Publishers Weekly articles from January 2003

Publishers Weekly archives from January 2003

Rebuilding of ancient Babylon provides insight into Saddam's vision for domination of Middle East: satellite imagery and the psyche of Saddam Hussein. (Advertisement).('The Rise of Babylon')(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Can satellite imagery of ancient Babylon provide insight into the psyche of Saddam Hussein? The answer, in a word, is yes. Examining satellite imagery of Hussein's construction at Babylon can help us better understand the thoughts, ambitions,...

The Rise of Babylon. (Advertisement).(update of book)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... This 2002 newly updated edition contains startling new satellite photos from Iraq. They reveal that, in the decade following the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein has maintained his momentum in restoring the lost city of Babylon to its ancient glory. In...

Investment group completes Houghton Mifflin purchase: company will stay intact, will look for acquisitions. (News).
January 6, 2003... VIVENDI'S TOPSY-TURVY sale of Houghton Mifflin to a consortium of American investment firms was finally completed December 30. The investment group, which is led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital and includes funds from the Blackstone...

Indies report good finish to holiday season. (Trends).(independent booksellers)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... CUSTOMERS CAME OUT in droves just before Christmas, helping the holiday season end on a strong note, said independent booksellers contacted by PW last week. Joseph-Beth's stores in Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky reported "a big finish,"...

Industry stocks fell 6% in 2002. (Market Conditions).(book publishing)(Industry Overview)
January 6, 2003... THE STOCK PRICES of 12 of the 21 companies on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index fell in the year, resulting in a 6.8% decline in the PWSI in 2002, a performance that was still better than the 16.8% decline posted by the Dow Jones Industrial...

Congressman will draft Patriot Act revision. (First Amendment).(Bernie Sanders )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... VERMONT CONGRESSMAN Bernie Sanders announced at a December 20 press conference that he will introduce legislation this month that will "eliminate provisions in the USA Patriot Act that undermine Americans constitutionally guaranteed right to...

Honoring Figman. (News).(anniversary celebration for Elliot Figman of Poets and Writers)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Caption: A large number of industry notables turned out December 4 to help celebrate Elliot Figman's 25th anniversary as executive director of Poets & Writers. From I. to. r.: Figman; Doubleday president Steve Rubin; novelist Susan Isaacs, P&W...

Drop in trade sales means loss at Millbrook. (1st-Quarter Results).(Millbrook Press)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... TOTAL REVENUE AT Millbrook Press dropped 38.5%, to $3.3 million, for the first quarter ended October 31, 2002, and the publisher reported a net loss of $476,000 compared to net income of $149,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2002. The company...

Politics for the New Year. (Hot Deals).(contracts for books about the Democrats and Bush family signed )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Two books that examine the current political situation, with a view to helping clear the electorate's mind for the 2004 elections, were signed in the closing days of 2002: one scrutinizing the plight of the Democrats, the other looking closely...

TV's Russert on fathers and sons. (Hot Deals).(journalist Tim Russert signs book contract with Miramax Books)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Tim Russert, popular host of TV's Meet the Press, has signed with Miramax Books, for a sum reportedly well into seven figures, to write and edit a book about the relationships between fathers and sons, based on his own experience with his...

A Bronte lives again. (Hot Deals).(rights to completed Charlotte Bronte novel, written by Clare Boylan, bought by Viking Penguin)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... A novel left incomplete by Charlotte Bronte at her untimely death has been picked up and completed by Irish novelist Clare Boylan, and Viking Penguin executive editor Pam Dorman won it in a best-bid auction just before the holiday. It's called...

Marrying Mozart. (Short Takes).(rights to book by Stephanie Cowell bought by Viking)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Another recent buy at Viking was editor-at-large Carole de Santi's purchase of a novel called Marrying Mozart by Stephanie Cowell. It shows the composer as a young man in a series of friendly and romantic relationships with' the four Weber...

New York Times ran a story about leptins. (Short Takes).(rights to book by Carol Colman bought by HarperCollins)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... On the very day the New York Times ran a story about leptins, the hormones that regulate appetite, medical author, Carol Colman was completing a book proposal about them with Dr. Ron Rosedale Agent Richard Curtis put it up for auction that very...

Post Adoption Blues. (Short Takes).(rights to book by Karen Foli sold to Rodale Press )(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Author Karen Foli, whose first book, about a previously undiagnosed hearing problem suffered by millions of children, was won at auction by Pocket Books two years ago, has hit on another new theme for her second. It's called Post Adoption Blues...

Scholastic adjusts for Potter-less fiscal 2003. (Strategy).(Scholastic Inc.)
January 6, 2003... THE COMBINATION OF a sluggish economy and the delay in publication of the fifth volume in the Harry Potter series until fiscal 2004 (News, Dec. 23) will result in flat earnings per share for Scholastic's fiscal year ending May 30, 2003, said...

ProQuest makes two niche deals. (Acquisitions).(bigchalk.com and Courier Corp.)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... PROQUEST COMPANY has made \ two niche acquisitions over the last several weeks. In early December, the company reached an agreement to take full control of bigchalk.com Inc. and last last month it acquired the custom-publishing assets from...

Investment group in deal for Henson Company stake. (News).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... An investment group led by former Viacom executive Dean Valentine has signed a letter of intent to acquire a 49.9% stake in the Jim Henson Company from the German conglomerate EM.TV and Merchandising. EM.TV acquired the owner of the Muppets in...

Ossuary hot topic at AAR/SBL meeting. (Religion Publishing).(American Academy of Religion, Society of Biblical Literature addresses discovery of burial box)
January 6, 2003... THE HOT TOPIC of this year's joint meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature was the recently discovered ossuary, the small limestone burial box that may be the earliest archeological evidence for the...

HarperEntertainment, now at Morrow, stresses synergy with Fox. (New Direction).
January 6, 2003... HARPERENTERTAINMENT, WHICH only a couple of years ago was offering a series of books created in cooperation with NASCAR and many titles linked to major league baseball, has a new look and direction under Morrow publisher Michael Morrison, who...

CYAT acquires Rovia. (E-Publishing).(CYA Technologies buys Rovia Inc.)
January 6, 2003... ROVIA INC., originally launched as a digital vendor specializing in online access to DRM-protected digital textbooks, has been acquired by CYA Technologies, a firm specializing in business continuity and content-management applications. The...

FAO to close 55 Zany Brainys. (Retailing).(FAO Schwartz)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... FAO INC., the parent company of FAO Schwarz, the Right Start and multimedia children's store Zany Brainy, has avoided bankruptcy for the time being and plans to close 70 stores, including 55 of its 169 Zany Brainy outlets, many of which were...

New press, degree program at Portland State. (University Publishing).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... THE CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE in Writing at Portland State University in Oregon has launched both a graduate degree program in book publishing and Ooligan Press, a general publishing and teaching imprint. The new publishing imprint and graduate...

The big five-o. (News).(Arielle Ford celebrates her birthday)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... Author agent and book publicis Arielle ford threw herself a 50th birthday party in San Diego in late December and all the local books starts turned out. Pictures (p-r) are Debbie ford Arielle's sister and author of The Dark Side of the Light...

Riverhead Books. (People).(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... RIVERHEAD BOOKS Sean McDonald, former editor and designer of the Web site and electronic newsletter at Doubleday/Nan A. Talese, was appointed senior editor and online creative director.

The Van Tulleken Company. (People).(appoints two)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... THE VAN TULLEKEN COMPANY Marian Helms Hewitt was appointed a partner in the m&a adviser's New York office. She was most recently v-p of business development at Prodigy and held senior corporate development positions at Simon & Schuster and...

Paulist Press. (People).(appoints three people)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... PAULIST PRESS Stephen Arkin has been named director of sales and marketing. He held the same title at Amacom as well as various positions at Houghton Mifflin, Little, Brown and Oxford.... Brian Galvin, formerly director of sales and marketing...

Scholastic Inc. (People).(appoints Reg Maton)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... SCHOLASTIC INC. Reg Maton has been named senior v-p, chief information officer, a position he had held at Symbol Technologies, Tiffany, Olympus America and Standard Microsystems. He also spent 12 years at CBS.

The Creative Culture Inc. (People).(appoints Nicole Diamond Austin)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... THE CREATIVE CULTURE INC. Nicole Diamond Austin, former associate editor at Simon & Schuster Trade Paperbacks, has been named an associate agent at the New York firm.

The Crown Publishing Group. (People).(promotions and appointments)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... THE CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP Brian Belfiglio has been promoted to director of publicity for Crown and Three Rivers Press, where he has worked on campaigns for such titles as The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love....Katherine Beitner has been...

Malloy Incorporated. (People).(Malloy Lithographing appoints Carol Bystrom)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... MALLOY INCORPORATED Carol Bystrom was appointed an East Coast sales representative for the Michigan book manufacturer.

Publishers Weekly. (People).(Brianna Yamashita promoted)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Brianna Yamashita has been promoted to associate editor, mass market forecasts.

Listen up awards 2002: in this year of literary blockbusters and political tell-alls, some audiobooks rise to the top. (Audio).
January 6, 2003... FICTION Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly, read by Jonathan Davis (Time Warner AudioBooks). Edgar Award winner Connelly (City of Bones) skillfully unfolds a story of obsessive curiosity and taut psychological suspense ideally suited to...

Darkside: A Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)
January 6, 2003... P.T. DEUTERMANN, READ BY DICK HILL. Brilliance, unabridged, 11 cassettes, 16 hrs., $34.95 ISBN 1-59086-110-8 Deutermann's latest -- a tense mystery set in and around the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis -- is sleek, sharp and scary. The...

Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper--Case Closed. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... PATRICIA CORNWELL, READ BY KATE BURTON. Putnam Berkley Audio, abridged, five CDs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-399-14960-0 "I knew the identity of a murderer and couldn't possibly avert my gaze," declares bestselling author and Virginia Institute...

The Christmas Train. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... DAVID BALDACCI, READ BY TIM MATHESON. Time Warner AudioBooks, unabridged, five cassettes, 7 hrs., $22.98 ISBN 1-58621-460-8 Former globe-trotting journalist Tom Langdon, 41, boards the Capitol Limited to kill many birds with one stone: he's...

Visions of Sugar Plums: A Stephanie Plum Holiday Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... STEPHANIE PLUM, READ BY LORELEI KING. Audio Renaissance, unabridged, three CDs, 3 hrs., $22 ISBN 1-55927-772-6 Fans of the Stephanie Plum series won't be disappointed with this wonderful adaptation of Evanovich's Christmas tale. Although...

July, July: A Novel. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... TIM O'BRIEN, READ BY JAY O. SANDERS. Houghton Mufflin Audio, unabridged, six cassettes, 9.5 hrs., $33 ISBN 0-618-25812-4 Like The Big Chill, National Book Award winner O'Brien's latest novel is about a group of college students from the...

No Way to Treat a First Lady. (Fiction).(Audiobook Review)
January 6, 2003... CHRISTOPHER BUCKLY, READY BY TIM MATHESON. Random House Audio, abridged, five ODs, 6 hrs., $29.95 ISBN 0-553-75673-7 Matheson brings all the skills one would expect of an experienced actor to Buckley's latest romp. In a story that's...

A Child's Christmas in Wales: And Five Poems. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... DYLAN THOMAS, READ BY THE AUTHOR. Caedmon, unabridged, one CD, 1 hr., $14.95 ISBN 0-06-051467-1 "December, in my memory, is as white as Lapland," Thomas recalls, reading a line from "A Child's Christmas in Wales." For the poet,...

Leadership. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Review)
January 6, 2003... RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI, READ BY TONY ROBERTS, INTRO. READ BY THE AUTHOR. Hyperion Audiobooks, abridged, four cassettes, 6 hrs., $25.98 ISBN 0-7868-7069-9 New York's celebrated former mayor explains how he used specific management...

The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession. (Nonfiction).(Audiobook Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... SUSAN ORLEAN, READ BY JENNIFER JAY MYERS. Random House Audible, unabridged, eight CDs, 9hrs., $39. 95 ISBN 0-553-75656-7 For listeners seeking to learn something new, Orlean offers a whimsical look at the sexy, mysterious world of orchids....

Audio Bestsellers.(Illustration)
January 6, 2003... Audio Bestsellers Fiction Nonfiction 1. Four Blind Mice (unabr.). James 1. Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Patterson. Read by Peter J. Ripper Case Closed (unabr.). Fernandez and Michael...

Mission Possible: expand the market; with unit sales slipping, industry members try new ways to find new readers--and book buyers. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).(Industry Overview)
January 6, 2003... FOR NEARLY as long as the modern book has been around, pessimists have been predicting its demise. And yet, through the decades, the pessimists have been proven wrong. Old book formats wane but new ones rise up; popular genres fade but others...

It starts with literacy: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library helps build the reading habit among kids and parents. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).
January 6, 2003... IF THE BOOK-BUYING market is to grow, the first step is to create more readers by ensuring that all Americans can read. While the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, which, through the Reading First provision, will provide nearly $1...

Have joystick, will read? new readers, the DVD and Xbox way. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).
January 6, 2003... A DISCUSSION ABOUT REELING in new readers inevitably starts with a lament: there's a lot more Competition for a consumer's time these days than ever before. Younger people in particular have a range of recreational temptations besides books,...

Audio seeks new listeners: publishers strengthen the signal to customers. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).
January 6, 2003... FOR AUDIO publishers, snagging new listeners is still very much about creating an awareness of the audio-book medium -- among both retailers and consumers. In 2002, audio publishers found a number of ways to get consumers to prick up their...

'We have to try and reach readers directly': a New York publisher and a small press maven both suggest that innovative outreach is the key to finding new customers. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).
January 6, 2003... JUDITH CURR, who runs the Atria and Washington Square Press imprints at Simon & Schuster, comes to the American marketplace from Australia, where, she says, "We had to go out and find our readers." And that's an approach she's brought with her,...

Hooking them young: a variety of promotions and initiatives to expand the market for children's books. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).
January 6, 2003... IN THE WORLD of children's books, publishers are always looking to expand readership. National programs such as First Book, Reach Out and Read, Reading Is Fundamental, Prescription for Reading and others are making great strides in not only...

Retailers reach out: booksellers spread the word about reading--and bookstores. (Outlook 2003: The Hunt for New Readers).(Industry Overview)
January 6, 2003... THERE ARE MANY retailers that aren't primarily bookstores but sell books that reach a good amount of people who don't shop in bookstores or even buy many books. Sometimes those customers feel intimidated by bookstores, or don't have bookstores...

Drop City. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... T.C. BOYLE. Viking, $25.95 (444p) ISBN 0-670-03172-0 * Boyle has a wonderful eye for the comedy of imposture when the self- deceived themselves practice deception. His ninth novel, which centers on the travails of a hippie commune, Drop...

Somersault. (Fiction).(Book Review)
January 6, 2003... KENZABURO OE, TRANS. FROM THE JAPANESE BY PHILIP GABRIEL. Grove, $29.95 (576p) ISBN 0-8021-1738-4 Nobelist Ge's giant new novel is inspired by the Aum Shinrikyo cult, which released sarin gas in Tokyo's subway system in 1995. Ten years...

The Clarinet Polka. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... KEITH MAILLARD. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 0-312-30889-2 * Maillard (Gloria) turns the spotlight on the Polish-American community in fictional Raysburg, W.Va., a steel town modeled after his native Wheeling and the setting for...

The Battle of Milroy Station. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... ROBERT H. FOWLER. Forge, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 0-765-30659-X Civil War buffs will try in vain to find this battle in their encyclopedias, but they will discover the novel to be a graphically honest and poignant account of both the terrible...

The Fifth Angel. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... TIM GREEN. Warner, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 0-446-53085-9 Like Green's previous thriller, The Fourth Perimeter, this book opens with an engaging premise that becomes less credible as the novel unfolds. Jack Ruskin, a senior partner in a prominent...

The Lost Army of Cambyses. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... PAUL SUSSMAN. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 (384p) ISBN 0-312-30153-7 Sussman's accomplished first thriller mixes an ancient legend of an invading Persian army swallowed up by a sandstorm in the Egyptian desert with the explosive politics of...

The Commissariat of Enlightenment. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... KEN KALFUS. Ecco, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 0-06-050136-7 * Kalfus's two well-received short story collections (Thirst and Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies) set a high standard for his first novel, a sweeping, quasihistorical fiction spanning...

Loving Donovan. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... BERNICE L. McFADDEN, Dutton, $23.95 (256p) ISBN O-525-94706-X This bittersweet fourth novel by McFadden (Sugar) traces the lives of two damaged but resolute people destined for an ill-fated love affair. The reader meets protagonist Campbell...

Dorian: An Imitation. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... WILL SELF. Grove, $23 (288p) ISBN 0-8021-1729-5 In this retelling of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, most of the original's characters are cleverly transmuted into their late-20th-century counterparts: dissolute Henry Wotton, now...

City of Masks. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... DANIEL HECHT. Bloomsbury, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 1-58234-341-1 Hecht (Skull Session; The Babel Effect; etc.) introduces empathic investigator ("ghost buster" to the layman) Cree Black in a haunted house tale set--where else?--in a storied New...

Jennifer Government. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... MAX BARRY. Doubleday, $21.95 (336p) ISBN 0-385-50759-3 Free enterprise runs amok in Barry's satirical near-future nightmare: the American government has been privatized and now runs most of the world, including "the Australian Territories...

In His Image: Book One of the Christ Clone Trilogy. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... JAMES BEAUSEIGNEUR. Warner, $18.95 (418p) ISBN 0-446-53125-1 BeauSeigneur awkwardly mixes religion, geopolitics and preposterous plot twists in this apocalyptic debut thriller, the first volume in his planned Christ Clone trilogy. Dreaming...

A Treasure Deep. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... ALTON GANSKY. Promise Press/Barbour, $11.95 paper (352p) ISBN 1-58660-673-5 In this suspense novel for the CBA market, the author of Dark Moon spins a tale of genetics, biblical archeology and avarice. When engineer Perry Sachs attempts to...

47th Street Black. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... BAYO OJIKUTU. Three Rivers, $12.95 paper (432p ISBN 0-609-80847-8 Chicago's virulent South Side is home to a pair of troubled young black men in the '6os who quit school and join the mob in Ojikutu's gritty, robust debut. Though he is an...

Seraglio. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... JANET WALLACH. Doubleday/Talese, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-385-49046-1 A real-life 18th-century kidnapping is reimagined by biographer Wallach (Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell) in this richly detailed first novel....

Water of an Undetermined Depth. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... RICHARD CHAPPONE. Stackpole, $19.95 (l44p) ISBN 0-8117-0033-X Blue-collar men and women navigate the great outdoors and the tighter confines of personal relationships in this debut collection of 14 well-crafted stories. In "The Chubs," a...

Path of the Assassin. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... BRAD THOR. Atria, $25 (384p) ISBN 0-7434-3675-X If Thor's second international thriller had any more testosterone, it would grow hair. This follow-up to The Lions of Lucerne is loaded with explosions, gunfights, car chases and hairbreadth...

Country of Cold: Stories of Sex and Death. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... KEVIN PATTERSON. Doubleday/Talese, $23.95 (276p) ISBN 0-385-50627-9 This debut collection of i3 linked stories from the acclaimed author of the travel memoir The Water in Between tracks eccentric and genuinely torn-tip characters through...

When the Messenger is Hot. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... ELIZABETH CRANE Little, Brown, $21.95 (224p) ISBN 0-316-09652-0 Crane creates a spirited cast of loopy, neurotic and self-absorbed women, then puts them through their paces in this debut collection of 16 inventive but frequently...

Baby Momma Drama. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... CARL WEBER. Kensington/Dafina, $24 (320p) ISBN 1-57566-908-0 Weber gets down and dirty with a couple of bed-hopping African-American couples in his latest, a raunchy, over-the-top romantic romp that reads like a cross between a soap opera...

Snow. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... MAXENCE FERMINE, TRANS. FROM THE FRENCH BY CHRIS MULHERN. Atria, $15 (112p) ISBN 0-7434-5684-X Fermine meditates on poetry, love and art in this elegant love story-cum-parable set in Japan in the late 19th century. Delicate, sensitive Yuko...

Along Came Mary. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... JO-ANN MAPSON. Simon d Schuster, $24 (352p) ISBN 0-7432-2461-2 This follow-up to Mapson's popular Bad Girl Creek introduces a new face to the spirited gang of hard-luck women running a California flower farm. Mary Madigan ("Maddy")...

Face to Face. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... LINDA DORRELL. Baker, $11.99 paper (224p) ISBN 0-8010-6425-2 When parents fail their children, sometimes they can repair the damages--and sometimes reparation comes too late or in unexpected ways, suggests Darrell in her inspirational...

In Love And War. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... DENENE MILLNER AND NICK CHILES. Dutton, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 0-525-94709-4 The husband and wife authors of Love Don't Live Here Anymore team up for another look at contemporary African-American relationships. Busy, uncompromising Zaria...

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... MICHAEL LEDWIDGE. Atria, $23 (320p) ISBN 0-7434-4285-7 Fast-paced but ultimately unconvincing, this third novel by the author of The Narrow-back and Bad Connection begins with the dramatic (but none too credible) downfall of New York City...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Original Music of the Hebrew Alphabet and Weekend in Mustara. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... CURT LEVIANT. Univ. of Wisconsin, $21.95 (156p) ISBN 0-299-17950-8 The Jewish mystical tradition comes to the fore in these two novellas, which chronicle scholarly quests into the dusty vaults of history and memory. In "Ladies and...

The Few Things I Know About Glafkos Thrassakis. (Fiction).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... VASSILIS VASSILIKOS, TRANS. FROM THE GREEK BY KAREN EMMERICH. Seven Stories, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 1-58322-527-7 The travails of a literary biographer are the subject of this playful, dense patchwork of a novel by the esteemed and prolific...

A Fench Country Murder. (Mystery).(Book Review)
January 6, 2003... PETER STEINER. St. Martin's Minotaur/Dunne, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 0-312-30687-3 Le Carre and Deighton fans will welcome New Yorker cartoonist Steiner's engaging, if enigmatic, first novel, which uses the traditional trappings of the thriller...

Death of a Village: a Hamish Macbeth Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... M.C. BEATON. Mysterious, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 0-89296-677-7 Scottish policeman Hamish Macbeth tries to avoid a dreaded promotion while solving assorted crimes and crossing swords with pretty reporter Elspeth Grant in his episodic 18th outing...

The Barbed-Wire Kiss. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... WALLACE STROBY. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-312-30034-4 Stroby's dazzling debut stars the Grieving Ex-Cop, acids the Old Girl Friend Now Married to a Mobster, stirs in A Little Favor to Help Out a Best Friend--and still...

Death and the Jubilee. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... DAVID DICKINSON. Carroll & Craf, $24 (352p) ISBN 0-7867-1110-8 Less a whodunit like its predecessor, Goodnight Sweet Prince (2002), than a tale of intrigue and action, Dickinson's second Lord Francis Powerscourt mystery centers on efforts...

Seven Dials. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... ANNE PERRY. Ballantine, $25.95 (352p) ISBN 0-345-44007-2 In her 23rd Victorian mystery featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt (after 2002'S Southampton Row), Perry uses a pending economic crisis to good effect. Now firmly ensconced in his job...

She's Not There: A Poppy Rice Mystery. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... MARY-ANN TIRONE SMITH. Holt, $25 (336p) ISBN 0-8050-7223-3 FBI agent Poppy and her ATF field adviser boyfriend, Joe Barnow, encounter murder where they least expect it--on tranquil Block Island, where they've come for a much-deserved and...

My Sherlock Holmes: Untold Stories of the Great Detective. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... EDITED BY MICHAEL KURLAND. St. Martin's Minotaur, $24.95 (368p) ISBN 0-312-28093-9 Edgar finalist Kurland (The Great Game) offers an anthology of 13 new, mostly top-drawer Sherlock Holmes stories, all featuring viewpoints other than Dr....

The Stingray Shuffle. (Mystery).(Book Review)(Brief Article)
January 6, 2003... TIM DORSEY. Morrow, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-06-052045-0 In the frenetic tradition of the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), train buff and maniacal killer Serge A. Storms and his druggie pal, Lenny, chase a briefcase containing $5...