Publishers Weekly articles from May 2005

Publishers Weekly archives from May 2005

Rodale book unit grows up: another year of gains, names and pains.(Foreword)
May 2, 2005... A second year of double-digit sales growth and some high-profile author acquisitions in 2004 are indicative of how Rodale's book program has matured, said company president Steve Murphy. Revenue in the privately held publisher's book group rose...

BEA by the numbers.(Foreword)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... 104: Number of previous BEAs (and ABAs) 103: Consecutive appearances at BEAs (and ABAs) by Dr. Ruth 1,200: Number of people attending Rudy Giuliani's opening-night speech at BEA in N.Y.C., 2002 3,500: Number of people attending...

Scholastic buys Chicken.
May 2, 2005... Scholastic has acquired the U.K.--based Chicken House Publishing, whose best-known author, Cornelia Funke, has sold 2.6 million copies in the U.S., via Scholastic. Barry Cunningham, founder of Chicken House, will remain publisher.

Facts on file acquired.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The reference book and online publisher Facts on File has been acquired by the investment banking firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson. VSS plans to use FoF as a platform to acquire other companies in related areas.

Big Earth buy.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Big Earth Publishing has acquired the Boulder, Colo., publisher Johnson Books. Big Earth was formed last fall by an investor group led by David Oskin to build a trade house focusing on the outdoors, sports, adventure, travel and regional...

Amazon up; Potter, too.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Sales in Amazon.com's North American media group rose 17% in the first quarter, to $699 million, a slightly faster growth rate than in last year's first period. The e-tailer didn't break out how well books performed, but it did report that it...

Midpoint tries new model.(Progress)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Eric Kampmann, president of the distribution firm Midpoint Trade Books, has created what he describes as a joint-venture publishing operation that will cost an author more than publishing with an online vanity house, but will be less expensive...

What are you reading?(Foreword)(Interview)
May 2, 2005... Thaddeus Quintin, 25 Systems Administrator Chagrin Falls, Ohio * What are you reading on vacation? Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre by H.P. Lovecraft (Del Rey) * Where did you get it? Borders, $13.95 ...

Solid start for McGraw-Hill.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Revenue in the first quarter at the McGraw-Hill education group rose 7.3%, to $307.3 million. Higher expenses led to a 14% increase in the operating loss, to $78.8 million. As expected, the school group had a strong quarter, with sales up...

Gooseberry heads to trade.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Gooseberry Patch, which has sold more than six million cookbooks via catalogues and gift stores, will now be distributed to bookstores through Andrews McMeel Distribution Services.

Jobs title moved up.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Wiley has moved up the pub date for iCon Steve Jobs, from early June to May 13, and doubled its first printing. The actions follow a wave of publicity for the title after Apple pulled all Wiley titles from its stores, expressing its displeasure...

Hollywood knows ready-made feel-good comedy when it sees one.(Hollywood Reader)(Movie Review)
May 2, 2005... Hollywood knows ready-made feel-good comedy when it sees one. Spending nine weeks in a crowded cabin with 10 teenage boys and no bathroom would strike few grown men as the perfect way to spend a summer (although a certain embattled '80s pop...

J. Lo may be no mo' (she's back to plain old Jennifer Lopez), but don't tell that to a certain fugitive alien.(Hollywood Reader)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... J. Lo may be no mo' (she's back to plain old Jennifer Lopez), but don't tell that to a certain fugitive alien. The improbably named intergalactic sidekick (see below) makes his debut in The True Meaning of Smekday, a middle-grade novel from...

The amazing true account of a Cuban-born, Russian-trained ex-Red Army lieutenant turned criminal, Storming Las Vegas (forthcoming from Villard) by John Huddy, will be handled by CAA's Martin Spencer.(Hollywood Reader)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The amazing true account of a Cuban-born, Russian-trained ex-Red Army lieutenant turned criminal, Storming Las Vegas (forthcoming from Villard) by John Huddy, will be handled by CAA's Martin Spencer. Starting in 1998, Jose Vigoa and his crew...

Calendar: May 9-14, 2005.(Foreword)(Calendar)
May 2, 2005... 5/9 Mike Wallace, who has been on 60 Minutes since its 1968 premiere, celebrates his 87th birthday. His memoir, Between You and Me (Hyperion), will be released October 7. 5/10 Landing in stores: Elmore Leonard's 40th novel, The...

New deal for Doctorow.(Deals)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Novelist E.L. Doctorow, a Random stalwart for nearly 35 years, with a new novel, The March, about the Civil War, coming out in the fall, has just signed a new two-book deal with Kate Medina. It calls for, first, a book of essays for fall 2006...

Ordering up 'Monk Boy'.(Deals)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... It's not often these days that a publisher gets to order up a book, but that's what Martha Levin at Free Press just did. She was so intrigued by a recent Wall Street Journal story about an American boy abandoned at a Tibetan monastery 40 years...

Bridget Jones at 60.(Deals)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... That's how they're pitching a book just bought from Britain by Clare Ferraro for Viking. It's called No, I Don't Want to Join a Book Club: Diary of a Sixtieth Year, and the author is Virginia Ironside, a columnist for the Independent newspaper...

Lid off casino scandal.(Deals)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The scandal roiling Washington over lobbying activities on behalf of Indian tribes seeking casino deals is to become a book, written by the reporter who began uncovering it, Peter H. Stone of National Journal. His untitled opus, planned for...

You can't keep a good murder case down, and those Peterson offshoots keep springing up.(Short Takes)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... You can't keep a good murder case down, and those Peterson offshoots keep springing up. Latest is one from Laci's mom, Sharon Rocha, offering For Laci, taken by Crown publisher Jenny Frost, who signed with Dan Strone at Trident; publication,...

Jennifer Enderlin at SMP signed a new novel by David Blaine, whose The Preservationist won accolades last year, even before his second book, Fallen, is out.(Short Takes)
May 2, 2005... Jennifer Enderlin at SMP signed a new novel by David Blaine, whose The Preservationist won accolades last year, even before his second book, Fallen, is out. In the new one, The Book of Samson, the Jewish hero tells his story. Agent was Scott...

Blogging is taking over, and the latest in thrall is the business world.(Short Takes)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Blogging is taking over, and the latest in thrall is the business world. David Kline, a Silicon Valley expert, has penned The Human Element: Blogs and the Transformation of Business, won at auction by John Mahaney for Crown Business. He bought...

HC wins Reagan diaries.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... HarperCollins won world rights to former president Ronald Reagan's diaries in a deal negotiated last week between HC CEO Jane Friedman and attorney Bob Barnett. HC plans to publish the book, which includes Reagan's observations for all eight...

'Prince' goes to listening.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Listening Library, which has published the audio editions of all previous Harry Potter titles, has landed North American audio rights to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Random House imprint will release the unabridged audio...

Mixed results at Meredith.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Sales fell slightly in Meredith Books' third quarter, though lower returns gave a boost to profits. The company is excited about prospects for the current quarter, when books related to the films Batman Begins, Fantastic Four and Madagascar are...

Crime pays for 2005 Edgar winners.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The Mystery Writers of America held their 59th annual Edgar Awards banquet in New York last week to honor the best in crime and mystery writing. Winners include T. Jefferson Parker's California Girl (Morrow), best novel; Don Lee's Country...

How to raise $1 million.(Capital Idea)
May 2, 2005... San Francisco-based independent publisher Berrett-Koehler Group is looking to raise $1 million by getting its customers and other people associated with the business to invest in the company through a Direct Public Offering. "It's been...

Abrams to pub 'Mom's Cancer'.(Nonfiction Comics)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Knopf isn't the only New York house interested in serious nonfiction comics. Following the announcement of Knopf's plans to publish Marisa Acocella Marchetto's comics memoir of her own bout with cancer (News, Apr. 25), Harry N. Abrams has...

Bird watching on Amazon.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Two years ago, Cornell ornithologist Tim Gallagher sold Houghton The Grail Bird, a look at the obsession with the ivory-billed woodpecker. Then, astonishingly, he helped find the bird. The book's release this spring was timed with the...

Bound to be read closing.(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Hubbard Broadcasting Corp. is ending its run in the bookstore business. The company said last week that it will close both branches of Bound to Be Read. The St. Paul, Minn., store will close by the end of July and the outlet in...

New Graphic novels debut at APE 2005.(Small Press Publishing)
May 2, 2005... The biggest crowds at this year's Alternative Press Expo were for Image's Flight, Volume Two, a second full-color anthology of cartoonists assembled by editor Kazu Kibuishi, many of whom have published more work online than on paper. Kibuishi...

The whole story.
May 2, 2005... For the fuller text of items featured in "Briefs," see this week's PW Dailies, available at www. publishersweekly.com

Corrections.(Foreword)(Correction Notice)
May 2, 2005... A miscommunication with PEN caused us to misidentify the distinguished gentleman dining with librarian Joan Airoldi at the organization's annual gala (News, Apr. 25). It was Public Affairs president Peter Osnos, not author A.E. Hotchner. ...

Amazing.com.(Foreword)
May 2, 2005... What can you say about a company that, despite all predictions, didn't die? A company that opened its virtual doors to the public 10 years ago this July, enjoyed a rollicking late-'90s stock ride, was proclaimed near death soon thereafter and,...

Medina steps up at Random House.(People)
May 2, 2005... Kate Medina, executive v-p and executive editor of the Random House imprints, has been promoted to executive editorial director.

Harper hires and promotes.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Ellen Stamper, previously publisher of Paint Chip Productions, has joined the HarperFestival group as editorial director. She has also worked for Scholastic, Putnam and Nickelodeon Books.... David Roth-Ey, formerly editorial director of Harper...

New agent at ZSH Agency.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Jennifer Gates, who joined Zachary Shuster Harmsworth as a literary agent in 1997, has been promoted to partner.

H-M promotes publicist.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Whitney Peeling, formerly a publicist, has been promoted to assistant director of publicity.

Orders pop for 3-D jacket.(Avon Calling)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Thanks to 3-D jacket art with more depth and clarity than a hologram, orders for Avon's mass market edition of James Rollins's science-based thriller, Sandstorm (May), are up by 170,000 copies over his last paperback. The $7.99 reprint will be...

Publicists looking & leaping.(Foreword)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Publicists Looking & Leaping Jane Friedman did it. So did Gina Centrello. Publicity directors have long been trading up for prominent executive positions. But how about going from publicity to an acquiring role? Suzanne Herz's jump this...

New editor at Time Warner.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Maja Thomas, currently v-p, publisher of Time Warner Audio Books, will also act as an editor-at-large in the Time Warner Book Group, with a focus on acquiring books with a West Coast focus.

Huisman moves to Sheedy Agency.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Violaine Huisman, formerly sub rights director at Seven Stories Press, has been named foreign rights director at the Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency. Huisman also started the VO Literary Agency and represents French publishers as well as...

Digital hire at Rodale.(People)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Michael Silberman, previously deputy editor at MSNBC.com, has been named v-p, editorial director of Rodale Interactive.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
May 2, 2005... "In the middle of my marriage when I was... one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a Benedictine monk." --FROM THE NEW BOOK BY THE AUTHOR OF THE PHENOM The Secret Life of Bees Del...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
May 2, 2005... FSG just went back to press for 30,000 more of Friedman's latest (total in print: 366,000) but with a different cover. Apparently, the creator of the original image (r.) claims that the publisher's use is unauthorized. FSG execs say they...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
May 2, 2005... Can't keep Brown down-his three mass market backlist titles are climbing the list again, with Angels & Demons taking the lead 42 times in 105 weeks. PW had this to say back in 2000: "Brown's tale is laced with twists and shocks that keep the...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
May 2, 2005... The trade paper edition of South Beach went out with a 450,O00-copy printing; add those to the mass market copies and there are.... 1,875,000 paperbacks in print. Workman's Bad Cat by Jim Edgar could be renamed "Fat Cat," with 491,000...

Hard truths.(Lessons in Crime)(Journalist Mike Finkel, facing fraud charges is impersonated by a murder suspect)
May 2, 2005... David Hirshey was sitting in his office one morning last month, looking a little nervous. The HarperCollins executive editor had Mike Finkel's True Story face-out on his crowded shelf--a placement he reserves for special triumphs--and was...

Lights to Nights.(Author Profile)
May 2, 2005... Quietly, Buzz Bissinger is a lightning rod for controversy. In Friday Night Lights he examined life in the small Texas town of Odessa and its relationship to high school football. Along the way he investigated Odessa's archaic racial...

Booked in Manhattan.
May 2, 2005... Every BookExpo America promises to be the biggest yet, but this year it may actually be true. BEA attendance usually soars dramatically whenever the convention is held in New York, as international exhibitors take advantage of the proximity,...

Welcome to the Wild, Wild West Side: tough town good food, great stories. Get out and walk around.(Kelly's New York)
May 2, 2005... The book business is in essence, the storytelling business. So I think it is fitting that BookExpo holds its convention at the Javits Center, which is a helluva New York story. That boxy black glass building on the Hudson was conceived as the...

New Yorkers on doing New York: New Yorkers have an opinion on everything. In the hopes of finding some favorite spots and unknown treasures that most tourists miss, we asked some authors, editors and publishing professions for their favorite "don't miss while in New York.".(Manhattan's Hidden Pleasure)
May 2, 2005... 1. "Okay, so my wife works for this company. But I swear, I'd recommend it even if I didn't happen to share an apartment and shampoo bottles with-her, Watson Adventures puts on highbrow, intellectually challenging scavenger hunts around New...

Best books of BEA.(Galleys to Grab)
May 2, 2005... Those browsing for giveaways will find that many big names are back. What's more, the lineup leaves some room for newcomers in our annual guide to BEA's galley highlights. This could be another E.L. Doctorow moment. Historical fiction...

Hot kids' books at BEA: get those totebags ready, booksellers. Here are some of the galleys that are most likely to elicit excitement at the show.(Children's Galleys to Grab)
May 2, 2005... Four companion novels to previous bestsellers are: * Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, the sequel to Inkheart (Scholastic/Chicken House, booth 302) * Eldest by Christopher Paolini, the followup to the blockbuster Eragon (Knopf, 4139) *...

Steve Bercu, BookPeople.(Bookseller of the Year)
May 2, 2005... Steve Bercu is big on bold ideas and incisive action. Just ask Borders, which withdrew a planned store in the face of a Bercu-mounted assault. Right now, he is irritated. "Why didn't we realize it before?" he asks himself aloud as he gives a...

Charlie Boswell, Heinecken & Assoc.(Rep of the Year)
May 2, 2005... To Charlie Boswell, PW's Rep of the Year, success on the job can be measured in love, not dollars. After all, being very good at what he does got him the girl. In 1988, Boswell was named Workman Publishing's top sales rep, an honor that...

BEA's convention & education schedule.(Calendar)
May 2, 2005... Last year, the BEA dropped attendance fees to educational sessions. This year there are more than 60 BEA-sponsored educational sessions that are offered free to all convention attendees (exhibitors and publishers may attend as many sessions as...

PW's guide to BEA exhibitors.(A-L)(Directory)
May 2, 2005... This comprehensive listing of BookExpo America's exhibitors is designed to help booksellers and attendees navigate the sprawling trade show floor containing more than 2,000 exhibitors. Because the BEA is an excellent opportunity to meet with...

PW's guide to BEA exhibitors.(M-Z)(Directory)
May 2, 2005... M MacAdam/Cage Publishing Featured: The Jungle Law by Victoria Vinton; Point of Fracture by Frank Turner Hollon; Origin of Haloes by Kristen den Hartog; Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger. Giveaways: galleys. Discounts: free freight....

Sit down for your rights.(Directory)
May 2, 2005... Every year, the International Rights Center attracts publishers, agents, scouts, screen agents, producers and other rights professionals. With more than 2,000 publishing exhibitors attending BookExpo America, it's an excellent opportunity...

Adored.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... * Adored TILLY BAGSHAWE. Warner, $23.95 (560p) ISBN 0-446-57688-3 Glamour, fashion, gossip, scheming--they're all here in a page-turning debut starring Siena McMahon, feisty granddaughter of Hollywood movie legend Duke McMahon. In the...

Homesick Creek.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Homesick Creek DIANE HAMMOND. Doubleday, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 0-385-50944-8 Ts marriage a test of how little one can live with--or how much one can give? Hammond tackles this thorny question in her second book about Hubbard, Ore., where the...

Being Mrs. Alcott.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Being Mrs. Alcott NANCY GEARY. Warner, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 0-446-53220-7 Not the story of the famous Little Women author's mother, Geary's fourth novel (after Regrets Only) is the piteous tale of a long-married patrician who remains true to...

Two Trains Running.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Two Trains Running ANDREW VACHSS. Pantheon, $25 (464p) ISBN 1-4000-4381-6 Vachss's latest, set in 1959, leaves recurring character Burke behind to explore the teeming, clannish, race-driven underside of American politics. The Southern town...

PW talks with Neil Olson: agent litterateur.(Q&A)(Interview)
May 2, 2005... Neil Olson is president and senior partner of the Donadio & Olson Literary Agency, as well as the author of The Icon (Reviews, Mar. 21). What was the genesis of your novel? My grandfather was a guerrilla fighter against the Turks...

Songs on Bronze.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Songs on Bronze NIGEL SPIVEY. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $24 (256p) ISBN 0-374-26663-8 Psychological realism infuses Greek myths as reimagined by Cambridge classicist Spivey. Thus Herakles sounds as if he were confessing to a therapist when...

Love Creeps.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Love Creeps AMANDA FILIPACCHI. St. Martin's, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 0-312-34032-X Elegant and accomplished but inexplicably passionless, New York contemporary art gallery owner Lynn Gallagher pursues a counterintuitive cure for her ennui in...

Whatever Makes You Happy.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Whatever Makes You Happy LISA GRUNWALD. Random, $23.95 (256p) ISBN 1-4000-6299-3 Sally Farber has everything a 40-year-old New Yorker could want: a loving doctor husband; two healthy, adorable daughters; great friends; and a charming book...

Miracle.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Miracle DANIELLE STEEL. Delacorte, $20 (208p) ISBN 0-385-33633-0 Miraculous? Indeed. Miraculous that Steel ekes 200 pages of book out of 50 pages of recycled plot. Quinn Thompson, a 61-year-old recent widower, has just bought the boat of...

What Casanova Told Me.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... What Casanova Told Me SUSAN SWAN. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 1-58234-453-1 The mystery of Casanova's last great love lies at the center of Swan's alluring novel (after The Wives of Bath). In the present, Luce Adams, a young archivist,...

The Season of Open Water.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... The Season of Open Water DAWN CLIFTON TRIPP. Random, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 1-4000-6187-3 Set in a coastal New England town caught up in the Prohibition-era rum-running trade, Tripp's second novel (after Moon Tide) illuminates the period's...

The Interview Room.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... * The Interview Room RODERICK ANSCOMBE. St. Martin's, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-312-32399-9 Anscombe (Shank) returns with a riveting, mental obstacle course of a novel. Paul Lucas, a brilliant forensic psychiatrist struggling to move on after...

Sun and Shadow: An Erik Winter Novel.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Sun and Shadow: An Erik Winter Novel AKE EDWARDSON, TRANS. FROM THE SWEDISH BY LAURIE THOMPSON. Viking, $23.95 (392p) ISBN 0-670-03415-0 Cars from Sweden are known for being dependable and safe, but like this American debut from a...

The Practice of Deceit.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... The Practice of Deceit ELIZABETH BENEDICT. Houghton Mifflin, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 0-618-56371-7 Eric Lavender, a 40-something Manhattan therapist, transforms from hard-core bachelor to blissed-out family man then alleged felon in Benedict's...

Yellow.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Yellow JANNI VISMAN. Viking, $22.95 (196p) ISBN 0-670-03402-9 Claustrophobia, sexual obsession and paranoia are the linchpins of Visman's atmospheric U.S. debut (after Sex Education, published in the U.K.). Neurotic narrator Stella never...

Fade.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... * Fade KYLE MILLS. St. Martin's, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 0-312-33577-6 Since 9/11, even the best thriller writers have been constricted by stock heroes (mostly ex-military white Americans) and villains (mostly Arab terrorists) who make it hard...

Killer Summer.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Killer Summer LYNDA CURNYN. Red Dress Ink, $12.95 paper (336p) ISBN 0-373-89522-4 Curnyn (Bombshell, etc.) cranks up the heat with a seaside murder and some sexy sleuthing in this lively caper. On New York's Fire Island, three 30-something...

Lie by Moonlight.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Lie by Moonlight AMANDA QUICK. Putnam, $24.95 (400p) ISBN 0-399-15288-1 Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) gives her fans what they want in her latest historical romance, set in a movieland Victorian England. Concordia Glade, a teacher with past...

When Love Calls, You Better Answer.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... When Love Calls, You Better Answer BERTICE BARRY. Broadway, $19.95 (177p) ISBN 0-385-51083-7 Motivational speaker Berry (Redemption Song) packs a lot into a folksy, feel-good little novel narrated by a meddling ghost. Poor benighted...

Cover the Butter.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Cover the Butter CARRIE KABAK. DUTTON, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 0-525-94876-7 Kabak's debut, set in Wales, covers familiar familial territory. When 40-something Kate Cadogan arrives home to find her house trashed by her teenage son, Charlie, she...

Club Sandwich.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Club Sandwich LISA SAMSON. WaterBrook, $13.99 paper (352p) ISBN 1-57856-885-4 Christy Award-winner Samson has a penchant for dysfunctional characters and chaotic situations, and her latest novel is chock-full of both. Ivy Schneider is a...

Island of Saints: A Story of the One Principle That Frees the Human Spirit.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Island of the Saints: A Story of the One Principle That Frees the Human Spirit ANDY ANDREWS. Nelson, $19.99 (224p) ISBN 0-7852-6140-0 Bestseller Andrews provides another round of light historical fiction, with themes similar to his last...

Fullmetal Alchemist: vol. 1.(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Fullmetal Alchemist: Vol. 1 HIROMU ARAKAWA. Viz, $9.99 paper (186p) ISBN 1-59116-920-8 This manga inspired the popular series now airing on the Cartoon Network and captures the show's brand of mystical, action-packed adventure. Set in a...

Muzzlers, Guzzlers and Good Yeggs.(Book Review)
May 2, 2005... Muzzlers, Guzzlers and Good Yeggs JOE COLEMAN. Fantagraphics, $13 (168P) ISBN 1-56097-628-4 Coleman, best known for his nightmarish noir paintings and drawings, has produced an engaging, pocket-sized hardcover book drawn from various parts...