And the first big mass market bestseller for 2002 is John Grisham's A Painted House. That, too, was published on December 26 and the Dell paperback has more than three million copies in print. The popular author also enjoys the top spot on the hardcover fiction chart with Skipping Christmas, which was the bestselling hardcover of the holiday season. During the week right before Christmas, it set a new record for fiction—at just the three major national chains (Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks and Borders) it sold more than 135,000 copies.
With reporting by Dick Donahue.
