America Is My Neighborhood

This is a book calculated successfully soto hit America in the heart, to bring a smile to the lips and a lump to the throat. At the start, Today Show weatherman Scott confesses that he's a sucker for cheerleaders and marching bands, then interviews organizers of both. He goes on to ""working-class heroes,'' handicapped and phobic people who have beaten the odds, Christmas lights and trees, radio announcers, clowns and circuses, philanthropists (usually poor), immigrants who have succeeded and very old people. All of them, in Scott's perspective, are just grand and upbeat. Sophisticated readers may overdose on the book's down-home folksiness, but considering Scott's popularity on the tube, it should sell very well indeed. Photos. Literary Guild featured alternate; Doubleday Book Club alternate; author tour. (October 26)