ALYSON
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not: Romantic Fiction (Apr., $14.95) by Leslia Newman is the lesbian author's first collection of love stories. Advertising.
ANCHOR
Reprints: The Age of Grief (May, $12) by Jane Smiley; John Henry Days (May, $14) by Colson Whitehead; Choke (June, $13) by Chuck Palahniuk; Any Way the Wind Blows (July, $12) by E. Lynn Harris.
ANTHEM
(dist. by Stylus)
Early Victorian English Literature: An Anthology, edited by Rod Mengham, and Late Victorian English Literature... (both May, $45 each), edited by Caroline Blyth, include criticism along with the work of both greats and unknowns.
ARCADIA BOOKS
A River in May (Apr., $13.95) by Edward Wilson. Murderous gringos let loose on a Third World country.
ARTE PUBLICO PRESS
Never Through Miami (Mar., $12.95) by Roberto Quesada. A Latin American immigrant finds misadventure while storming the urban arts scene.
AVON
May December Souls (Mar., $13.95) by Marissa Monteilh. Stuck in an unsatisfactory relationship, an African-American is drawn to a man 20 years her junior.
For Better, for Worse (May, $14.95) by Carole Matthews is the latest hip, contemporary woman's novel in the English invasion.
The Dominant Blonde (June, $13.95) by Alisa Kwitney. Can Lydia's search for the perfect boyfriend and the ideal hair color be within reach?
BALLANTINE
Dog Handling (May, $12.95) by Clare Naylor. When Liv's fiancé calls off the wedding, her big opportunity awaits.
Reprints: Big Cherry Holler (Apr., $13.95) by Adriana Trigiani; Back When We Were Grownups (May, $14.95) by Anne Tyler; The Fourth Hand (June, $15.95) by John Irving.
BERKLEY
The Seduction (June, $12.95) by Julia Ross. After losing everything in a card game, a viscount must bed a mysterious woman.
Harmony (July, $14) by Jayne Ann Krentz. Two futuristic romances set on the planet Harmony are, for the first time, in one volume.
Reprints: Casual Rex (Mar., $12.95) by Eric Garcia; Out of the Shadows (Apr., $14) by Linda Lael Miller; Honest Illusions (Aug., $TBA) by Nora Roberts.
BERKLEY/SIGNATURE
Caliente!: The Best Erotic Writing in Latin American Literature (June, $13), edited by J.H. Blair, showcases a variety of heated stories.
Reprints: American Fuji (Mar., $14) by Sara Backer; The Hatbox Baby (June, $14) by Carrie Brown; Blue Diary (Aug., $13) by Alice Hoffman.
BET/NEW SPIRIT
(dist. by Kensington)
The Prodigal Husband (Apr., $15) by Jacquelin Thomas. Tragedy and betrayal interrupt the seemingly perfect life of Tori and Jake.
BET/SEPIA
(dist. by Kensington)
Surviving Mr. Right (Apr., $15) by Teresa McClain-Watson. Obstacles come between three smart women and the right man.
BETHANY HOUSE
Twilight (July, $11.99) by Kristen Heitzmann. Haunted by memories of a tragic accident, a fireman turns to an old girlfriend for help.
Quinlin's Estate (Aug., $11.99) by David Ryan Long. In her fight to save a historic home, a grad student uncovers a town's dark secrets.
BIRLINN
(dist. by Interlink)
The Red Door: The Complete English Stories 1949-1976 and The Black Halo: The Complete English Stories 1977-1998 (both Apr., $16 each) by Iain Crichton Smith, edited by Kevin MacNeil, collect 90 of the Scottish author's stories that were never before published in book form.
BLACK SPARROW PRESS
Weep Not, My Wanton: Stories & Poems (Mar., $17) by Maggie Dubris. Based on a paramedic's experiences, New York City is portrayed as a 20th-century version of Dante's Inferno.
MARION BOYARS
Blue of Noon (May, $14.95) by Georges Bataille is set against the backdrop of Europe's slide into fascism.
BRAVA
(dist. by Kensington)
Too Much Temptation (Mar., $14) by Lori Foster. A couple's uncomplicated passion leads to more.
Again and Again (May, $15) by Susan Johnson is a historical erotic romance in which a woman who takes shelter in a country inn encounters the man who betrayed her.
BROADMAN & HOLMAN
The Darwin Conspiracy: The Confessions of Sir Max Busby (May, $12.99) by James Scott Bell exposes the inadequacies of the theory of evolution.
BROADWAY BOOKS
Reprints: The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist (May, $14.95) by Dan Jenkins; Mr. Maybe (June, $11.95) by Jane Green.
CITY LIGHTS BOOKS
Death in Troy (June, $11.95) by Bilge Karasu, trans. by Aron Aji. Originally from Turkey, this story follows a boy growing up in a small coastal village. Advertising.
CLEIS PRESS
I Am a Woman (May, $12.95) by Ann Bannon depicts the lesbian bohemia of 1950s Greenwich Village.
Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American Fiction (June, $24.95), edited by Devon W. Carbado et al., assembles 40 authors, including Alice Walker, E. Lynn Harris and Langston Hughes.
COFFEE HOUSE PRESS
Little Casino (May, $14.95) by Gilbert Sorrentino uncovers sexy and humorous details of Brooklyn life. Advertising.
Some of Her Friends That Year: New and Selected Stories (May, $16.95) by Maxine Chernoff probes the baffling and amusing behavior of middle-agers. Advertising. Author tour.
CUMBERLAND HOUSE
In the Shadow of the Wall (Apr., $16.95), edited by Byron R. Tetrick, gathers alternative history stories by writers from the Vietnam era.
DAFINA
Candy Don't Come in Gray (Aug., $14) by Roslyn Carrington. A woman's illegitimate daughter and surrogate son learn that they are free to choose whom to love.
Reprints: Soulmates Dissipate (Apr., $15) by Mary B. Morrison; The Upper Room (July, $15) by Mary Monroe.
DALKEY ARCHIVE PRESS
Flotsam and Jetsam (Mar., $13.95) by Aidan Higgins presents short stories by the Irish writer.
Iceland (June, $13.50) by Jim Krusoe. The narrator makes love to a woman he meets while swimming in a pool filled with internal organs.
JOHN DANIEL
Between Man and Woman Keys (May, $12.95) by Rosalind Brackenbury. In these stories, fishermen, Cuban refugees and grifters settle in Key West.
DENLINGER'S
Reprints: Biscuits and Gunfire for Breakfast (Mar., $12.95) by David Dillinger; Jacob's Ladder (Mar., $17.95) by Jules M. Seletz, M.D.
DTP/DELTA
Reprints: Paradise Park (May, $12.95) by Allegra Goodman, 35,000 first printing; Mother Rocket (July, $12.95) by Rita Ciresi, 30,000 first printing.
ECCO
Reprints: The Torturer's Apprentice (Mar., $12.95) by John Biguenet; Faithless: Tales of Transgression (June, $14.95) by Joyce Carol Oates.
FC2
(dist. by Northwestern Univ. Press)
Soul Resin (Mar., $13.95) by C.W. Cannon is a Southern gothic horror novel with a postmodern bent.
Short Shorts It's true that the Brits have a reputation for brevity, but who knew they'd carry it this far? Each year England's Daily Telegraph sponsors a contest for the best mini-saga--a short story that must be exactly 50 words in length. The competition, which was the brainchild of noted SF writer Brian Aldiss, first ran in 1982; the paper received 32,000 entries. At its next appearance, in 1985, 50,000 entries were received, and it was decided to compile an anthology of the best entries. Fast-forward to March 2002 and the publication of the sixth of these collections, whose appropriately brief title is Mini-Sagas (Enitharmon, dist. by Dufour Editions). Herewith we present a sample entry (one of the 'highly commended' selections), 'Russia Revisited.' Poor and huddled, she had reached America full of hope, settled, her three children prospered. Years later, a great-granddaughter from Topeka, Kansas, intrepid though roundly obese, journeyed back to Saratov. There, in her crumpled shell suit, with dreams of ancestral links forgotten, she searched vainly for a restroom. (This tale illustrates what Aldiss, in the book's introduction, refers to as 'a good deed shining in a naughty set of restrictions'--hyphenated words can count as either one word or two.) |
FEMINIST PRESS
Rape of Sita (July, $14.95) by Lindsey Colleen. An independent woman faces the consequences of her rape in this novel from Africa. Advertising.
FITHIAN PRESS
Bay to Breakers (June, $14.95) by Frank Frost. A 'cast of characters' become involved in the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco.
FORGE
The Magdalen (Mar., $14.95) by Marita Conlon-McKenna. Pregnant and abandoned, a young Irish girl enters a Dublin convent. Advertising.
Shadows of Blue and Gray (Mar., $24.95) by Ambrose Bierce revisits the horrors of the American Civil War. Advertising.
Reprints: Chemical Pink (Apr., $13.95) by Katie Arnoldi; The Singing Sword (May, $14.95) by Jack Whyte.
FOUR WALLS EIGHT WINDOWS
Reprint: Paper Moon (Apr., $13.95) by Joe David Brown is a 30th-anniversary edition.
GRANTA
Taking It to Heart (Apr., $11.95) by Marie Desplechin. Stories embrace life and love in today's Paris.
GROVE PRESS
Reprints: Crawling at Night (Apr., $12.50) by Nani Power, 25,000 first printing; In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd (May, $12) by Ana Menendez, 35,000 first printing.
HARCOURT/HARVEST
Reprints: Snow Mountain Passage (Apr., $14) by James D. Houston, 75,000 first printing; Slammerkin (May, $14) by Emma Donoghue; Elvis in the Morning (June, $14) by William F. Buckley Jr.
HILL STREET PRESS
Best of the Oxford American: Ten Years of Contemporary Southern Writing (May, $16.95), edited by Marc Smirnoff, anthologizes pieces published in John Grisham's journal. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. 15-city author tour.
HODDER & STOUGHTON
(dist. by Trafalgar Square)
Triple Alliance (May, $9.95) by Nigel Tranter tells of 17th-century Colonel Stansfield, founder of the woolen mills in Scotland's Haddington.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN/MARINER
Reprints: The Wind Done Gone (Apr., $12) by Alice Randall, 75,000 first printing; Taps (Apr., $13) by Willie Morris, 25,000 first printing; Hotel Honolulu (May, $14) by Paul Theroux, 25,000 first printing; Almost (June, $13) by Elizabeth Benedict, 20,000 first printing.
JOAN OF ARC
The Race of Leaves: A Rebels' Fable (May, $11.95) by A.M. Provinzano satirizes war, social corruption and man's inhumanity to man.
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV. PRESS
Dream Date (May, $13.95) by Jean McGarry. Surrealistic tales reveal relationships' unconscious desires and fears.
KENSINGTON
Summer Share (May, $14) by Chris Kenry et al. Four novellas celebrate gay fun in the sun.
Party Girls (July, $14) by Roz Bailey introduces three 30-somethings looking for Mr. Right.
Reprints: Tricks of the Trade (June, $14) by Ben Tyler; Someone Killed His Boyfriend (July, $14) by David Stukas.
LEAPFROG PRESS
(dist. by Consortium)
Paradise Dance (Aug., $14.95) by Michael Lee. Stories are told in a voice from Boston's working-class outskirts.
LITTLE, BROWN/BACK BAY
Reprints: Demonology (Apr., $13.95) by Rick Moody; The Gospel of Judas (May, $13.95) by Simon Mawer; All the Finest Girls (June, $13.95) by Alexandra Styron.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIV. PRESS
The Night Travellers (Apr., $17.95) by Elizabeth Spencer. Lovers are torn apart by the Vietnam War. Advertising.
MCBOOKS PRESS
The Hanging Matter ($16.95) and Element of Chance (both Apr., $17.95) by David Donachie are #3 and #4 in the Privateersman Mystery series.
Badge of Glory ($16.95) and The First to Land (both Apr., $15.95) by Douglas Reeman launch the Royal Marines Saga series.
MCCLELLAND & STEWART
The Dominion of Wylie McFadden (July, $14.95) by Scott Gardiner is described as a cross between On the Road and The Call of the Wild.
MARLOWE & COMPANY
Escape: Stories of Getting Away from It All (June, $16.95), edited by Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker, defines the impulse to defy conventional life. 25,000 first printing.
MODERN LIBRARY
Reprint: Fury (Aug., $12.95) by Salman Rushdie.
MTV BOOKS
Crooked (May, $12.95) by Louisa Luna. A young woman struggles to rebuild her life after prison. Ad/promo. Author publicity.
MULTNOMAH
Deirdre: The Fires of Gleannmara Series (Mar., $11.99) by Linda Windsor. In the third book of the series, a Saxon pirate prince captures a devout princess with the key to heavenly and earthly kingdoms.
Halfway to Forever (Apr., $11.99) by Karen Kingsbury. Two couples learn to depend on God every day.
NBM
No Pasaran (July, $14) by Vittorio Giardino is the final volume of a story set during the Spanish Civil War.
THOMAS NELSON
Touch the Face of God (Mar., $14.99) by Robert Vaughan. During the drama of WWII, faith in God was our national security. 45,000 first printing.
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
Reprint: Liar's Game (May, $13.95) by Eric Jerome Dickey.
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY/ACCENT
The Matter of Grace (May, $12.95) by Jessica Barksdale Inclan. A dying woman deceives her friends.
NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY/NOIR
A Century of Noir: Thirty-Two Classic Crime Stories (Apr., $15), edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins, relishes the dark side of life.
NEW YORK REVIEW of BOOKS CLASSICS
The Go-Between (Mar., $14.95) by L.P. Hartley. A lad enters the world of adults with tragic consequences.
Corrigan (June, $14.95) and Great Granny Webster (Aug., $12.95) both by Caroline Blackwood are tales of mystery and emotional havoc.
NORTHWESTERN UNIV. PRESS
His Current Woman (Apr., $15.95) by Jerzy Pilch relates the comic misadventures of a philanderer and the angry lover in his attic.
W.W. NORTON
Reprints: The God of Nightmares (June, $13.95) by Paula Fox; A Dog's Ransom ( $12.95) and Little Tales of Misogyny (both Aug., $11) both by Patricia Highsmith.
PARACLETE PRESS
Blue Hope (Mar., $12.95) by Robert Waldron. Fighting depression, John Highet finds hope in a monastery.
PENGUIN
The Crooked Man (July, $13) by Philip Davison. A freelancer working in British intelligence cleans up a cabinet member's crime of passion. 50,000 first printing. 5-city author tour.
Housewrights (July, $13) by Art Corriveau. A young woman's love for twin brothers divides a small town. 30,000 first printing. Ad/promo. Author tour.
Reprints: Cause Celeb (Mar., $13) by Helen Fielding, 100,000 first printing; A Common Life (Apr., $13) by Jan Karon, 1 million first printing; Miss Julia Takes Over (May, $14) by Ann Ross, 100,000 first printing; Year of Wonders (May, $14) by Geraldine Brooks, 100,000 first printing; Ex-Libris (June, $14) by Ross King, 50,000 first printing.
PERENNIAL
In Open Spaces (July, $13.95) by Russell Rowland. A man's death by drowning in eastern Montana triggers a turbulent family story.
Reprints: In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden (Mar., $12.95) by Kathleen Cambor; The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse (Apr., $12.95) by Louise Erdrich; Bel Canto (May, $13.95) by Ann Patchett.
PICADOR
Holden's Performance (May, $14) by Murray Bail follows a guileless innocent on his wandering through the cities and landscapes of Australia.
Ways of Dying (Aug., $13) by Zakes Mda is a comic novel of love and strife.
Reprints: The Love Artist (Apr., $13) by Jane Alison; The Collected Stories of Richard Yates (May, $16) by Richard Yates; The Good German (July, $TBA) by Joseph Kanon.
PINEAPPLE PRESS
Tellable Cracker Tales, Vol. 2 (Apr.; $8.95, cloth $14.95) by Annette Bruce provides storytellers with yarns that are mythical, moving and funny.
PLUME
Farm Fatale (Mar., $13) by Wendy Holden. Two city couples go country.
After Hours: A Collection of Erotic Writing by Black Men (Aug., $14), edited by Robert Fleming. Eighteen stories portray the richness of the African-American sexual experience.
Reprints: Miss Garnet's Angel (Mar., $13) by Salley Vickers; A Perfect Arrangement (May, $13) by Suzanne Berne; The Rackets (June, $14) by Thomas Kelly.
POCKET BOOKS
The Autobiography of a Bed (July, $12) by Christina Dodd and Connie Brockway traces how a magnificent bed affected the lovers who slept in it throughout English history.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Reprint: Purple Dots (June, $13) by Jim Lehrer.
RANDOM HOUSE
Reprints: Hollowpoint (Mar., $11.95) by Rob Reuland; Carry Me Across the Water (May, $12.95) by Ethan Canin; A Soldier's Duty (June, $11.95) by Thomas E. Ricks; The Holy Road (July, $13.95) by Michael Blake.
RED DEER PRESS
The Kappa Child (May, $16.95) by Hiromi Goto concerns an immaculate conception, abductions by aliens and amorous cucumbers.
TransLit: Vol. 5 (May, $14.95), edited by Maureen Ranson, assembles writers and translators from Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, the U.S. and Belgium.
FLEMING H. REVELL
Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights: Heartwarming Scenes of Small Town Life (July, $10.99) by Annette Smith is a collection enlivened by the folks who call Ella Louise, Tex., their home sweet home.
RIVERHEAD
Reprint: How to Be Good (May, $13) by Nick Hornby.
ROBERTS RINEHART
Reprint: The Virginian: A Horseman on the Plains (May; $29.95, cloth $150) by Owen Wister is a 100th-anniversary edition.
ST. MARTIN'S/GRIFFIN
Saucer (Mar., $14.95) by Stephen Coonts is a change-of-pace flying saucer adventure. 200,000 first printing.
The Paris Option (June, $15.95) by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds is a new thriller in the Covert-One series. 500,000 first printing.
SCRIBNER
The Linnet's Tale (Apr., $12) by Dale C. Willard is narrated by Waterford Hopstep, a linnet raised by a family of field mice.
Inca: The Puma's Shadow (Aug., $14) by A.B. Daniel. A dying king confers upon the daughter of a princess the mystery of the Inca Gods, and then Pizarro arrives.
Reprints: Man and Boy (May, $12) by Tony Parsons; City of Dreams: A Novel of Nieuw Amsterdam and Early Manhattan (July, $15) by Beverly Swerling; Just Say No! (July, $14) by Omar Tyree.
Does It Come in Other Colors? It seems that every season there are a handful of books that command attention because of an especially quirky title--our nomination in this category is Susie, Sadly, and the Black Torpedo of Doom. Billed by publisher NAL as 'a hilarious tale of growing up in the 1950s,' this August release is the work of John Littell, whose 2000 memoir, French Impressions, PW found 'charmingly related.' While that title chronicled Littell's family misadventures abroad, Susie finds the brood back on U.S. soil, firmly planted in the (somewhat less than peaceful) New York City suburbs. According to NAL executive editor Audrey LaFehr, 'It's like taking a time machine back to Norman Rockwell's America, landing in 1956 suburbia where the Littell family's uproarious and heartwarming stories will have you nodding with recognition and laughing until you cry. This is American nostalgia at its best--perfect for fans of Calvin Trillin or Garrison Keillor.' |
SHAMBHALA
Cape Random (May, $14.95) by Bernice Morgan recounts the hardships faced by the settlers of Newfoundland.
SOHO PRESS/ASIA 2000
Lipstick and Other Stories (Apr., $10) by Alex Kuo is set in China in the 1940s and deals with repression, state terrorism and dissidence.
SOURCEBOOKS LANDMARK
Red Clay, Blue Cadillac (Apr., $15) by Michael Malone. Each story features a crafty Southern belle. 25,000 first printing.
SPINSTERS INK
The Yellow Cathedral (Apr., $14) by Anita Mason deals with greed, oil reserves and the conflict between the Chiapas Indians and the Mexican government. Ad/promo.
STEERFORTH PRESS
Plainsong (May, $14) by Nancy Huston. Coming upon her deceased grandfather's journal, Paula recreates his life through its fragments.
Twenty-Three Days in the City of Alba (May, $14) by Beppe Fenoglio is a collection based upon the author's adventures in the Italian resistance during WWII.
STORY LINE PRESS
The Baby Tree (Apr., $15.95) by Erin McGraw. Townspeople question the good deeds of Pastor Kate Gussey and her husband, Ned, when her ex-husband shows up in the small community.
SUNSTONE PRESS
He Ain't Dead: A Reed Haddok Western (Apr., $16.95) by Tom Whatley. Bounty hunters underestimate the wily Haddok.
SYRACUSE UNIV. PRESS
Anna in the Afterlife (Apr., $22.95) by Merrill Joan Gerber. Aged and facing death, Anna feels free to comment on what she could not know in her prime.
THUNDER'S MOUTH PRESS
Legend of a Rock Star (May, $13.95) by Dee Dee Ramone follows the former bassist and songwriter for the Ramones on a hellish European tour culminating in the death of bandmate Joey Ramone. Advertising.
TRANSACTION
The Age of Happy Problems (Apr., $24.95) by Herbert Gold employs essays to fictionalize problems faced by eclectic characters in the middle of their years and careers.
TYNDALE HOUSE
They Shall See God (Apr., $11.99) by Athol Dickson depicts a bizarre crime wave in New Orleans's Jewish community.
UNIV. OF MISSOURI PRESS
Night-Blooming Cereus (Apr., $15.95) by K.A. Longstreet. The story collection addresses how imagination seeks to transcend external events.
UNIV. OF TENNESSEE PRESS
Stone Man Mountain (Mar.; $19.95, cloth $45) by Annabel Thomas. Characters attempt to escape their Appalachian heritage, only to be drawn back to their agrarian roots.
VILLARD/STRIVERS ROW
Sittin' in the Front Pew (Apr., $13.95) by Parry 'EbonySatin' Brown. Returning home to bury her beloved, long-widowed father, Glynda begins to wonder if he had something to hide--like another daughter. 7-city author tour.
Promises to Keep (June, $13.95) by Gloria Mallette. A bitter divorce, a custody battle and murder figure in this story of strife and loss within an African-American family.
WARNER
Reprints: Last Refuge of Scoundrels: A Revolutionary Novel (Mar., $14.95) by Paul Lussier; Cane River (Apr., $13.95) by Lalita Tademy; Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (Apr., $12.95) by James Patterson; Kleopatra (Aug., $13.95) by Karen Essex; Hometown Legend (Aug., $13.95) by Jerry B. Jenkins.
WASHINGTON SQUARE PRESS
Reprints: Good in Bed (Apr., $13) by Jennifer Weiner; Chalktown (June, $14) by Melinda Haynes.
WELCOME RAIN
Reprint: The River Below (May, $15) by François Cheng.
ZONDERVAN
Color the Sidewalk for Me (Mar., $12.99) by Brandilyn Collins. Celia returns home to help nurse her father despite strain between herself and her cold, harsh mother.
Jordan's Star (May, $12.99) by Gilbert Morris. A widow remarries, but her 'dead' husband returns very much alive.
Reprint: Julie (Apr., $12.99) by Catherine Marshall.
