November Publications

In preparation for 20 years, The Olympic Century: The Official History of the Modern Olympic Movement, a 24-volume series, begins rollout in November. A joint editorial undertaking (the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee, 1st Century Project and World Sport Research & Publications) led by former chair of 1st Century Project, screenwriter Gary Allison, provides a definitive reference on all aspects of the Olympics. The first volume, The Ancient Olympiads & Bridges to the Modern Era: Ancient Olympia 2100 BC to AD 1894, explains the origins of the games and provides historic information nuggets (the first Olympiad was a race in 776 B.C.; Diagoras of Rhodes was the Olympic boxing champion in 464 B.C.). Subsequent volumes explore each Olympiad from 1896 through the 1998 games (with 2000 and 2002 to be released in 2004). Each volume contains its own reference section with statistics, notes, credits, bibliography and index. (World Sport Research & Publications [www.olympiccentury.com], $599 series 176p each ISBN 1-888383-00-3)

Hitchcock fans Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal have assembled a meticulously researched work describing the trail the suspense master blazed through the greater San Francisco Bay area in many of his films. Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco is packed with pictures from both the filming time and now, and takes readers on a detailed journey through each step of filming for movies staged in San Francisco or elsewhere in Northern California (The Birds, for example, was filmed in Bodega Bay). The authors present the sites as they were for each scene and then describe those sites as they are today, if they still stand. For instance, the historic Mission Dolores Church, where a detective follows a troubled wife to a graveside in Vertigo, still lies at the heart of the city's Mission District. This book is an essential part of any Hitchcock fan's collection, and it would be a valuable read for Northern California residents who may not know the pop culture history behind many of their hometown's fixtures. (Santa Monica Press, $24.95 288p ISBN 1-891661-27-2)

Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty and Nancy Mitchell and Heather and Kathy McNamara have teamed up to write Chicken Soup for the Sister's Soul: Inspirational Stories About Sisters and Their Changing Relationships, focusing on female siblings and their complicated, emotional relationships with each other. This collection of 100 first-person essays, many taken from books and other previously published material, chronicle the laughs, joys and heartaches of the unique sister relationship. Readers who have sisters—whether by blood or as "Sisters by Heart" friends, to which a section of this book is devoted—will move through the gamut of emotions when they consume this latest Chicken Soup helping. Some stories, such as "How to Torture Your Sister," are funny and lighthearted, reminiscing about silly childhood fights and taunts. Others are heartbreaking narratives about sisters who have died, and are sure to move readers. (Health Communications, $12.95 paper 416p ISBN 0-7573-0024-3)

October Publications

"I can't really hope for much for a country that is as wackily religious as ours," writes Yale English professor Harold Bloom in his somewhat pessimistic contribution to A Perfect World: Words and Paintings from Over 50 of America's Most Powerful People, edited by journalist Debra Trione. Others featured in this small, colorfully illustrated volume include Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, General Norman Schwarzkopf and chemistry Nobel laureate Dudley Herschbach. A wide range of political perspectives are represented, as well as a wide range of artistic skills: stick figures, landscapes of varying legibility and an abstract painting of interlocking arrows representing "flows of trade, capital, people, ideas and technology throughout the globe" are among the offerings. (Andrews McMeel, $16.95 paper 208p ISBN 0-7407-2726-5)

Offering advice that does and doesn't make sense, baseball-great-turned-author Yogi Berra—along with coauthor Dave Kaplan—has penned a new tome, What Time Is It? You Mean Now? Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All. For Berra, it's apparently not over yet; he appears to have plenty of knowledge to share on subjects as diverse as the importance of attitude in life to the plusses of exercising regularly. Each short chapter begins with a quote, such as "I Ain't in a Slump. I'm Just Not Hitting" and "It Gets Late Early Out There"; the strange quips are followed by brief anecdotes that explain—to some degree—just what Berra means. For example, his statement, "It Was a Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity, and I've Had a Couple of Those" leads off the chapter on chances and breaks. According to Berra, opportunities are "always going to be out there" and may appear out of the blue. The short, sweet advice in this book will appeal to the young and old. Agent, David Vigliano. (Simon & Schuster, $19.95 144p ISBN 0-7432-3768-4)

Harvard Business School professor Lynn Sharp Paine had been studying corporate malfeasance long before the Enron debacle. In her forthcoming book, Value Shift: Why Companies Must Merge Social and Financial Imperatives to Achieve Superior Performance, she attempts to introduce readers to an "emerging new standard of corporate performance—one that encompasses both moral and financial dimensions." Based on her researching, teaching and consulting experiences over the past 20 years, Paine has amassed an in-depth understanding of corporate values. She uses examples culled from these experiences to explain the growing emphasis on values, why this changing attitude is important and what the shift means for managers. She ends the book with advice for managers on setting up an organizational infrastructure, hiring employees whose views align with a company's value system and more. This is an important book for ethics-minded managers. (McGraw-Hill, $27.95 288p ISBN 0-07-138239-9)

Physicist and author Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) has compiled an anthology of seminal works by Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. On the Shoulders of Giants: The Great Works of Physics and Astronomy includes Newton's Principia, Einstein's Principle of Relativity and other writings, along with a short biographical chapter on each scientist. Hawking comments on all of the pieces, tracing the ways in which each man was influenced by his predecessors, and the great conceptual strides that these pioneers made. (Running Press, $29.95 1,280p ISBN 0-7624-1348-4)

Crop Circles: Exploring the Designs & Mysteries is Werner Anderhub and Hans Peter Roth's intriguing account of their investigation into this phenomenon of geometric patterns. First appearing in crop fields in 1980s England, the figures have turned up in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, causing some to think they are of metaphysical origin. Some theorize that they are the work of extraterrestrials, others that they are crafted by mere mortals (though how they could appear so quickly in that case has not been ascertained). Other groups suggest that geometry is the key to the universe, that these geometric figures are a kind of communication—they began to appear after the 1970s launch of the Pioneer space probe, which carried the first geometric communication in the form of symbols and mathematical and chemical formulas. The authors include many fascinating photos of their discoveries. (Sterling/Lark, $14.95 144p ISBN 1-57990-297-9)

Stackpole Books launches its new line of how-to books this fall, beginning with Basic Fly Tying: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started, edited by Jon Rounds, with Wayne Luallen consulting on the details. "You can begin with a modest kit. Don't be intimidated," the authors implore. They take readers through the basics and techniques for tying such flies (or "patterns") as the Beadhead Pheasant Tail Nymph and the Marabou Muddler. More than 300 accompanying photos provide extra guidance, and the spiral binding offers ease of use. The series continues with Candle Making. ($19.95 128p ISBN 0-8117-2473-5)