ANDREWS MCMEEL
Birthdays Rock and So Do You! (Mar., $9.95) by Cate Holly is a book of poems and thoughts plus a burnable CD to personalize with a special song or message for a friend's birthday. 25,000 first printing.
The Meaning of Life (Mar., $9.95) by Bradley Trevor Greive pairs playful photographs of animals with amusing captions. 500,000 first printing. Author publicity.
BLOOMBERG PRESS
The New Yorker Book of Golf Cartoons (May, $21.95), edited by Robert Mankoff, cartoon editor for the magazine, culls the best.
CARLTON BOOKS
The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner (Aug., $22.50) by Russell Taylor is an account of a comparatively unfit 39-year-old Londoner's humiliating experience running the New York City marathon.
CASSELL
(dist. by Sterling)
Big Book of Bodily Functions: 4500 Words for Bodily Functions and Body Parts (Apr., $8.95) by Jonathon Green is a scat fest of bad taste.
FREE PRESS
You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant: 101 Real Dumb Laws (June, $14.95) by Jeff Koons and Andy Powell. From the creators of the Web site DumbLaws.com comes this compendium of half-witted American laws.
LAWRENCE HILL BOOKS
(dist. by IPG)
African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (May; $29.95, paper $18.95) by Mel Watkins is a compilation that gives new meaning to the phrase "black humor." Ad/promo.
Snob JobDid your family come over on the Mayflower? Better still, did they meet it when it docked? Was your daughter a deb? (Your son?) These and many more barometers of "social standing" and "class" are scrutinized--and frequently skewered--in  Snobbery: The American Version, due from Houghton Mifflin in July. (And where will you be that month: East Hampton? Nantucket? Coney Island?) Author Joseph Epstein applies both humor and insight to his fastidious dissection of old snobbery (WASP culture, prep schools, the Social Register) and its metamorphosis into the new version (fine dining, high-achieving kids, name-dropping on the grandest of scales). According to H-M senior publicist Walter Vatter, "Everyone talks about snobbery, and no one agrees. There hasn't been a book on this provocative subject since Thackeray's The Book of Snobs. From political to occupational to food, Joseph Epstein's book redefines snobbery for the 21st century." |
HENRY HOLT
The Bear in the Attic (Aug., $22) by Patrick F. McManus bares the truth behind outdoorsman's wit by pondering the strange allure of the RV, the pleasure of doubling the size of every fish not caught and more. Advertising. Author tour.
INDIANA UNIV. PRESS
Sex and Humor: Selections from the Kinsey Institute (Mar., $24.95), edited by Catherine Johnson et al., combines art and artifacts from the institute with four essays focusing on humor and sexuality.
PUTNAM
We'll Laugh Again (Aug., $24.95) by Art Buchwald is a nostalgic glance at this past decade. Advertising. Author publicity.
RUNNING PRESS
Mr. Potato Head (Mar., $14.95) by Gil King celebrates the 50th anniversary of the whimsical spud and includes a kit with "new and improved" facial parts. 50,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo.
TRIUMPH
A Golf Handbook: All I Ever Learned I Forgot by the Third Fairway, Treasury Edition (May, $19.95) by Jeff McNelly. In this revised edition, the original black-and-white graphics have been colorized for more punch.
UNIVERSE
How to Behave and Why (May, $14.95) by Munro Leaf is a repackaged, funny book of manners.
VILLARD
I'm Back for More Cash:Because You Can't Take 200 Newspapers into the Bathroom. (May, $22.95) by Tony Kornheiser is a collection from the Washington Post sports columnist and ESPN contributor.. Author publicity.
The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grown-Up (June, $19.95) by Dan Zevin muses on the inescapable fact that Generation X is all grown up.
WILLOW CREEK PRESS
Golden Rules (Mar., $14.95), photos by Denver Bryan, is an amusing look at golden retrievers.
WORKMAN
You Stink! (I Love You) and Other Unexpected Sibling Wisdom (Apr., $7.95), compiled by Stuart Hample, depicts sibling relationships in kids' own words.
