TERRY DONNELLY. Harper Audio, unabridged, 12 cassettes, 18 hrs., $39.95 ISBN 0-06-072295-9 This rambling, chatty audiobook draws listeners in slowly (sometimes painstakingly so) as it...

The House on Beartown Road: A Memoir of Learning and Forgetting.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... THE HOUSE ON BEARTOWN ROAD: A Memoir of Learning and Forgetting. ELIZABETH COHEN, READ BY BERNADETTE DUNNE. Blackstone Audiobooks, unabridged, seven CDs, 8.5 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-7861-8728-X Dunne's gentle, melodic voice is the perfect match...

Shadow Divers: the True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... SHADOW DIVERS: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II ROBERT KURSON, READ BY CAMPBELL SCOTT. Random House Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $27.50 ISBN 0-7393-1199-9 ...

Moveon's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change.(Audiobook Review)
August 2, 2004... MOVEON'S 50 WAYS TO LOVE YOUR COUNTRY: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change. MOVEON, READ BY THE CONTRIBUTORS. Audio Editions, unabridged, four CDs, 5 hrs., $19.95 ISBN 1-57270-429-2 Fifty members of the online...

Spoken audio for fall.
August 2, 2004... It may be a stretch to think about autumn when the scent of sunscreen and the snap of flip-flops are still in the air, but the new--and hardy--harvest of spoken-word audio titles is fast on its way to market. This season offers plenty of...

Children's audio/video for fall.
August 2, 2004... AUGUST HOUSE Baby Hawk Learns to Fly: Stories about Purpose, Patience, Confidence and Courage by Bobby Norfolk. One CD, one hr., $14.95, ages 6-up, Oct. Favorite Scary Stories of African Children, Vol. 1; Vol. 2 by Richard Alan Young...

Audio bestsellers.
August 2, 2004... Audio Bestsellers PUBLISHERS WEEKLY[R] Available online the Friday before issue date at: www.publishersweekly.com Fiction [1] Ten Big Ones (unabr. CD). Janet Evanovich. Read by Lorelei King. Andio Renaissance....

Arthur author tries new tack: Marc Brown's latest picture book stars a zoo-full of creatures, and no Arthur in sight.(children's books)
August 2, 2004... In Marc Brown's most recent artistic endeavor, there is not an aardvark in sight. But there are plenty of other animals in evidence--indeed, a rollicking zoo-full. And these ark creatures who, quite impressively, become hooked on reading as...

A summertime kickoff.(children's book)
August 2, 2004... The Smooch imprint of Dorchester Publishing is hoping to catch teens' eyes this summer with a contest and the release of two books per month from July through October. The young adult arm of Dorchester, aimed at girls 12-16, launched last...

Paula Danziger.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
August 2, 2004... Children's book author Paula Danziger died July 8 after complications from a heart attack. She was 59. Born in 1944 in Washington, D.C., and raised in Metuchen, N.J., the author began her career as a teacher after receiving a a B.A. and...

Lilian Moore.(Obituaries)(Obituary)
August 2, 2004... Prolific author, editor and poet Lilian Moore died July 20 at the age of 95. Moore's writing and editorial career spanned six decades; her dedication to children's literature began after her collegiate work at Hunter College and Columbia...

S.A.T.--adding the write stuff: as college applications--and tuition costs--reach record highs, the big news is the classic SAT's major revision.(Test prep: category closeup)
August 2, 2004... "AN ESSAY? There's an ESSAY?!" Across America, the shocking news is being passed from teenager to teenager. The venerable SAT, as of March 2005, will include a new writing section with an essay requirement; students will be asked to take a...

Sabina Murray: the hunger artist.(pw interview)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... When Sabina Murray pushes the envelope, there's nothing ladylike about her literary shove. Her latest novel, A Carnivore's Inquiry,, out this month from Grove Press, is a gloriously written psychological thriller about the ultimate...

War Trash.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... WAR TRASH HA JIN. Pantheon, $25 (3681p) ISBN 0-375-42276-5 * Jin (Waiting; The Crazed; etc.) applies his steady gaze and stripped-bare storytelling to the violence and horrifying political uncertainty of the Korean War in this brave,...

Any Place I Hang My Hat. (Book Review)
August 2, 2004... ANY PLACE I HANG MY HAT SUSAN ISAACS. Scribner, $26 (400p) ISBN 0-7432-4215-7 Apolitical reporter in her late 20s goes in search of the mother who abandoned her when she was a baby in this jaunty if rather jerky 10th novel by Isaacs (Long...

The Darling.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE DARLING RUSSELL BANKS. HarperCollins, $25.95 (3841) ISBN 0-06-019735-8 * Six years after the publication of his much-landed novel Cloudsplitter, Banks returns with a portrayal of personal and political turmoil in West Africa and the...

Havoc, in Its Third Year.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... HAVOC, IN ITS THIRD YEAR RONAN BENNETT. Simon & Schuster, $24 (256p) ISBN 0-7432-5856-8 Bennett (The Catastrophist) pens an evocative, somber account of a man lacing a crisis of spirit and conscience in early 17th-century England, when...

If You are Afraid of Heights.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS RAJ KAMAL, JHA. Harcourt, $23 (304p) ISBN 0-15-101109-5 Jha, executive editor of the Indian Express and author of the critically acclaimed novel The Blue Bedspread, returns with a dark, impressionistic collage...

Trace.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... TRACE PATRICIA CORNWELL. Putnam, $26.9. (448p) ISBN 0-399-15219-9 Cornwell's latest after the disappointing Blow Fly has indomitable medical examiner Kay Scarpetta returning to her office in Richmond five years after being fired. This...

At home in the world.(PW Talks with Susan Isaacs)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... PW: What prompted you to write a novel dealing with abandonment [Any Place I Hang My Hat, reviewed on p. 49]? Susan Isaacs: It wasn't so much the abandonment, it was more about finding a place for yourself when you don't have that place...

Why Dogs Chase Cars: Tales of a Beleaguered Boyhood.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... WHY DOGS CHASE CARS GEORGE SINGLETON. Algonquin/Shannon Ravenel, $14.95 paper (336p) ISBN 1-56512-404-9 A precocious Southern boy tries to come to terms with his father's odd legacy in this first novel by short-story writer Singleton (The...

The Midnight Band of Mercy.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE MIDNIGHT BAND OF MERCY MICHAEL BLAINE. Soho, $25 (384p) ISBN 1-56947-371-4 Max Greengrass, the hero of this engaging mystery by Blaine (The Desperate Season), has much in common with David Liss's hero Benjamin Weaver. Both are Jews in...

The Sunday Philosophy Club.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH. Pantheon, $19.95 (256p) ISBN 0-375-42298-6 * Murder and moral obligation mingle in this whimsical new series from the author of the smash hit The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. McCall...

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE UNTHINKABLE THOUGHTS OF JACOB GREEN JOSHUA BRAFF. Algonquin, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 1-56512-420-0 A witty, sensitive boy observes the darkly humorous goings-on in his Orthodox Jewish family in 1970s New Jersey. Jacob Green idolizes his...

The Bark of the Bog Owl: Book One of the Wilderking Trilogy.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE BARK OF THE BOG OWL: Book One of the Wilderking Trilogy JONATHAN ROGERS. Broadman & Holman, $15.99 (240p) ISBN 0-8054-3131-4 Rogers takes biblical fiction to a new level in an imaginative fantasy rendition of the story of King David...

The Coal Tattoo.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE COAL TATTOO SILAS HOUSE. Algonquin, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 1-56512-368-9 * Evocative prose and unforgetable characters mark this haunting novel from House, a Kentucky writer who mines the storytelling tradition of Appalachia. Set in the...

Hear No Evil.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... HEAR NO EVIL JAMES GRIPPANDO. HarperCollins, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 0-06-056457-1 Miami lawyer Jack Swyteck is in for one hell of a roller coaster ride in this lapel-grabbing thriller, Grippando's ninth (Last to Die; etc.). Lindsey Hart, about...

At Hell's Gate.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... AT HELL'S GATE ETHAN BLACK. Simon & Schuster, $24 (326p) ISBN 0-7432-4398-6 Conrad Voort, the richest and best-looking detective in the NYPD, is back in the fifth entry, of what is becoming one of the genre's most interesting and exciting...

Out of Africa.(PW Talks with Russell Banks)(Interview)
August 2, 2004... PW: It's been six years since Cloudsplitter--did you spend most of this time researching and writing The Darting[reviewed on p. 49]? Russell Banks: Yes and no--I started making notes six years ago, but I was working on assembling my short...

Scimitar SL-2.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... SCIMITAR SL-2 PATRICK ROBINSON. HarperCollins, $25.95 (432p) ISBN 0-06-008664-5 Ravi Rashood, the arch-villain of Robinson's 2003 adventure, Barracuda 945, returns for another round with Adm. Arnold Morgan, national security adviser for...

Ophelia's Fan.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... OPHELIA'S FAN CHRISTINE BALINT. Norton, $24.95 (352p) ISBN 0-397-05925-1 In her atmospheric second novel, Balint (The Salt Letters) fictionalizes the meteoric rise of Harriet Smithson, a real 19th-century actress who, like her parents, was...

Mr. Dynamite.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... MR. DYNAMITE MEREDITH BROWN IAN. Dalkey, Archive, $13.50 paper (175p) ISBN 1-56478-353-7 An unruly Irish ex-pat and aging punk rocker living in New York City squalor hopes to improve his pathetic existence upon word of an unexpected...

Shem Creek: a Lowcountry Tale.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... SHEM CREEK: A Lowcountry Tale DOROTHEA BENTON FRANK. Berkley, $22.95 (320p) ISBN 0-425-19608-9 Frank (Isle of Palms) delivers another novel rich in the charms of smalltown South Carolina, the fourth in her bestselling Lowcountry series....

The Wasp Eater.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE WASP EATER WILLIAM LYCHACK. Houghton Mifflin, $21 (176p) ISBN 0-618-30244-1 In this slight first novel, 10-year-old Daniel tries to reunite his parents after his father, Bob (a man with a "sweepstakes smile and sly charm"), is kicked...

Summer in the Land of Skin.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... SUMMER IN THE LAND OF SKIN JODY GEHRMAN. Red Dress Ink, $12.95 paper (320p) ISBN 0-373-25066-5 Gehrman's debut skillfully draws the reader into the mind of 25-year-old, emotionally stunted Anna Medina and the universe of damaged folks she...

Behind Closed Doors.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... BEHIND CLOSED DOORS SUSAN R. SLOAN. Warner, $25.95 (480p) ISBN 0-446-53029-8 The final retribution of a battered wife is a familiar trope, to which Sloan (Guilt by Association; Act of God) brings an eye for detail: in this bulky novel, she...

Hoax.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... HOAX ROBERT K. TANENBAUM. Atria, $25.95 (496p) ISBN 0-7434-5288-7 One sure way to engage reader sympathy in a crime novel is to involve the hero's family; in Roger "Butch" Karp's 15 earlier adventures (Resolved; Absolute Rage; etc.), the...

The Longest Night.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE LONGEST NIGHT GREGG KEIZER. Putnam, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 0-399-15170-2 When Mouse Weiss, a hit man for Jewish mafia boss Meyer Lansky in 1943 New York City, screws up a hit by leaving a witness alive, he is sent to war-torn Europe to...

Hunting Fear.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... HUNTING FEAR KAY HOOPER. Bantam, $25 (352p) ISBN 0553-80316-6 Hooper (Sense of Evil; Touching Evil; etc.) pits a team of psychic special agents against a diabolical serial killer in the first installment of her new Fear trilogy. Kidnapping...

Waterwise.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... WATERWISE JOEL ORFF. Alternative Comics, $14.95 paper (128p) ISBN 1-891867-82-2 The cartoonist behind Strum and Drang: Great Moments in Rock 'n' Roll, Orff favors moments that are ripe with possibility. His first book-length narrative is a...

Crayon Shinchan, Vol. 8.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... CRAYON SHINCHAN: Vol. 8 YOSHITO USUI. Comics One, $9.95 paper (120p) ISBN 1-58899-272-1 Known as the Bart Simpson of Japan, Crayon Shinchan is a five-year-old nightmare who delights in tormenting his parents and everyone around him with...

The Hedge Knight.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE HEDGE KNIGHT GEORGE R.R. MARTIN, MIKE S. MILLER AND MIKE CROWELL. Devil's Due, $14.95 paper (160p) ISBN 1-932796-06-1 This heroic fantasy tale reinvigorates the tired category of sword and sorcery fiction by emphasizing the human angle....

The Coffin Trail.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE COFFIN TRAIL MARTIN EDWARDS. Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (296p) ISBN 1-59058-129-6 In this well-crafted whodunit from veteran British crime writer Edwards (All the Lonely People), Daniel Kind, a popular historian best known for a TV series...

Chaucer and the House of Fame.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... CHAUCER AND THE HOUSE OF FAME PHILIPPA MORGAN. Carroll & Graf, $25 (320p) ISBN 0-7867-1466-2 * Geoffrey Chaucer of Canterbury Tales fame becomes the latest historical literary figure turned sleuth, in British author Morgan's outstanding...

Biceps of Death.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... BICEPS OF DEATH DAVID STUKAS. Kensington, $22 (240p) ISBN 0-7582-0630-5 Stukas's fourth campy cozy (after 2003's Wearing Black to the White Party) to feature prudish Robert Wilsop, promiscuous pal Michael Stark and their brainy, brawny...

Fall Guy: a Rachel Alexander Mystery.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... FALL GUY: A Rachel Alexander Mystery CAROL LEA BENJAMIN. Morrow, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 0-06-053899-6 In the seventh spare and elegant Rachel Alexander mystery from Shamus-winner Benjamin (This Dog for Hire, etc.), the Greenwich Village PI...

Monkology.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... MONKOLOGY GARY PHILLIPS. Dennis McMillan (www.dennismcmillan.com), $30 (336p) ISBN 0-939767-49-X Firmly rooted in the hard-boiled tradition, these 13 stories from Phillips (Bangers, etc.) showcase the cool exuberance of black Los Angeles...

Marque and Reprisal.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... MARQUE AND REPRISAL ELIZABETH MOON. Del Rey, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-345-44758-1 After her debut in Moon's somewhat lackluster Trading in Danger (2003), capable young Kylara Vatta, now captain of a dilapidated space freighter, lets loose in...

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR: Seventeenth Annual Collection EDITED BY ELLEN DATLOW, KELLY LINK AND GAVIN GRANT. St. Martin's Griffin, $35 (672p) ISBN 0-312-72927-X; $19.95 paper ISBN 0-312-32928-8 * The proliferation of specialty...

High Druid of Shannara: Tanequil.(Book Review)
August 2, 2004... HIGH DRUID OF SHANNARA: Tanequil TERRY BROOKS. Del Rey, $26.95 (368p) ISBN 0-345-43574-5 Make a wish on an Elfstone and anything can happen, including a fresh second installment (after 2003's Jarka Russ) in Brooks's best-selling High Druid...