Copyright © 2009

by The New York Times

The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009

Best Sell­­ers Fiction

FICTION HARDCOVER FICTION EXTENDED
This Last Weeks This
Week Week On List Week

1 TRUE DETECTIVES, by Jonathan Kellerman. (Ballantine, $27.)
In the 24th Alex Delaware novel, the interracial half-brothers from
1
17 THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. (Putnam)

“Bones” investigate a young woman’s death.

18 ONE DAY AT A TIME, by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte)

2 HANDLE WITH CARE, by Jodi Picoult. (Atria, $27.95.) A woman
whose daughter has a dangerous birth defect must decide wheth-
1 4

er to sue her obstetrician, an old friend.

19 PATHS OF GLORY, by Jeffrey Archer. (St. Martin’s)

3 OUTCAST, by Aaron Allston. (Del Rey/Ballantine, $27.) The start 1
of a new series about the extended Skywalker family; a “Star
Wars” novel.

20 WHITE WITCH, BLACK CURSE, by Kim Harrison. (Eos/Wil-
liam Morrow)

4 THE ASSOCIATE, by John Grisham. (Doubleday, $27.95.) An
idealistic law-school graduate is forced to take a job at a large, bru-
3 9
21 ONE SECOND AFTER, by William R. Forstchen. (Forge)

talizing law firm.

22 GENGHIS: BONES OF THE HILLS, by Conn Iggulden. (Dela-

5 THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. (Little, Brown, $25.99.) One
woman won’t surrender to the aliens who have taken control.
4 46 corte)

23 THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, by David Wroblewski.

6 CORSAIR, by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul. (Putnam, $27.95.)
Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon search for a missing sec-
2 3 (Ecco)

retary of state whose plane has been shot down.

24 THE TOURIST, by Olen Steinhauer. (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

7 RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, by James Patterson and Michael Led- 5 8
widge. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) A New York detective raising 10
children alone must stop a killer.

25 TERMINAL FREEZE, by Lincoln Child. (Doubleday)

8* PURSUIT, by Karen Robards. (Putnam, $24.95.) A lawyer sur-
vives a suspicious car crash that killed the first lady.
1
26 STILL LIFE, by Joy Fielding. (Atria)

9 THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE
SOCIETY, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. (Dial, $22.)
7 28
27 FROM DEAD TO WORSE, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace)

Residents of Guernsey who resisted the Nazis.

28 FOOL, by Christopher Moore. (William Morrow)

10 EXECUTION DOCK, by Anne Perry. (Ballantine, $26.) William
Monk of the Thames River Police battles the owner of a floating
1

brothel.
29 DOG ON IT, by Spencer Quinn. (Atria)

11 HEART AND SOUL, by Maeve Binchy. (Knopf, $26.95.) A doctor 8 6
establishes a heart clinic in a Dublin neighborhood.
30 THE LAST DICKENS, by Matthew Pearl. (Random House)

12 THE LONG FALL, by Walter Mosley. (Riverhead, $25.95.) Intro- 1
ducing Leonid McGill, a New York private detective with a compli-
cated past.

31 FAULT LINE, by Barry Eisler. (Ballantine)

13 PROMISES IN DEATH, by J. D. Robb. (Putnam, $26.95.) Lt. Eve
Dallas investigates a colleague’s murder; by Nora Roberts, writ-
6 5
32 LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE, by J. California Cooper. (Double-
day)

ing pseudonymously.

33 TRUE COLORS, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s)

14 NIGHT AND DAY, by Robert B. Parker. (Putnam, $25.95.) Jesse
Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., must catch a voyeur
11 5

who forces women to strip at gunpoint.

34 THE EXPEDITER, by David Hagberg. (Forge)

15 DEAD SILENCE, by Randy Wayne White. (Putnam, $25.95.) Doc 10 3
Ford searches for a kidnapped boy.
35 THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, by Stieg Larsson.
(Knopf)

16* HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET, by
Jamie Ford. (Ballantine, $24.) A friendship between a Chinese-
15 2

American boy and a Japanese-American girl who are students in

Seattle during World War II.

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of indepen-
dent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket,
discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some book-
stores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not actively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test preparation guides; journals
and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Best Sell­­ers NonFiction

NONFICTION HARDCOVER nonFICTION EXTENDED
This Last Weeks This
Week Week On List Week

1 LIBERTY AND TYRANNY, by Mark R. Levin. (Threshold Edi-
tions, $25.) A conservative manifesto from a talk-show host and
1
17 NO ANGEL, by Jay Dobyns and Nils Johnson-Shelton. (Crown)

president of Landmark Legal Foundation.

18 OUT OF CAPTIVITY, by Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, Tom

2 OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Little, Brown, $27.99.) Why
some people succeed, from the author of “Blink.”
1 19 Howes and Gary Brozek. (William Morrow)

19 HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Far-

3 HOUSE OF CARDS, by William D. Cohan. (Doubleday, $27.95.)
The fall of Bear Stearns and the beginning of the Wall Street col-
3 3 rar, Straus & Giroux)

lapse.
20 WHEN MARCH WENT MAD, by Seth Davis. (Times)

4 A LION CALLED CHRISTIAN, by Anthony Bourke and John 2 3
Rendall. (Broadway, $21.95.) Two men buy a pet lion cub in Lon-
don and bring him to Africa when he is grown.

21 A SLOBBERING LOVE AFFAIR, by Bernard Goldberg. (Regn-
ery)

5 THE YANKEE YEARS, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. (Dou-
bleday, $26.95.) The former Yankee manager (1996-2007) on his
4 8
22 THE NEXT 100 YEARS, by George Friedman. (Doubleday)

years with the team.

23 MELTDOWN, by Thomas E. Woods Jr. (Regnery)

6 THE LOST CITY OF Z, by David Grann. (Doubleday, $27.50.)
A New Yorker writer searches for a British explorer who disap-
5 5

peared 80 years ago in the Amazon.

24 THE UNFORGIVING MINUTE, by Craig M. Mullaney. (Penguin
Press)

7 A BOLD FRESH PIECE OF HUMANITY, by Bill O’Reilly. 9 24
(Broadway, $26.) The Fox News commentator on his upbringing
and career.

25 THE BLACK SWAN, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. (Random
House)

8 HAPPENS EVERY DAY, by Isabel Gillies. (Scribner, $25.) A
woman’s husband leaves her without warning
1
26 WHY WE SUCK, by Denis Leary. (Viking)

9* DEWEY, by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter. (Grand Central,
$19.99.) The kitten left freezing in the returned-book slot of an
8 28
27 THE ASCENT OF MONEY, by Niall Ferguson. (Penguin Press)

Iowa public library and his rise to fame.

28 IMAGINING INDIA, by Nandan Nilekani. (Penguin Press)

10 MY BOOKY WOOK, by Russell Brand. (Collins, $25.99.) A mem-
oir of sex, drugs and stand-up from a British comedian.
6 3

29 DEAD AID, by Dambisa Moyo. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

11 JESUS, INTERRUPTED, by Bart D. Ehrman. (HarperOne,
$25.99.) Scholars’’ discoveries about the New Testament.
16 4

30 THE THIRD REICH AT WAR, by Richard J. Evans. (Penguin

12 HOW WE DECIDE, by Jonah Lehrer. (Houghton Mifflin Har-
court, $25.) Learning more about how we think can help us make
3 Press)

better decisions.
31 THE MIRROR EFFECT, by Drew Pinsky and S. Mark Young.
(Harper)

13* ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA, by Chel-
sea Handler. (Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $24.95.) Humorous
personal essays from the stand-up comedian.
12 34
32 THE RETURN OF DEPRESSION ECONOMICS AND THE
CRISIS OF 2008, by Paul Krugman. (Norton)

14 INSIDE THE REVOLUTION, by Joel C. Rosenberg. (Tyndale,
$24.99.) The power of three groups in the Middle East: Islamic
7 3
33 THE GAMBLE, by Thomas E. Ricks. (Penguin Press)

radicals, moderate reformers and Muslims who are becoming

Christians.(†)
34 OBAMA, with an introduction by Bill Keller and biographical text
by Jill Abramson. (Callaway)

15 JOKER ONE, by Donovan Campbell. (Random House, $26.) A 2
Marine lieutenant and his platoon in Ramadi during the most vio-
lent days of the insurgency in 2004.

35 AS THEY SEE ‘EM, by Bruce Weber. (Scribner)

16* ITmonSUCKED AND THEN I CRIED, by Heather Armstrong. (Si-
Spotlight Entertainment, $24.) A memoir of parenthood and
1

postpartum depression by the dooce.com blogger

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of indepen-
dent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket,
discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some book-
stores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not actively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test preparation guides; journals
and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
Copyright © 2009
by The New York Times
The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009

Pa­­per­­back Best Sell­­ers Trade Fiction

TRADE FICTION trade FICTION EXTENDED
This Weeks This
Week On List Week

1 THE SHACK, by William P. Young. (Windblown Media, $14.99.)
A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated
45
21
WORLD WITHOUT END, by Ken Follett. (New American Li-
brary)
shack, apparently by God.(†)
22
LOVING FRANK, by Nancy Horan. (Ballantine)


2 FIREFLY LANE, by Kristin Hannah. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.95.)
A friendship between two women in the Pacific Northwest en-
12

dures for more than three decades as they make different choices
in their lives. 23
THE MIRACLE AT SPEEDY MOTORS, by Alexander McCall

Smith. (Anchor)

3 THE READER, by Bernhard Schlink. (Vintage, $13.95.) A Ger-
man high school student falls in love with a former Auschwitz
17
24
CHANGE OF HEART, by Jodi Picoult. (Washington Square)

employee.
25
THE WEDNESDAY LETTERS, by Jason F. Wright. (Berkley)


4 AMERICAN WIFE, by Curtis Sittenfeld. (Random House, $15.)
A pretty librarian marries the alcoholic scion of a wealthy political
7

family who somehow becomes president.

26
THE TEN-YEAR NAP, by Meg Wolitzer. (Riverhead)

5 SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY’S, by James Patterson and Gabrielle 12
Charbonnet. (Grand Central, $13.99.) A woman finds an unex-
pected love.

27
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, by Sue Monk Kidd. (Penguin)

6 WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by Sara Gruen. (Algonquin, $13.95.)
A young man — and an elephant — save a Depression-era circus.
82
28
OUT STEALING HORSES, by Per Petterson. (Picador)

7* A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS, by Khaled Hosseini. (River-
head, $16.) A friendship between two Afghan women against the
18
29
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, by Vikas Swarup. (Scribner)

backdrop of 30 years of war.

30
FIREPROOF, by Eric Wilson, Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kend-


8 SARAH’S KEY, by Tatiana de Rosnay. (St. Martin’s Griffin,
$13.95.) A contemporary American journalist investigates what
7 rick. (Thomas Nelson)

happened to a little girl and her family during the roundup of Jews
in Paris in 1942.

31
THE APPEAL, by John Grisham. (Delta)

9* THE ALCHEMIST, by Paulo Coelho. (HarperOne, $13.95.) A
Spanish shepherd boy travels to Egypt in search of treasure.
80
32
MUDBOUND, by Hillary Jordan. (Algonquin)

10 PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, by Geraldine Brooks. (Penguin, $15.)
An expert unlocks the secrets of a rare manuscript.
13
33
THE THIRD ANGEL, by Alice Hoffman. (Three Rivers)

11 THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO, by Junot
Díaz. (Riverhead, $14.) A nerdy Dominican-American struggles to
30
34
SEPULCHRE, by Kate Mosse. (Berkley)

escape a family curse.

35
BRIDA, by Paulo Coelho. (Harper Perennial)


12 STILL ALICE, by Lisa Genova. (Pocket, $15.) A 50-year-old Har-
vard professor is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
12

13 THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG, by Muriel Barbery.
(Europa, $15.) A young girl and a widowed concierge, both closet
13

intellectuals, become friends.

14* REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, by Richard Yates. (Vintage, $14.95.)
Frank and April Wheeler, a beautiful young couple living in 1950s
17

America, see their supposedly perfect life come undone.

15 THE WHITE TIGER, by Aravind Adiga. (Free Press, $14.) A
chauffeur in India relates the story of his transformation from
24

manservant to entrepreneur to murderer; the winner of the 2008

Man Booker Prize.

16 THE FRIDAY NIGHT KNITTING CLUB, by Kate Jacobs.
(Berkley, $14.) A group of women meet weekly at a New York City
53

yarn shop.

17 LUSH LIFE, by Richard Price. (Picador, $15.) An aspiring writer
becomes a suspect in a friend’s murder on the Lower East Side.
4

18 TAKE ONE, by Karen Kingsbury. (Zondervan, $14.99.) Christian
filmmakers engage in a desperate attempt to keep their dream
3
Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where
project from falling apart. a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of
independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national,
regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift,

19 THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini. (Riverhead, $15.95
and $14.) An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how a
78
supermarket, discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that
childhood friend has fared. a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indi-
cates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not ac-
tively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test

20 THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY, by Alexander
McCall Smith. (Anchor, $13.95.) In Botswana, a woman looks for
1
preparation guides; journals and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics
an 11-year-old boy who may have been kidnapped by witch doc- and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
tors.
Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Paperback Best Sell­­ers Mass-Market Fiction

MASS-MARKET FICTION mass-market FICTION EXTENDED
This Weeks This
Week On List Week

1 WHERE ARE YOU NOW?, by Mary Higgins Clark. (Pocket,
$7.99.) A woman searches for the truth about her brother, who is
1
21
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace)

alive but has disappeared.

22
SECRETS, by Jude Deveraux. (Pocket)


2 THE WHOLE TRUTH, by David Baldacci. (Vision, $9.99.) An in-
telligence agent and a journalist team up against a warmongering
5

defense contractor.
23
HIGHLAND SCOUNDREL, by Monica McCarty. (Ballantine)

3* NOTHING TO LOSE, by Lee Child. (Dell, $9.99.) Jack Reacher 1
exposes the secrets of a Colorado town.
24
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, by Sophie Kinsella.
(Dell)

4 THEN COMES SEDUCTION, by Mary Balogh. (Dell, $6.99.) 1
London’s most notorious rake bets he can seduce the virtuous
Katherine Huxtable within a fortnight.

25
HONOR THYSELF, by Danielle Steel. (Dell)

5 HOLD TIGHT, by Harlan Coben. (Signet, $9.99.) The aftermath of
a New Jersey high school kid’s suicide.
4
26
MAVERICK, by Lora Leigh. (St. Martin’s)

6 DEADLY DESIRE, by Keri Arthur. (Bantam Spectra, $6.99.)
Riley Jensen tracks a new villain while juggling passions for her
1
27
TERMINATOR SALVATION - FROM THE ASHES, by Timo-
thy Zahn. (Titan)
vampire lover and a rogue wolf.
28
BLACK WIDOW, by Randy Wayne White. (Berkley)


7 BONES, by Jonathan Kellerman. (Ballantine, $9.99.) The psychol-
ogist-detective Alex Delaware is called in when women’s bodies
5

turn up in a Los Angeles marsh.

29
THE WAY OF SHADOWS, by Brent Weeks. (Orbit)

8 PLAGUE SHIP, by Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul. (Berkley, 5
$9.99.) Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Ore­gon must determine
what happened on a cruise ship full of dead bodies.

30
DEAD UNTIL DARK, by Charlaine Harris. (Ace)

9* ANGELS AND DEMONS, by Dan Brown. (Pocket, $9.99.) A
scholar tries to save the Vatican from the machinations of an un-
7
31
THE FIRST APOSTLE, by James Becker. (Signet)

derground society.
32
TEMPTATION RIDGE, by Robyn Carr. (Mira)


10 SUDDEN DEATH, by Allison Brennan. (Ballantine, $7.99.) An
F.B.I. agent and a soldier-for-hire become entangled, profession-
1

ally and romantically, while investigating a series of killings.

33
SHADOW COMMAND, by Dale Brown. (Harper/HarperCol-
lins)

11 THE APPEAL, by John Grisham. (Dell, $7.99.) Political and legal 19
intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court rules against a company
accused of dumping toxic waste.

34
FIRST COMES MARRIAGE, by Mary Balogh. (Dell)

12 THE GRAND FINALE, by Janet Evanovich. (Harper/Harper-
Collins, $7.99.) In this reissue of a 1988 novel, a woman grabs the
5
35
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, by Richard Yates. (Vintage)

attention of a hunky man when she falls out of a tree and onto his
pizza.

13 A HUSBAND’S WICKED WAYS, by Jane Feather. (Pocket
Star, $7.99.) A spymaster proposes marriage to a lady, as cover,
1

as he tries to expose Spanish spies who have infiltrated Regency

London society.

14 LOST SOULS, by Lisa Jackson. (Zebra, $7.99.) An aspiring true-
crime writer investigates the disappearance of four girls at All
5

Saints College and begins to realize she’s being stalked herself.

15 THE MACKADE BROTHERS: RAFE AND JARED, by Nora
Roberts. (Silhouette, $7.99.) A reissue of two stories, featuring a
5

pair of rebels in Antietam, Md.

16 DANGER IN A RED DRESS, by Christina Dodd. (Signet, $7.99.)
A woman on the Maine coast, entrusted with a deathbed secret,
4

winds up being pursued by killers, and only Gabriel Prescott can

save her.

17 THE READER, by Bernhard Schlink. (Vintage, $7.99.) A German
high school student falls in love with a former Auschwitz employ-
6

ee. Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where
a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of
independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national,

18* MONTANA CREEDS: DYLAN, by Linda Lael Miller. (HQN,
$7.99.) In this second book of a trilogy, “rodeo’s bad boy” returns
5
regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift,
home and sets hearts aflutter. supermarket, discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that
a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indi-
cates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not ac-

19 SMALL FAVOR, by Jim Butcher. (Roc, $9.99.) Book 10 of the
Dresden Files series about a wizard detective in Chicago.
4
tively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test
preparation guides; journals and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics
and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.

20 BUCKINGHAM PALACE GARDENS, by Anne Perry. (Ballant-
ine, $7.99.) The 19th-century sleuth Thomas Pitt investigates after
1

a dead prostitute is found in the royal linen closet.

Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Paperback NonFiction Best Sell­­ers List

NONFICTION nonFICTION EXTENDED
This Weeks This
Week On List Week

1 THREE CUPS OF TEA, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver
Relin. (Penguin, $15.) A former climber builds schools in villages
113
21
ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MIRACLE, by Barbara Kingsolver
with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver. (Harper Perennial)
in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
22
THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE, by Diane Ackerman. (Norton)


2 THE MIDDLE PLACE, by Kelly Corrigan. (Voice, $14.95.) A
woman’s struggle with cancer, her own and her father’s, helps her
14

gain a new maturity.

23
STORI TELLING, by Tori Spelling. (Simon Spotlight Entertain-
ment)

3 I HOPE THEY SERVE BEER IN HELL, by Tucker Max. (Cita- 78
del/Kensington, $15.95.) Life as a self-­absorbed, drunken woman-
izer.

24
INFIDEL, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. (Free Press)

4 EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert. (Penguin, $15.) A
writer’s yearlong journey in search of self.
114
25
STOLEN INNOCENCE, by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer. (Harp-
er)

5 DREAMS FROM MY FATHER, by Barack Obama. (Three Riv-
ers, $14.95.) Obama on life as the son of a black African father and
141
26
A LONG WAY GONE, by Ishmael Beah. (Sarah Crichton/Far-
rar, Straus & Giroux)
a white American mother.
27
NUDGE, by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein. (Penguin)


6 * THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little,
Brown, $14.95.) A study of social epidemics, otherwise known as
234

fads.
28
LONE SURVIVOR, by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson.
(Back Bay/Little, Brown)

7 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, by Don Piper with Cecil Murphey. 127
(Revell, $12.99.) A minister on the other­worldly experience he had
after an accident.

29
THE MATCH, by Mark Frost. (Hyperion)

8 MY HORIZONTAL LIFE, by Chelsea Handler. (Bloomsbury,
$14.95.) A memoir of one-night stands.
24
30
THE WORLD IS FLAT, by Thomas L. Friedman. (Picador)

9* THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, by Barack Obama. (Three Rivers,
$14.95;, Vintage, $7.99.) The president proposes that Americans
66
31
THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES ITSELF, by Norman Doidge.
(Penguin)
move beyond political divisions.
32
BEAUTIFUL BOY, by David Sheff. (Mariner)


10 EMERGENCY, by Neil Strauss. (Harper, $16.99.) Life on what
might be the verge of apocalypse.
3

33
GANG LEADER FOR A DAY, by Sudhir Venkatesh. (Penguin)


11 THE SOLOIST, by Steve Lopez. (Berkley, $15.) A columnist for
The Los Angeles Times meets a homeless musician on Skid Row
3

and sets out to change his life.

34
THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY, by A. J. Jacobs. (Simon
& Schuster)

12 BLINK, by Malcolm Gladwell. (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $15.99.) 76
The importance of instinct to the workings of the mind.
35
THE GEOGRAPHY OF BLISS, by Eric Weiner. (Twelve)

13 SAME KIND OF DIFFERENT AS ME, by Ron Hall and
Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent. (Nelson, $14.99.) The unlikely
24

friendship between a homeless drifter and a successful art dealer

who meet at a shelter in Texas.

14 TEAM OF RIVALS, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. (Simon & Schus-
ter, $21.) The political genius of Abraham Lincoln.
35

15* THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA, by Michael Pollan. (Penguin,
$16.) Tracking food from soil to plate.
80

16 MARLEY & ME, by John Grogan. (Harper, $13.95 and $7.99.)
Lessons learned from a neurotic dog.
55

17* THE FORGOTTEN MAN, by Amity Shlaes. (Harper Perennial,
$15.95.) A reinterpretation of the New Deal and the Great Depres-
20

sion.

18 THE GOD DELUSION, by Richard Dawkins. (Mariner, $15.95.)
An Oxford scientist asserts that belief in God is irrational.
29

19 A WHOLE NEW MIND, by Daniel H. Pink. (Riverhead, $15.)
Why right-brainers — conceptual, creative types — will rule the
28

future. Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where
a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of
independent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national,

20 CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, CHANGE YOUR LIFE, by Daniel G.
Amen. (Three Rivers, $15.) Instructions for conquering anxiety,
19
regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift,
depression and anger. supermarket, discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that
a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indi-
cates that some bookstores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not ac-
tively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test
preparation guides; journals and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics
and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous

Hardcover
This
Paperback
Weeks This Weeks
Week On List Week On List

1 ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN, by Steve Harvey
with Denene Millner. (Amistad/HarperCollins, $23.99.) Relation-
9
1 THE LOVE DARE, by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Law-
rence Kimbrough. (B&H, $14.99.) A 40-day challenge for spouses
27

ship tips from the comedian and host of “The Steve Harvey Morn- who want to practice unconditional love.(†)
ing Show.”

2 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING, by Heidi 404

2 THE LAST LECTURE, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.
(Hyperion, $21.95.) Thoughts on “seizing every moment” from
51 Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. (Workman, $14.95.) Advice for par-
ents-to-be.(†)
Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor who died of pancreatic can-
cer at age 47.
3 NATURALLY THIN, by Bethenny Frankel with Eve Adamson.
(Fireside, $16.) Rules and recipes for escaping the diet trap, from a
3

3 THE SKINNY, by Louis J. Aronne with Alisa Bowman. (Broad-
way, $24.95.) A medical doctor’s diet and exercise tips, with reci-
1 star of “The Real Housewives of New York City.”

pes, for weight loss without hunger.

4* THE FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES, by Gary Chapman. (North-
field, $13.99.) How to communicate love in a way a spouse will
87

4 THE SECRET, by Rhonda Byrne. (Atria/Beyond Words, $23.95.)
The law of attraction as a key to getting what you want.
116 understand.

5 THE POWER OF NOW, by Eckhart Tolle. (New World Library, 63

5 FLAT BELLY DIET!, by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass.
(Rodale, $25.95.) Nutrition advice and workout tips from the edi-
19 $14.) A guide to personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.

tors of Prevention magazine.

6 SKINNY BITCH, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. (Run-
ning Press, $13.95.) Vegan diet advice from the world of modeling.
90

6 PEAKS AND VALLEYS, by Spencer Johnson. (Atria, $19.95.) 3
Making both good and bad times work for you personally and pro-
fessionally.

7 SUZE ORMAN’S 2009 ACTION PLAN, by Suze Orman.
(Spiegel & Grau, $9.99.) Managing your money in hard times.
13

7 THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER, by Dave Ramsey. (Nelson,
$24.99.) Attaining financial fitness, not through quick fixes but
10
8 TWILIGHT, by Mark Cotta Vaz. (Little, Brown, $16.99.) A behind-
the-scenes look at the film based on the vampire romance for
24

with an honest approach to the way you handle money. young adults by Stephenie Meyer.

8 THE ULTRAMIND SOLUTION, by Mark Hyman. (Scribner,
$27.50.) How to pinpoint underlying biological problems to im-
6
9 I WILL TEACH YOU TO BE RICH, by Ramit Sethi. (Workman,
$13.95.) A six-week program for personal-finance literacy, with
1

prove brain performance and allay depression, anxiety and more. guidance on bank accounts, credit cards, student loans and more.
(†)

9 UNCOMMON, by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker. (Tyndale, 9
$24.99.) The former coach of the Indianapolis Colts discourses on
living “a life of significance.”

10 THE BIGGEST LOSER 30-DAY JUMP START, by Cheryl
Forberg, Melissa Roberson, Lisa Wheeler and others. (Rodale,
3

$21.95.) Experts and contestants from the “Biggest Loser” TV

10 WWE ENCYCLOPEDIA, by Brian Shields and Kevin Sullivan.
(DK, $45.) A reference guide to World Wrestling Entertainment.
2 show share weight-loss advice.

hardcover extended paperback extended

11
BAREFOOT CONTESSA BACK TO BASICS, by Ina Garten.

(Clarkson Potter)

11
THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN LIFE, by Rick Warren. (Zondervan)

12
NEVER GIVE UP, by Joyce Meyer. (FaithWords)

12
THE BIGGEST LOSER FAMILY COOKBOOK, by Devin Alex-
ander with Melissa Roberson. (Rodale)

13
MAGNIFICENT MIND AT ANY AGE, by Daniel G. Amen.

(Harmony)

13
A NEW EARTH, by Eckhart Tolle. (Plume)

14
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AHEAD, by Harry S. Dent Jr.
(Free Press)

14
HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU, by Greg Behr­endt and Liz
Tuccillo. (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)

15
FRACTAL TIME, by Gregg Braden. (Hay House)

15
BROKEN OPEN, by Elizabeth Lesser. (Villard)

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ending March 28, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of indepen-
dent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket,
discount department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some book-
stores report receiving bulk orders. Among those categories not actively tracked are: perennial sellers; required classroom reading; text, reference and test preparation guides; journals
and workbooks; calorie counters; shopping guides; comics and crossword puzzles. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Children’s Best Sellers

PICTURE BOOKS
This
CHAPTER BOOKS
Weeks This Weeks
Week On List Week On List

1 LISTEN TO THE WIND: THE STORY OF DR. GREG AND

“THREE CUPS OF TEA”, by Greg Mortenson and Susan L.
10
1 TWILIGHT: DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOK, by Catherine Hard-
wicke. (Little, Brown, $17.99.) The making of “Twilight,” the movie.
2

Roth. (Dial, $16.99.) A school grows in Pakistan. (Ages 4 to 8) (Ages 9 to 12)

2 THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT, by Susan Marie Swanson. Illus-

trated by Beth Krommes. (Houghton Mifflin, $17.) A key, a bed, a
8
2 THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, written by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated
by Dave McKean. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) To avoid a killer, a
26

book, a light, the moon. (Ages 4 to 8) young boy lives in a cemetery. (Ages 10 and up)

3 BLUEBERRY GIRL, by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Charles

Vess. (HarperCollins, $17.99.) A book of wishes, addressed to a
3
3 MILES TO GO, by Miley Cyrus. (Disney-Hyperion, $24.95.) The
life of Miley Cyrus. (Ages 9 to 12)
4

daughter. (All ages)

4 STARGAZER, by Claudia Gray. (HarperTeen, $16.99.) Vampire 1

4 THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR, written and illustrated

by Eric Carle. (Philomel, $29.99.) Still hungry after 40 years. A
2 love in school. (Ages 12 and up)

pop-up book. (Ages 3 and up)

5 THIRTEEN REASONS WHY, by Jay Asher. (Razorbill, $16.99.)
Before committing suicide a girl records and sends explanatory
23

5 GALLOP!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. (Work-

man, $12.95.) Animals seem to move when you flip the page. (Ages
72 audiotapes to 13 people. (Ages 14 and up)

4 to 8)
6 THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins. (Scholastic, $17.99.)
In a dystopian future, a girl fights for survival on live TV. (Ages 12
29

6 NAKED MOLE RAT GETS DRESSED, written and illustrated

by Mo Willems. (Disney-Hyperion, $16.99.) The rodent as indi-
12 and up)

vidualist. (Ages 3 and up)

7 WINTERGIRLS, by Laurie Halse Anderson. (Viking, $17.99.) A
life-and-death story of anorexia. (Ages 12 and up)
2

7 THE COMPOSER IS DEAD, by Lemony Snicket. Illustrated by 4

Carson Ellis. Music by Nathaniel Stookey. (HarperCollins, $17.99.)
A whodunit tour of the orchestra, with audio. (Ages 9 to 12) 8 CHRISTIAN THE LION, by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall.
(Delacorte, $14.99.) The book reissued and adapted for children
2

after a YouTube video attracted millions of hits. (Ages 9 to 12)

8 LADYBUG GIRL AND BUMBLEBEE BOY, by David Soman 4

and Jacky Davis. Illustrated by David Soman. (Dial, $16.99.) A
dynamic duo’’s play-date. (Ages 3 to 5) 9 SCAT, by Carl Hiaasen. (Random House, $16.99.) An eco-mystery,
with a dismal swamp and a cast of wild characters who are not
9

always what they seem. (Ages 9 to 12)

9 SWING!, written and illustrated by Rufus Butler Seder. (Work- 24

man, $12.95.) Children seem to move when you flip the page.
(Ages 4 to 8) 10 FADE, by Lisa McMann. (Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster, $15.99.)
Nightmares haunt Janie the dream-hopper. (Ages 14 and up)
7

10 CAT, written by Matthew Van Fleet and photographed by Brian

Stanton. (Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, $16.99.) All kinds of cats, in
7

motion and rhyme. (Ages 2 and up)

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended March 28, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of indepen-
dent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket,
discount, department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some book-
stores report receiving bulk orders. Perennial sellers are not actively tracked. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books. All four children’s lists appear each week
on the Book Review’s Web site. Publishers have provided the age designations for their best-selling children’s titles.
Copyright © 2009 The New York Times Book Re­­view April 12, 2009
by The New York Times

Children’s Best Sellers

PAPERBACK BOOKS
This
SERIES
Weeks This Weeks
Week On List Week On List

1 EVERMORE, by Alyson Noël. (St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.95.) Im-

mortals in school. (Ages 12 and up)
8
1 THE TWILIGHT SAGA, by Stephenie Meyer. (Megan Tingley/
Little, Brown, hardcover and paper) Vampires and werewolves in
86

high school. (Ages 12 and up)

2 THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak. (Knopf, $11.99.) A girl 81

saves books from Nazi burning and shares them with a Jewish
man in hiding. (Ages 14 and up) 2 DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, written and illustrated by Jeff Kin-
ney. (Abrams, hardcover only) A boy records the hazards of ado-
11

lescent life. (Ages 9 to 12)

3 THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, by John Boyne. 21

(Random House, $8.99.) A boy’s innocence is eroded in evil times.
(Ages 12 and up) 3 HOUSE OF NIGHT, by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. (St. Martin’s,
hardcover and paper) Vampires in school. (Ages 14 and up)
31

4 THREE CUPS OF TEA: YOUNG READERS EDITION, by

Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. (Puffin, $8.99.) A former
10
4 THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, by Cassandra Clare.
(McElderry/Simon & Schuster, hardcover and paper) A girl
1

climber builds schools in Pakistani and Afghan villages. (Ages 9 to battles the forces of darkness. (Ages 14 and up)
12)
5 MAXIMUM RIDE, by James Patterson. (Little Brown, hard- 47

5 TWEAK, by Nic Sheff. (Atheneum, $9.99.) The addiction memoir

of the “Beautiful Boy.” (Ages 14 and up)
10 cover and paper) Winged children try to save the world. (Ages 10
and up)

6 CORALINE, by Neil Gaiman. Illustrated by Dave McKean.

(HarperFestival, $6.99.) A movie tie-in. (Ages 9 to 12)
11
6 FABLEHAVEN, by Brandon Mull. (Shadow Mountain/Aladdin,
hardcover and paperback) Evil is afoot in a sanctuary for magical
5

creatures. (Ages 9 to 12)

7 THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY, by Trenton Lee 32

Stewart. Illustrated by Carson Ellis. (Megan Tingley/Little,
Brown, $6.99.) Gifted kids on a mission. (Ages 9 to 12) 7 THE 39 CLUES, by various authors. (Scholastic, hardcover
only) A brother and sister travel the world in search of the key to
4

their family’s power. (Ages 9 to 12)

8 THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME IN- 1

DIAN, written by Sherman Alexie. Illustrated by Ellen Forney.
(Little, Brown, $8.99.) A boy leaves his reservation for an all-white 8 MAGIC TREE HOUSE, by Mary Pope Osborne. Illustrated by
Sal Murdocca. (Stepping Stone/Random House, hardcover and
204

school. (Ages 12 and up) paper) Winged children try to save the world. (Ages 6 to 9)

9 THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, by Kate DiCamillo. Illustrated

by Timothy Basil Ering. (Candlewick, $7.99.) A mouse, a rat and a
61
9 NIGHT WORLD, by L. J. Smith. (Simon Pulse, paper only) Su-
pernatural races form secret societies. (Ages 14 and up)
17

girl on a magic trip. (Ages 10 and up)

10 HARRY POTTER, by J. K. Rowling. (Arthur A. Levine/Scholas- 217

10 SLAM, by Nick Hornby. (Riverhead, $14.) A skateboarder gets

his girlfriend pregnant. What would Tony Hawk do? (Ages 12 and
22 tic, hardcover and paper) A young wizard hones his skills while
fighting evil. (Ages 10 and up)
up)

Rankings reflect sales, for the week ended March 28, at many thousands of venues where a wide range of general interest books are sold nationwide. These include hundreds of indepen-
dent book retailers (statistically weighted to represent all such outlets); national, regional and local chains; online and multimedia entertainment retailers; university, gift, supermarket,
discount, department stores and newsstands. An asterisk (*) indicates that a book’s sales are barely distinguishable from those of the book above. A dagger (†) indicates that some book-
stores report receiving bulk orders. Perennial sellers are not actively tracked. Expanded rankings are available on the Web: nytimes.com/books. All four children’s lists appear each week
on the Book Review’s Web site. Publishers have provided the age designations for their best-selling children’s titles.
Copyright © 2009 by
The New York Times
The New York Times Book Re­­view
The Letters of Samuel Beckett.
Volume I: 1929-1940. Edited by Martha Dow Fehsen-
feld and Lois More Overbeck. (Cambridge University,
$50.) The publication of the letters, both brilliant and
humanly forthcoming, is an elating cultural moment.
Judas: A Biography, by Susan Gubar. (Norton, $27.95.)
A rich account of the ways — many grim and nauseat-
ing — that the Christian imagination has vented its
wrath on the disciple who betrayed Jesus.
TUNNELING TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH:
Stories, by Kevin Wilson. (Ecco/Harper Perennial, pa-
per, $13.99.) Things explode in Wilson’s stories: parents,
body parts, cows, emotions, expectations.
Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War
II, the End of Civilization,by Nicholson Baker.
(Simon & Schuster, $16.) Baker, pictured below,
the author of seven novels, turns an unorthodox
hand to history in this pacifist interpretation of the
events leading to World War II. Vignettes, each
containing a fact or quotation from one of the main
participants or from someone’s diary, develop
Baker’s themes: British and American racism and
the missed opportunities to keep those countries
out of war with Germany. He makes a “conscien-
tious contribution to the debate about pacifism,”
our reviewer, Colm Toibin, said, calling the book
“an eloquent and passionate assault on the idea
that the deliberate targeting of civilians can ever
be justified.” Baker might recognize Alfred Day,
the protagonist of A. L. Kennedy’s fifth novel, Day
(Vintage, $14.95). He is a depressed former R.A.F.
tail gunner and German-held P.O.W. who returns to
Germany to confront his demons. This excellently
written novel reveals “the ways war can damage
both its victims and its victors nearly beyond re-
pair,” Francine Prose wrote in the Book Review.
Shakespeare’s Wife, by Germaine Greer.
(Harper Perennial, $14.99.) Greer, the author of “The
Female Eunuch,” who earned a doctorate in Eliza-
bethan drama at Newnham College, Cambridge,
has “both a polemicist’s vision and a scholar’s
patience,” our reviewer, Katie Roiphe, said. In
this “lively, rigorous, fiercely imagined” book, she
shows how little evidence there is for earlier (read:
male) biographers’ assumptions about Ann Hatha-
way and the Shakespeares’ unhappy marriage.
The Painter of battles, by Arturo Pérez-
Reverte. Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden.
(Random House, $14.) In this novel — one of the top
10 international best sellers for 2006 — a Croatian
soldier immortalized in a photograph taken just
Editor’s Choice
LICENTIOUS GOTHAM: Erotic Publishing and Its
Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York, by Donna
Dennis. (Harvard University, $29.95.) A Rutgers law
professor examines the so-called fancy books and flash
papers that thrived in the era.
THE FORBIDDEN APPLE: A Century of Sex and
Sin in New York City, by Kat Long. (Ig, $18.95.) Less a
catalog of vice than an analysis of attempts to evade its
suppression, from the Gilded Age to Giuliani’s ’90s.
A DAUGHTER’S LOVE: Thomas More and His Dear-
est Meg, by John Guy. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30.)
The Catholic martyr and his remarkably accomplished
eldest daughter, considered as a pair.
Paperback Row
before the battle of Vukovar in 1991 shows up at the
home of the now-retired Spanish photographer and
threatens to kill him. He describes the hardship
that befell him as a result of becoming “the face of
defeat” — Serbian torture, the murder of his wife
and son — in this intellectual thriller.
The Craftsman, by Richard Sennett. (Yale Uni-
versity, $18.) “Making is thinking,” Sennett writes,
and in this ambitious book, he explores what he
calls “the link between hand and head” among the
practitioners of several crafts. Seeking to rescue the
“working human animal” from scholarly contempt,
he argues that craftsmen are the symbols of the
Enlightenment, who learn through dialogue with
the material world how to develop an “intelligent
hand.”
The End of the Jews, by Adam Mansbach.
(Spiegel & Grau, $14.) A grandfather and grandson,
both writers, borrow from each other’s experience
in this smart and cynical novel. Other forms of bor-
rowing — the appeal of African-American music for
the Jewish grandson, the give-and-take of artistic
partnership — are also explored.
Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers
Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious
Liberty, by Steven Waldman. (Random House, $16.)
America’s national origins are neither Christian,
as some insist, nor secular, as others claim. Rather,
Waldman, a founder of Beliefnet.com, writes as he
makes a full and fair survey of the founders’ reli-
gious views, their faith “was religious liberty — a
revolutionary formula for promoting faith by leav-
ing it alone.”
From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Moth-
er and Her Island, by Lorna Goodison. (Amistad/
HarperCollins, $13.99.) This loving memoir describes
April 12, 2009
DEAR HUSBAND, by Joyce Carol Oates. (Ecco/­
HarperCollins, $24.99.) These 14 noirish narratives
imply that American family life is no protection against
the horrors lurking a block, a click, a phone call away.
THE GLISTER, by John Burnside. (Nan A. Talese/
Doubleday, $22.95.) In this novel, teenage boys start
vanishing in the infected woods of a Scottish town.
THE MISSING, by Tim Gautreaux. (Knopf, $25.95.) As
a child, Gautreaux’s protagonist survived his family’s
massacre, and now he searches for a missing girl.
The full reviews of these and other recent
books are on the Web: nytimes.com/books.
Goodison’s mother, a matriarch known as Mama
Goodie, and her extended family as well as the
history of Jamaica. The village of Harvey River,
named for her great-grandfather, an Englishman,
would “shape my imagination for the rest of my
life,” Goodison, a poet, recalls.
Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People
and Pants in the Borderless World of Global
Trade, by Rachel Louise Snyder. (Norton, $16.95.)
Pants labeled “Made in Peru,” Snyder writes,
“might have cotton from Texas, weaving from
North Carolina, cutting and sewing from Lima,
washing and finishing from Mexico City, and dis-
tribution from Los Angeles.” In this accessible and
lively book, she uses the jeans industry to examine
issues of agriculture, free trade, environmental
safety and workers’ lives.
Somebody Scream!: Rap Music’s Rise to
Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power,
by Marcus Reeves. (Faber & Faber, $16.) Beginning in
1971 and ending with Eminem, this readable history
of hip-hop emerges from the stories of a dozen cel-
ebrated acts and their sociopolitical context.
Bastard Tongues: A Trailblazing Linguist
Finds Clues to Our Common Humanity in the
World’s Lowliest Languages, by Derek Bickerton.
(Hill & Wang, $16.) Bickerton has been studying pid-
gins and Creoles for four decades. In this entertain-
ing memoir, he describes both his career and his
search for an explanation of the origins of Creole
languages. “The evidence from bastard tongues
shows beyond doubt that a major part of language
learning comes from the brain rather than experi-
ence,” he concludes.
Elsa Dixler