Right below the top 15 fiction bestsellers is a group of novels that are selling really well. In ranked order, they are: Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon (Broadway Books), The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Random House), Nimitz Class by Patrick Robinson (HarperCollins), Crooked Little Heart by Anne Lamott (Pantheon) and Actual by Saul Bellow (Viking).
Kanon's debut novel has been hovering right below the fiction list for the last two weeks. It has made regional lists, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Boston Globe, and has enjoyed stellar reviews (beginning with a starred box in PW). Kanon kicked off his 12-city tour June 2 in New York City, at Barnes &Noble's Union Square store, where about 100 people came out on a cold and very rainy night. The tour naturally includes southwestern cities near Los Alamos and regions where many retired bomb scientists are clustered. The first printing was 75,000 copies.
Next on the almost-made-it list is a another debut novel that's enjoying stellar reviews. Arundhati Roy, an award-winning Indian screenwriter and actress, made headlines last year when her The God of Small Things was sold in England and 16 other countries. Total in print after two trips to press is 30,000 copies. The author's North American tour begins today in New York; stops include Storrs, Conn., Providence, R.I., Washington, D.C., Seattle, Minneapolis and Toronto.
