Stephen Hawking's classic, A Brief History of Time, published in 1988, established a new benchmark for bestsellers in the realm of science. The theoretical physicist's widely acclaimed work was translated into 40 languages, spent 98 weeks on PW's charts (and 72 weeks on the New York Times list) and sold some 10 million copies worldwide. Now comes The Universe in a Nutshell, published by Bantam on November 6, Hawking's first full-length book of original material for the general reader since A Brief History. In a full-page review, Time called the new work "both rigorous and comprehensible... [we] learn plenty about these seemingly daunting topics and have a lot of fun at the same time." Another reviewer found it "a mind-bendingly gorgeous volume." Much more national media coverage is yet to come, reports Chris Artis, Bantam's assistant publicity director, including a major interview later this month in USA Today. With nearly 200,000 copies in print after two press runs, the book debuts on our nonfiction list at #9 it hit last Friday's Wall St. Journal list at #8 and jumps onto the NYT list next Sunday at #5.
With reporting by Dick Donahue.
