Prepub Alert

Boyle, T.C. Tooth and Claw: And Other Stories. Viking. Sept. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-670-03435-5. $25.95. Boyle skewers us again with a seventh collection of his wickedly witty tales.

Bushnell, Candace. Lipstick Jungle. Hyperion. Sept. 2005. NAp. ISBN 0-7868-6819-8. $24.95.The "philosopher queen of the social scene" (New York Times) delivers another racy tale, this time about three women in fashion, film, and magazines who expect to have it all.

Cannell, Stephen J. Cold Hit: A Shane Scully Novel. St. Martin's. Sept. 2005. 384p. ISBN 0-312-34730-8. [ISBN 978-0-312-34730-7]. $24.95. Cassette/CD: HarperAudio; Audio Renaissance. When a string of homeless men in Los Angeles meet gruesome deaths, Shane Scully and partner are on the case. When one of the murders is linked to the ten-year-old killing of an L.A. cop, Scully and partner are suddenly off the case. Seems that a government cover-up is afoot.

Coelho, Paul. The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession. HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-06-082521-9. $24.95. CD: HarperAudio. The author of best-selling inspirational fiction like The Alchemist tries something a bit different: the story of a famed novelist, living in France, whose wife has disappeared. Whether she was kidnapped or ditched an unsatisfactory life, she remains his zahir, a term from a Borges story referring to an obsession that takes over everything.

Erdrich, Louise. The Painted Drum. HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-06-051510-4. $25.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-06-083429-3. $25.95. CD: HarperAudio. Painted, beaded, and tasseled, the huge moose-skin drum that appraiser Faye Travers discovers in a collection of Native American artifacts speaks to her directly—she hears its song without playing it. With an eight-city tour.

Erickson, Carolly. The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette. St. Martin's. Sept. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-312-33708-6. [ISBN 978-0-312-33708-7]. $24.95. CD: Audio Renaissance. A highly regarded biographer tries her hand at fiction, here reconstructing the life of Marie Antoinette in a diary she putatively wrote while waiting to be guillotined.

Evans, Diana. 26a. Morrow. Sept. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-06-082091-8. $23.95. Twins Georgi and Bessi and their sisters create a magical world of their own in a not-so-posh London neighborhood as their British father and Nigerian-born mother try to cope. According to the publicist, the buzz in Britain recalls the response to Zadie Smith's first work.

Gaiman, Neil. Anansi Boys. Morrow. Sept. 2005. 432p. ISBN 0-06-051518-X. $26.95. CD: HarperAudio. Strange things are happening to Fat Charlie; his dad dies, and then someone turns up claiming to be his long-lost brother. Is Fat Charlie in for some fun? Maybe tinged with terror? With a 12-city tour; a one-day laydown on September 20.

Hicks, Robert. The Widow of the South. Warner. Sept. 2005. 416p. ISBN 0-446-50012-7. $24.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-446-57882-7. $26.95. CD: Time Warner Audio. After the Civil War, as the graves of 1500 Confederate soldiers were about to be plowed over, Carrie McGavock had the bodies disinterred and reburied in her backyard. Thirty years later, she's tending her private cemetery when the soldier she fell for during the bloody Battle of Franklin returns. Nashville music publisher Hicks fictionalizes a true story; with a 15-city tour.

Hobb, Robin. Shaman's Crossing: Bk. 1 of the Soldier Son Trilogy. Eos: Morrow. Sept. 2005. 324p. ISBN 0-06-075762-0. $25.95. It's bad enough that Nevare, son of one of Gernia's new noble families, must struggle against prejudice at the King's Cavalry Academy. Then he discovers that he's being ruled by the magic of a vanquished people. From a fantasy writer who is just breaking out; her last book, Fool's Fate, hit the New York Times extended best sellers list.

Hurwitz, Gregg. Trouble Shooter. Morrow. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-06-073141-9. $24.95. The leader of a vicious biker gang is on the run, and U.S. Marshall Tom Rackley is after him. With a four-city tour.

Lurie, Allison. Truth and Consequences. Viking. Sept. 2005. 240p. ISBN 0-670-03439-8. $24.95. One small New England campus, two wacky couples, and lots of problems: classic Lurie.

Mazzucco, Melania G. Vita. Farrar. Sept. 2005. 448p. ISBN 0-374-28495-4. $25. Drawing on family history, award-winning Italian author Mazzucco tracks two little children sent by their families from southern Italy to America in 1903.

Moody, Rick. The Diviners. Little, Brown. Sept. 2005. 512p. ISBN 0-316-08539-1. $25.95. The Diviners: not just a novel by the popular Moody but the subject of a big, splashy miniseries his characters are trying to mount. With a 15-city tour.

Mosley, Walter. Cinnamon Kiss. Little, Brown. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-316-07302-4. $24.95. Easy Rawlins needs some easy money—his daughter is in for some expensive medical treatment—so he agrees to find a missing attorney who seems to be more trouble than he's worth. With a ten-city tour.

Siddons, Anne Rivers. Sweetwater Creek. HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-06-621335-5. $24.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-06-075151-7. CD: HarperAudio. Her mom has vanished and her favorite brother is dead, but little Lilly is happy playing with her family's hunting dogs—until wayward debutante Lulu comes to town. With a one-day laydown.

Slaughter, Karin. Faithless. Delacorte. Sept. 2005. 400p. ISBN 0-385-33945-3. $25; lrg. prnt. Random. ISBN 0-375-72841-4. $27. CD: Random Audio. Medical examiner Sara Linton and her ex-hubby, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, find the body of a teenaged girl in the woods—and lots of attendant trouble.

Smith, Zadie. On Beauty. Penguin Pr: Penguin Putnam. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 1-59420-063-7. $25.95. CD: Penguin Audio. Englishman Howard Belsey, a disgruntled Rembrandt scholar, lives in New England with his faded-activist wife and their three disparate children. Large issues come into play when one son falls for the daughter of a rabid right-winger.

Southgate, Martha. Third Girl from the Left. Houghton. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-318-47023-9. $24. Mildred, whose life has been scarred by the 1921 Tulsa race riot, loves the diversion offered by movies—until daughter Angela starts appearing in blaxploitation films, with bit parts like "third girl from the left." Angela's daughter, Tamara, helps mend the rift. The folks at Houghton are high on this multigenerational tale. With a five-city tour.

Sparks, Nicholas. At First Sight. Warner. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-446-53242-8. $24.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-446-57877-0. $26.95. Cassette/CD: Time Warner Audio. Things are looking good for Jeremy Marsh and Lexie Darnell, back from True Believer, until a mysterious message brings trouble from the past. With a 15-city tour.

Behrendt, Greg & Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt. It's Called a Break Up Because It's Broken: The Smart Girl's Break-Up Buddy. Broadway. Sept. 2005. 208p. ISBN 0-7679-2185-2. $19.95. The guy who sold two million copies of the funny/smart He's Just Not That into You joins with his wife to write a guide for any woman facing the end of a relationship.

Fadiman, Anne, ed. Rereadings. Farrar. Sept. 2005. 224p. ISBN 0-374-24942-3. [ISBN 978-0-374-24942-7]. $20. Fadiman, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner, collects essays from the likes of Vivian Gornick and Luc Sante, who discuss what it's like to revisit a favorite book or poem (or, in one case, some Beatles lyrics).

Feiler, Bruce. Where God Was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion. Morrow. Sept. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-06-057487-9. $26.95; lrg. prnt. ISBN 0-06-082614-2. $27.95. CD: HarperAudio. Feiler, familiar to all from NPR and PBS—not to mention best sellers like Walking the Bible—visits the war-ravaged region where three great religions were born to see whether faith can be a source not of conflict but of peace. With a 17-city tour; a one-day laydown on September 13.

Fontana, Marian. A Widow's Walk. S. & S. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-4624-1. $24. Playwright/comedienne Fontana lost her firefighter husband on September 11, 2001—their eighth wedding anniversary. Now she's president of the 9/11 Widows and Victims' Family Association. Her survival story is both poignant and funny.

Goldberg, Bernard. 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America: And Al Franken Is #37. HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 304p. ISBN 0-06-076128-8. $25.95. CD: HarperAudio. Taking America bashers to task; a one-day laydown.

Harpham, Wendy Schlessel, M.D. Happiness in a Storm: Facing Illness and Embracing Life as a Healthy Survivor. Norton. Sept. 2005. 384p. ISBN 0-393-06080-2. $26.95. Doctor, cancer survivor, tireless lecturer, and award-winning author, Harpham has what it takes to teach those who are ill how to find happiness.

Hester, Elliott. Adventures of a Continental Drifter: An Around-the-World Excursion into Weirdness, Danger, Lust, and the Perils of Street Food. St. Martin's. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-312-31241-5. [ISBN 978-0-312-31241-1]. $23.95. A syndicated columnist and author of the best-selling Plane Insanity, Hester abandoned home and hearth to head 'round the world for some weird adventures (e.g., he impersonated Samuel L. Jackson at a Czech film festival).

His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality. Morgan Road Bks: Broadway. Sept. 2005. 256p. ISBN 0-7679-2066-X. $24.95; lrg. prnt. Random. ISBN 0-375-72845-7. $26.95. CD: Random Audio. Crafting an original text instead of drawing from lectures, as he often does, the Dalai Lama stakes out new territory: the link between faith and science.

Jewison, Norman. This Terrible Business Has Been Good to Me: An Autobiography. Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-312-32868-0. [ISBN 978-0-312-32868-9]. $24.95. His films having received 12 Academy Awards (and 46 nominations), Jewison has a lot to say about his 40 years in Hollywood.

Lee, Spike as told to Kaleem Aftab. Spike Lee: That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It. Norton. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-393-06153-1. $25.95. Lee leaps from the big screen into the pages of this book with the help of Aftab, who directs the TV and film production house lafamiglia.

Livio, Mario. The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry. S. & S. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-5820-7. $26. After 4000 years, two mathematicians—including a 20-year-old who died in a duel the next day—proved that the quintic equation cannot be solved by a simple formula. Livio, of Golden Ratio renown, explains. With an eight-city tour.

MacPherson, Malcolm. Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan. Delacorte. Sept. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-553-80363-8. $25. On an Afghani mountain in March 2004, a Special Forces soldier is encircled by al Qaeda fighters. Will his comrades leave him to his fate? Not a chance. MacPherson, who reported on Iraq for Time,reconstructs the 17-hour battle that resulted.

Manning, Jo. My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Adventurous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan. S. & S. Sept. 2005. 368p. ISBN 0-7432-6262-X. $25. Who better than an author of Regency romances (and an LJ reviewer) to tell the story of Grace Dalrymple Elliot, the notorious mistress of just about everyone in late 18th-century London.

Milosz, Czeslaw. Legends of Modernity: Essays and Letters from Occupied Poland, 1942–43. Farrar. Sept. 2005. 272p. ISBN 0-374-18499-2. [ISBN 978-0-374-18499-5]. $24.
Milosz, Czeslaw. Second Space: New Poems. Ecco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 112p. ISBN 0-06-075524-5. pap. $13.95. Early essays and final poems from the late, great Nobel prize winner.

Moehringer, J.R. The Tender Bar. Hyperion. Sept. 2005. NAp. ISBN 1-4013-0064-2. $23.95. Never mind that Los Angeles Times correspondent Moehringer won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for feature writing; the formative force in his life has been the neighborhood bar.

Pinsky, Robert. The Life of David. Schocken. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-8052-4203-1. $19.95. Former poet laureate Pinsky limns the biblical warrior king who gave us the Psalms. With an eight-city tour.

Poundstone, William. Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street. Hill & Wang: Farrar. Sept. 2005. 336p. ISBN 0-8090-4637-7. [ISBN 978-0-8090-4637-9]. $25. In 1956, Bell Labs scientists Claude Shannon and John L. Kelly Jr. used their considerable smarts to devise a formula for getting rich and applied it to gambling at its height: Las Vegas roulette and the stock market. Poundstone examines the consequences—and the seamy underside.

Powell, Julie. Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen; How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, & Her Sanity To Master the Art of Living. Little, Brown. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-316-10969-X. $23.95. CD: Time Warner Audio. Fed up with her dead-end job and her postage-stamp Queens, NY, apartment, the 30-year-old Powell set herself a goal: to prepare all 524 recipes in Julia Child's classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. Here's the tasty result. With a five-city tour.

Raab, Selwyn. Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires. Thomas Dunne Bks: St Martin's. Sept. 2005. 784p. ISBN 0-312-30094-8. [ISBN 978-0-312-30094-4]. $27.95. Having covered the mob for decades—and written Justice in the Back Room, which inspired TV's Kojak—veteran New York Times reporter Raab should make this history of the Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo, and Lucchese clans vivid reading.

Robbins, Tom. When Ducks Fly Backwards: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins. Bantam. Sept. 2005. 272p. ISBN 0-553-80451-0. $25. Cassette/CD: Random Audio. A cult novelist turns to nonfiction, some of it published for the first time. There's even an ode to the tomato sandwich.

Sewell, Kenneth with Clint Richmond. Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Secret Attack on the U.S. S. & S. Sept. 2005. 320p. ISBN 0-7432-6112-7. $25. Was the Soviet sub that fired a shot and then sank off the coast of Hawaii in March 1968 sent by the Kremlin? Apparently not. Sewell, who worked in submarine service for eight years, unravels the mystery. With a nine-city tour.

Shenk, Joshua Wolf. Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness. Houghton. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-618-55116-6. $25. Shenk argues that Lincoln's enduring melancholy—and the methods he used to cope with it—gave him the tools to lead a nation under duress. You'll see Shenk in a feature film on this subject, coming in the fall.

Smith, Huston. The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition. HarperSanFrancisco: HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 192p. ISBN 0-06-079478-X. $22.95. The master of comparative religion outlines the ideals of Christianity.

Tolstoy, Nikolai. Patrick O'Brian: The Making of the Novelist, 1914–1949. Norton. Sept. 2005. 512p. ISBN 0-393-06130-2. $29.95. A portrait of famed (and famously mysterious) novelist O'Brian, by an acclaimed biographer who happens to have been his stepson.

U2. U2 by U2: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr. HarperEntertainment: HarperCollins. Sept. 2005. 352p. ISBN 0-06-077675-7. $40. CD: HarperAudio. Billed as the definitive history of the band, this is U2 in their own words, together with lyrics, images, and memorabilia.

Williams, Kayla with Michael E. Staub. Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army. Norton. Sept. 2005. 288p. ISBN 0-393-06098-5. $24.95. Why Williams joined the army, how she came to learn Arabic, and what it was like to serve in Iraq, where she was shocked to find herself swinging her gun toward an Iraqi child. With an eight-city tour.

Wills, Garry. Henry Adams and the Making of America. Houghton. Sept. 2005. 448p. ISBN 0-618-13430-1. $30. An acclaimed and prolific contemporary historian takes on an acclaimed and prolific historian of the 19th century. With an eight-city tour.