DEATH SHALL HAVE NO DOMINION
Dylan Thomas might have been referring to our bestseller charts when he wrote the above line: this week's three fiction newcomers, as well as one new mass market arrival, are by authors now deceased. Undoubtedly the most famous is Ernest Hemingway, whose True at First Light: A Fictional Memoir was published by Scribner with, according to publicity director Pat Eisemann, "a print run of well over 200,000." Patrick Hemingway, second son of Ernest and Pauline Hemingway, appeared on Today on pub date (July 7); he also did New York NPR interviews and events at the Smithsonian and the National Archives. Eisemann noted, "There was one event at The Book Mark Cafe, in Oyster Bay, Long Island, where bookseller Daria Lamb organized a fantastic panel that included Patrick, Charlie Scribner III, Lillian Ross [she wrote Portrait of Hemingway] and Kenneth Voss of the National Archives. The discussion will be on C-Span July 25. There was also a chat between Charlie and Patrick on the S&S Web site." An S&S audio version of the book, she added, is read by recent Tony Award winner Brian Dennehy. Also new on the fiction list are A Very Strange Trip by L. Ron Hubbard and Dave Wolverton (Bridge Publications), which we wrote about last week, and McNally's Dilemma by Lawrence Sanders. Putnam published this eighth installment in the series about the dapper Palm Beach P.I. on July 5; there are nearly 176,000 copies in print.

Just about every title by the late V.C. Andrews has landed on our mass market list, so it's no surprise to see Misty grabbing today's #11 spot. This first entry in the Wildflowers series was published by Pocket on July 6 with a 1,225,000-copy printing; the next four titles (Star, Jade, Cat and Into the Garden) will follow between August and December.

LUCKY ON THE LISTS
Jackie Collins is enjoying a nice run on the charts with Dangerous Kiss, her fifth bestseller to star Lucky Santangelo. The glamorous author's appearances for the book included Hollywood Squares, E! Entertainment TV, Roseanne and Donny and Marie. Simon & Schuster launched the book with radio and TV satellite tours of 20 cities each. Copies in print after two trips to press: 207,500.

STORMING THE CHARTS
The folks at Hyperion are hoping that its regional bestseller (#6 on Boston Globe list) and independent bookstore favorite (#12 on the Independent Bestseller list) will also hit the national charts. The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey by Linda Greenlaw was published in May with a 50,000 first printing. Seven printings later, that figure is up to 104,500. Greenlaw, the only working female swordfishing boat captain, gained fame thanks to her part in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm -- she was the captain of the sister ship to the Andrea Gail and was one of the last to speak to the ship before it went down. Last week (July 15) an ABC News special called Vanished featured Greenlaw's role in the 1991 storm made famous in Junger's book. A People feature is in the works, and CBS Sunday Morning has taped a segment about Greenlaw to air later this summer. Meanwhile, Greenlaw is spending her summer driving from store to store throughout New England and down the East Coast. According to publicity director Jennifer Landers, she's drawing standing-room-only crowds at her signings. "Customers love her because she's 100% real -- she talks the talk and walks the walk."

FROM RUSSIA TO CUBA
A starred review from PW ("gripping, worldly wise and brimming with emotional intelligence, this novel showcases Smith at the top of his game") and more glowing reviews; a five-city tour; and print and TV advertising landed Martin Cruz Smith's Havana Bay on the national charts. So far, his tenure on PW's list is one month; and Random House is busily selling its 175,000-copy first printing.

With reporting by Dick Donahue.