Publishers Weekly articles from October 2006

Publishers Weekly archives from October 2006

Are spy books spooking the CIA? Publishers see more scrutiny of projects.(Foreword)(Publication Review Board)("Class 11: Inside the CIA's First Post-9/11 Spy Class" by T.J. Waters/"On the Brink: How the White House has Compromised American Intelligence" by Tyler Drumheller and Elaine Monaghan)
October 2, 2006... Books written by former CIA agents have always needed to pass a CIA review before publication, but judging by the recent experiences of some publishers, the agency is interfering more now than ever. Two fall books written by CIA insiders have...

Nudo new 'PW' publisher.(David Nudo appointed Publishers Weekly)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... David Nudo, most recently managing director of book advertising at the New York Times, has joined PW as publisher. He will report to executive v-p/publisher of the Reed Business Information publishing group Bill McGorry. Nudo has worked in...

Cuts at MHE.(McGraw-Hill Education)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... As part of its move to create the School Solutions Group, McGraw-Hill Education is eliminating a significant number of positions. The layoffs are across all departments and cities where the company's Macmillan/ McGraw-Hill and...

Zondervan closing gift unit.(book publisher)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Zondervan is closing down its Inspirio gift division as part of its decision to exit the "3-D portion" of the inspirational gift business, which includes products from picture frames to crosses. The company will continue to produce gift books...

LB considers comics.(Rich Johnson appointed Little, Brown and Company Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Rich Johnson, former v-p of trade book sales at DC Comics, has been hired by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers to explore launching a graphic novel imprint. The Hachette Book Group announced the hiring and said Johnson will work as a...

All about us.(Foreword)(Publishers Weekly)(Editorial)
October 2, 2006... But enough about you all. Let me tell you about us. About 18 months ago, my brilliant staff and I unveiled a "new" PW. Working hard to preserve the strengths of the "old" PW--I guess it's really not an insult, just a fact, to call a...

Maguire memorial set.(Liz Maguire)(publisher)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Friends and colleagues of the late Basic Books publisher Liz Maguire will celebrate her life at a memorial service on Thursday, October 12, to be held at Eugene, a nightclub at 27 W. 24th St. Maguire died April 8 at the age of 47: There will be...

Bono's friend.(Jane Friedman, HarperCollins Publishers Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: HarperCollins CEO Jane Friedman met up with U2's Bono last week at a New York City. Barnes & Noble, where the singer was signing copies of U2 by U2.

Exports up modestly midway in 2006.(Trading Partners)(includes "U.S. Book Exports, Six Months 2005-2006")
October 2, 2006... With shipments to Canada and the U.K. up 7.1% and 9.1%, respectively, total book exports rose 5.3% in the first six months of 2006, to $908.6 million, according to figures from the U.S. Commerce Department. A 22.2% decline in exports to Mexico...

Jim Deva, co-owner, Little Sister's Bookshop, Vancouver, Canada.(Galley Talk)("The Future is Queer: A Science Fiction Anthology")(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Vancouver's Arsenal Pulp Press, the Little Press That Could, has hit another home run in publishing The Future Is Queer: A Science Fiction Anthology [Nov. 1], edited by Richard Laborite and Lawrence Schimel. This well-edited anthology of...

Sony Reader: nice, but no iPod.(For Better or Worse)(electronic book software)(Product/service evaluation)
October 2, 2006... The buzz among the many publishers at last week's launch of the Sony Reader was that it is, by far, the best device dedicated to reading e-books yet developed. The Reader's strengths are many: it is lightweight (9 ounces); built like a...

E-books by the numbers.(Foreword)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... $350: Price for the Sony Reader $98.99: Price of Ebookman 901 $24.95: List price for Cesar's Way hardcover $17.95: e-book list price $14.36: Price for Cesar's Way on Sony Connect $16.16: Discount price for Cesar's Way on...

Strictly inks with Hachette.(Strictly-by-the Book partners with Hachette Book Group USA)(distribution)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Strictly-by-the Book, the Massachusetts remainder company, has partnered with Hachette Book Group USA in a long-term distribution deal whereby Strictly will continue to handle hurt books while Hachette will house and ship all other inventory...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
October 2, 2006... In last week's sidebar to the Frankfurt Book Fair Preview, "What's in Your Briefcase," Ken Follett's sequel to Pillars of the Earth was incorrectly cited as being published by Shaye Areheart; Dutton is publishing this book. Also, the new...

A successful 10.(book publishing party)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Carol Fitzgerald (center), cofounder of the Book Report Network, threw a party last month to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary. Among the many guests were Lisa Gallagher, publisher of William Morrow,...

Serving and deserting.(Deals)("The Deserter's Tale" by Joshua Key)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Grove/Atlantic's Amy Hundley has acquired world rights (ex Canada) to former Pvt. 1st Class Joshua Key's memoir, The Deserter's Tale, in an auction conducted by agent Denise Bukowski. Key, a Guthrie, Okla., native who enlisted in the U.S. Army...

Definitive Bowie.(Deals)("David Bowie: God and Man" by Marc Spitz)(Random House Inc. Crown Publishing Group)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Carrie Thornton at Crown has preempted world rights to Marc Spitz's David Bowie: God and Man in a mid-six-figure deal with agent James Fitzgerald. The book will chronicle Bowie's long career, his impact on the current music scene, his evolution...

How to get rich.(Deals)("Ahead of the Curve: Nine Simple Ways to Create Wealth" by Hilary Kramer)(Free Press Company Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... AOL Finance editor and New York Post columnist Hilary Kramer has sold Ahead of the Curve: Nine Simple Ways to Create Wealth; Maris Kreizman at the Free Press has preempted North American rights in a six-figure deal brokered by Maura E....

Hot fiction.(Deals)(Ecco Press Inc. signs "A Ticket to Ride" by Paula McLain)(Riverhead Books signs "The Office of Yearning" by Martha Moody)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Ecco's Emily Takoudes has preempted a debut novel by Paula McLain titled A Ticket to Ride; agent Julie Barer sold North American rights. Set in 1973, the novel follows a 15-year-old girl, abandoned by her mother and now living with her uncle,...

Two for Zuckerman.(Deals)(Al Zuckerman, Writers House Inc.)("Generation Dead" by Dan Waters/"What Looks Like Crazy" by Charlotte Hughes)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Al Zuckerman at Writers House has sold Dan Waters's Generation Dead, a novel about dead kids enrolling at a high school in Connecticut, and what happens when a goth girl starts a romance with a dead boy, to Alessandra Balzer at Hyperion, who...

Calendar: Oct 8-14.(Calendar)
October 2, 2006... 10/8 Doubleday is printing 1.5 million copies of John Grisham's first work of nonfiction, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. 10/10 Bruce Springsteen photographer Eric Meola is donating all proceeds from Born to Run:...

Putnam's Neil Nyren has bought world rights to Wendy Merrill's Falling into Manholes, a book of "embarrassingly honest" autobiographical tales from a 40-something.(The Briefing)(Putnam Publishing Co.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Putnam's Neil Nyren has bought world rights to Wendy Merrill's Falling into Manholes, a book of "embarrassingly honest" autobiographical tales from a 40-something, in-recovery-from-everything good/bad girl searching for love; agent Robert...

Ballantine's Melody Guy has acquired a first novel by journalist Carleen Brice titled Orange Mint and Honey.(The Briefing)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Ballantine's Melody Guy has acquired a first novel by journalist Carleen Brice titled Orange Mint and Honey, about an overachieving grad school student and her personal demons; agent Victoria Sanders sold North American rights in this two-book...

Basic's Lara Heimert has acquired Virginity by Donna Freitas.(The Briefing)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Basic's Lara Heimert has acquired Virginity by Donna Freitas, professor of religion at St. Michael's College, who will explore the past, present and future of virginity from a historical, theological and cultural standpoint; agent Miriam...

Agent Sandra Dijkstra has sold the next book by Irv Yalom, M.D., titled The Gift of Death: How the Awakening Experience Can Help Us Live Without Fear.(The Briefing)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Agent Sandra Dijkstra has sold the next book by Irv Yalom, M.D., titled The Gift of Death: How the Awakening Experience Can Help Us Live Without Fear, which charges that therapists avoid or ignore death anxiety in their patients, and provides...

Greenleaf prunes as it grows.(Strategy)(Greenleaf Book Group)(Company overview)
October 2, 2006... For Greenleaf Book Group, which sprang to life in 1997 as a distributor and began developing a publishing program in 2000, 2006 is proving to be something of a turning point. The company's distribution program has reached a level where...

Fox joins S&S.(People)(Colin Fox appointed senior editor at Simon and Schuster Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Colin Fox has joined Simon & Schuster as a senior editor at the house's adult trade imprint. Fox, who's been at Hachette's Warner Books for the past seven years working on both fiction and nonfiction, has worked with authors Billy Crystal, Lou...

Dillon adds title at RH.(People)(Sanyu Dillon, Random House Publishing Group appointed associate publisher)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Sanyu Dillon, director of marketing at Random House, is taking on the additional title of associate publisher of trade paperbacks for Random House Publishing Group.

Berne to ten speed.(People)(Amanda Berne appointed Senior Editor at Ten Speed Press)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Amanda Berne has joined Ten Speed Press as a senior editor. Berne was most recently the "Inside Scoop" columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle.

HC gets Drucker.(People)(Heather Drucker appointed Director of Publicity at HarperCollins Publishers Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Heather Drucker has been named associate director of publicity for the general books division at HarperCollins. Drucker, who arrives from Bookspan, will be working on titles by Lisa Scottoline, James Grippando and Elizabeth George, among...

Keeping the Classics alive ... and well.(Branding)(includes "The Bestselling Penguin Classics" list)(Company overview)
October 2, 2006... In Woody Allen's 1975 short story "The Whores of Mensa," busty female intellectuals entertain "clients" with verbal diatribes on Melville, Kant and Dante. As the narrator describes it, "nervous girls with blackrimmed glasses and blunt-cut hair...

O'Neill to CPI.(People)(Donna O'Neill appointed Director at Creative Pages Inc.)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Donna O'Neill has joined the Vermont-based Creative Pages Inc. as director of operations. O'Neill, who was most recently at Simon & Schuster as v-p/ managing editor of Pocket Books, will oversee the design and production house's operational...

SSE hires Broussard.(People)(Michael Broussard appointed Acquisitions Manager at Simon Spotlight Entertainment)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Michael Broussard has joined Simon Spotlight Entertainment as acquisitions manager. Broussard arrives from Dupree/Miller and Associates, where he was an agent representing such bestselling titles as Catherine Crier's A Deadly Game and Jorge...

Hires at S&S Children's.(People)(Liesa Abrams, Margaret Wright, Julie Lu and Carey O'Brien appointed at Simon & Schuster Inc. Children's Publishing)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Liesa Abrams, Margaret Wright, Julie Lu and Carey O'Brien have all joined Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing. Abrams, who's been hired as a senior editor, arrives from Penguin's Razorbill imprint. Wright, also coming from Razorbill, has...

PMA takes University online.(Education)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Looking for a way to bring its educational programming to more of its members, the Publishers Marketing Association has started Publishing University Online, a series of educational programs delivered via the Internet. A session on book...

Moving day.(RiverRun Bookstore, Portsmouth, New Hampshire)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Tom Holbrook, owner of the RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, N.H., organized a human book conveyor belt to help move stock from his old store two blocks away to a new 1,500-sq-ft. location in downtown...

Melton to CFO at B&T.(People)(James C. Melton appointed Chief Financial Officer at Baker & Taylor Retail)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... James C. Melton is succeeding Robert E. Agres as chief financial officer at Baker & Taylor. Agres plans to retire on October 27. Melton had been B&T's controller.

Innovative kids hires Banyon.(People)(Alexis Banyon appointed)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Alexis Banyon has been named sales manager of specialty accounts and the independent sales group at innovativeKids. Banyon was most recently at Candlewick Press.

Hardcover bestsellers/fiction.
October 2, 2006... John le Carre can celebrate two milestones this year: his 20th bestseller and his 75th birthday. He won't be crossing the Atlantic to tour here, but rave reviews will surely deplete the 223,000 copies in print after two trips to press. PW gave...

Hardcover bestsellers/nonfiction.
October 2, 2006... "This blistering j'accuse has vitriol to spare for George Bush--calling him a 'spoiled brat' and 'blowhard'--and his policies, but its main target is the PR machinery that promoted those policies to the American people. Rich revisits nearly...

Paperback bestsellers/mass market.
October 2, 2006... Roberts's stats are always impressive. She's the bestselling author of more than 160 novels, with an estimated 295 million copies in print. Morrigan's Cross, first of a three-book paranormal series, has 3.4 million copies in print. Also,...

Paperback bestsellers/trade.
October 2, 2006... "I have to say, as a literary writer, I never expected to have 65,000 people stand up and cheer for me! It was pretty amazing--I was out on the (football) field with the president of the University of Kentucky and his wife. UK did a great job,...

Comics bestsellers.
October 2, 2006... The story of a hyper, teenage ninja-in-training, Naruto is Viz Media's bestselling manga series. Naruto volumes take up six of the 10 slots on Nielsen BookScan's graphic novel list, according to Viz publicity director Ev Dubocq, and volumes 9...

Audio bestsellers/fiction.
October 2, 2006... "Guidall's experienced reading brings a pleasant touch of class to Cook's latest thriller. Guidall exhibits admirable vocal talents as he manages to keep this overwritten novel moving at a satisfying pace, and the ease with which he works his...

Audio bestsellers/nonfiction.
October 2, 2006... Jon Stewart and company keep on rolling, reappearing on our list with this 2004 release. "We're riding the coattails of the trade paperback release of the book right now," says Hachette Audio's Anthony Goff of the latest bump. "But this title...

At regional shows, the 'I's' have it: booksellers emphasize their independence.(Retailing)(Southern Independent Booksellers Association/the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association/New England Independent Booksellers Association/New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association)(Conference news)
October 2, 2006... The need to stress their independence and a search for flesh faces were two themes that highlighted the first of the season's regional bookseller association meetings. Three of the four organizations that held their fall gatherings earlier...

New at number 1.(WEB WATCH)("Snappy Sounds Boo" by Derek Matthews)("Ultrametabloism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss" on Walmart.com)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... The top fiction seller at Advanced Marketing Services last week: Snappy Sounds Boo, the most recent in a series of pop-up books by Derek Matthews. The publisher is Templar, a British packager/publisher that has produced a number of titles, such...

Pass Christian Books ready to rise.(Retailing)(bookstore reopens after Hurricane Katrina, 2005)(Pass Christian, Mississippi)
October 2, 2006... "You've got to go forward," said Scott Naugle, owner of Pass Christian Books in Pass Christian, Miss., as he prepares to reopen a business that was literally swept away last summer by Hurricane Katrina. "We've never found anything associated...

DK tries a new look.(Children's Books)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Miriam Farbey, global publisher of DK Children's Books, was searching for a new DK look that would appeal to computer-savvy kids. Inspiration struck as she was riding in a London taxi and passed a poster for Schott's Miscellany, a series of...

Prelutsky named Children's Poet Laureate.(Children's Books)(Jack Prelutsky awarded by the Poetry Foundation)(Pegasus Awards)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... At its Pegasus Awards last Wednesday evening in Chicago, the Poetry Foundation named Jack Prelutsky the first winner of its Children's Poet Laureate Award. Prelutsky will serve as an advisor to the Foundation on children's literature, and will...

Sendak pops up.("Mommy?" by Maurice Sendak)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Mommy?, Maurice Sendak's first pop-up book, was released last week with a 500,000-copy first printing from Michael di Capua Books at Scholastic. The Today Show interviewed the artist from his home in Connecticut last Friday. Here, NBC...

Theroux goes Indie.(Independent Publishing)(Alexander Theroux publishes new work "Laura Warholic, or the Sexual Intellectual" with Fantagraphics Books)
October 2, 2006... It's not unusual for literary novelists to complain about the treatment their books receive from New York trade houses, but novelist Alexander Theroux decided to do something about it. His next book, an imposing 824-page brick of a novel called...

3 from Theroux.(Independent Publishing)(Alexander Theroux)(Brief article)
October 2, 2006... Three Wogs (Gambit, 1973; Owl reprint, 1997) "As a striking tour de force the book is incomparable"--Virginia Quarterly National Book Award finalist, 1973 Darconville's Cat (Doubleday, 1981; Owl reprint, 1996) "The strongest work of...

Something for everyone: love & NASCAR, Bear Bryant and baseball's fall classic lead the sports parade.(various)(Cover story)
October 2, 2006... American sports represents, in many ways, the pulse of the nation. For example, in the manner of civil rights, America first ennobled itself through a sporting event--on April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson took first base at Ebbets Field, breaking...

Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything.(Books of the Season)(Book review)(Brief review)
October 2, 2006... Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything Charles P. Pierce First printing: Oct., 100,000 copies "Beyond the fact that Charlie Pierce has a brilliant eye for the telling detail and story, capturing a legendary...

Jim Brown: The Fierce Life of an American Hero.(Books of the Season)(Book review)(Brief review)
October 2, 2006... Jim Brown: The Fierce Life of an American Hero Mike Freeman First printing: Nov., 50,000 copies "This is the first major bio of arguably the greatest athlete of all time, a very complicated man who had not only a huge impact on...

Speed, Guts & Glory.(Books of the Season)(Book review)(Brief review)
October 2, 2006... Speed, Guts & Glory Joe Garner with Jeff Gordon First printing: Nov., 60,000 copies "From the text, to the photos, to the incredible range of DVD footage provided, the book will tap into everything that makes [NASCAR] one of...

Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball.(Books of the Season)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach in the Glory Days of Basketball Gus Alfieri First printing: Oct., 20,000 copies "This is a one-of-a-kind book because it's the first biography of this Hall of Fame player and...

Sports Illustrated Exposure.(Books of the Season)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Sports Illustrated Exposure Photographs by Raphael Mazzucco First printing: Oct., mid-five figures "This was one of the great photo shoots in S/ swimsuit history [Elle MacPherson, Rachel Hunter, Rebecca Romijn, etc.]--in terms of...

Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run.(Books of the Season)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Driving Home: My Unforgettable Super Bowl Run Jerome Bettis First printing: Sept., 75,000 copies "Jerome Bettis is an inspired leader and role model; he shares personal, moving stories and an array of private family photos, as well...

Mickey Mantle: Stories & Memorabilia from a Lifetime with the Mick.(Books of the Season)(Book review)(Brief review)
October 2, 2006... Mickey Mantle: Stories & Memorabilia from a Lifetime with the Mick Mickey Herskowitz with Danny and David Mantle First printing: Oct., 50,000 copies "The book also features removable reproductions of a variety of memorabilia--from...

Trash Talk.(Books of the Season)(Book review)(Brief review)
October 2, 2006... Trash Talk Robert Gussin First printing: Oceanview Publishing, Oct., 5,000 copies "I began to think about environmental issues that might provide an opportunity for some fun in a story andgarbage came to mind. From here it was...

Instant Replay.(Books of the Season)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Instant Replay Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap First printing: Sept., 20,000 copies "Originally published in 1968, instant Replay is a landmark in sports book publishing not only because it was among the first books to offer readers a...

Floyd Little's Tales from the Broncos Sideline.(Books of the Season)(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Floyd Little's Tales from the Broncos Sideline Floyd Little and Tom Mackie First printing: Aug., 10,000 copies "Books about the Denver Broncos have been rare. That's why it is such a great opportunity for us to have a title written...

Hello my name is ... a house with a long history needs a new moniker.(Branding)(Warner Books)
October 2, 2006... Imagine you're 36, successful, high profile, at the top of your field domestically and with business dealings around the world. And then imagine you have to change your name. That's what Warner Books is facing, now that it's no longer part...

Bloomsbury in Concord: Susan Cheever looks at a 19th-century literary community.(Author Profile)(Interview)
October 2, 2006... "Don't reduce literature to gossip," John Cheever once loftily told his daughter, after she said he'd written a story "about this girl who was like me in every way, but then she gets killed in a ski tow--what's up with that?" So it's more...

Medicus.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Medicus RUTH DOWNIE. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (400p) ISBN 978-1-59691-231-1 The salacious underside of Roman-occupied Britain comes to life in Britisher Downie's debut. Gaius Petrius Ruso, a military medicus (or doctor), transfers to the 20th...

My French Whore.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... My French Whore GENE WILDER. St. Martin's, $21.95 (192p) ISBN 978-0-312-36057-3 A simple, straight-faced love story about a brave coward and a scarlet man drives actor Wilder's touching debut novel. (His memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger,...

The Sweet Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... The Sweet Life LYNN YORK. Plume, $14 paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-452-28822-5 Folksy, slyly erotic and immensely entertaining, York's sequel to 2004's The Piano Teacher revisits Swan's Knob, N.C., as returning heroine Wilma Swan takes charge of...

So Many Ways to Begin.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... So Many Ways to Begin JON MCGREGOR. Bloomsbury, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-1-59691-222-9 David Carter grows up happy in post-WWII Coventry, England, where he combs bomb sites for things to collect and dreams of one day running his own museum....

Innocent Traitor.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Innocent Traitor ALISON WEIR. Ballantine, $23.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-345-49485-6 Popular biographer Weir (Eleanor of Aquitaine, etc.) makes her historical fiction debut with this coming-of-age novel set in the time of Henry VIII. Weir's...

If You Lived Here.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... If You Lived Here DANA SACHS, Morrow, $24.95 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-113048-9 Sachs revisits in her fiction debut many of the themes she explored in A House on Dream Street, her memoir about living in Vietnam in the early 1990s. The story...

The List.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... The List TARA ISON. Scribner, $23 (272p) ISBN 978-0-7432-9414-0 Isabel, a promising and dedicated medical student, is intent on becoming a heart surgeon, but she takes a detour when she meets Al, a washed-up movie director who now clerks at...

The Gods of Newport.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... The Gods of Newport JOHN JAKES. Dutton, $25.95 (304p) ISBN 0-525-94976-3 True love confronts Gilded Age class hierarchy in Jakes's latest engaging historical potboiler. Railroad tycoon Sam Driver sets out to conquer the summer resort of...

Love and Lies.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Love and Lies KIMBERLA LAWSON ROBY. Morrow, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-089249-4 For Charlotte Black, there are some good things about being married to the "world renowned" Rev. Curtis Black (whose flashy, trashy life Roby has dished in...

Exit A.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Exit A ANTHONY SWOFFORD. Scribner, $25 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7432-7038-0 Bestseller Swofford explores teenage love in his uneven first novel, which opens in 1989 at Yokata Air Base outside Tokyo (the title comes from the name of a nearby train...

An international Englishman: PW talks with David Hewson.(Q&A)(Interview)
October 2, 2006... In British author David Hewson's fourth crime novel, The Lizard's Bite (Reviews, Sept. 18), Rome detective Nic Costa gets exiled to Venice, where he investigates the murder of a glassmaker. How did you come to write a series set in Italy?...

The Saffron Kitchen.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... * The Saffron Kitchen YASMIN CROWTHER. Viking, $23.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-670-03811-4 Maryam is the willful daughter of an Iranian general who backed the Shah of Iran during the (U.S.-backed) 1953 coup that toppled Iran's prime minister,...

Exile.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Exile RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON. Holt, $26 (592p) ISBN 978-0-8050-7947-0 Bestseller Patterson's new thriller with its focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been overtaken by events (there's no mention of Israel's unilateral...

Midnight Cactus.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Midnight Cactus BELLA POLLEN. Black Cat, $14 (448p) ISBN 978-0-8021-7031-6 Restless and unfulfilled, Alice Coleman jumps at the chance to spend a year away from London and her officious, workaholic developer husband, Robert. Accompanied...

Ice.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Ice VLADIMIR SOROKIN, TRANS. FROM THE RUSSIAN BY JAMEY GAMBRELL. New York Review Books, $23.95 (288p) ISBN 978-1-59017-195-0 Blond, blue-eyed contemporary Muscovites are being kidnapped, driven to remote areas and bashed in the chest with...

The Blade Itself.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... * The Blade Itself MARCUS SAKEY. St. Martin's Minotaur, $22.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-36031-3 Sakey's brilliant debut, a crime novel set in Chicago, is a must read. From the thrilling opening, a horribly botched pawnshop robbery by...

Sweet Potato Queen's 1st Big-Ass Novel.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Sweet Potato Queen's 1st Big-Ass Novel JILL CONNER BROWNE WITH KARIN GILLESPIE, Simon & Schuster, $22.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7432-7827-0 After five nonfiction bestsellers, Browne leaps into fiction (with assistance by Bottom Dollar Girls...

Corrections to My Memoirs: Collected Stories.(Brief article)(Book review)
October 2, 2006... Corrections to My Memoirs: Collected Stories MICHAEL KUN. Macadam/Cage, $22 (250p) ISBN 978-1-59692-195-5 The cover's spoof of A Million Little Pieces sets the tone for this comic collection of writerly kvetching and obvious corporate...