Fiction

Southern California ranking: [1] PRIMARY COLORS by Anonymous. (Random House: $24.) A thinly veiled story of the 1992 Democratic primaries by a political insider a la Deep Throat.(1)*

Last Week: 1

Weeks on List: 4

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Southern California ranking: [2] INFINITE JEST by David Foster Wallace. (Little, Brown & Co.: $29.95.)Obsessed consumers populate this satire of the near-future.

Last Week: 10

Weeks on List: 2

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Southern California ranking: [3] ATTICUS by Ron Hansen. (Harper Collins: $22.) A father travels to Mexico to retrieve the body of his prodigal son.

Last Week: --

Weeks on List: 1

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Southern California ranking: [4] THE HORSE WHISPERER by Nicholas Evans. (Delacorte Press:$23.95.)A beautiful journalist escapes New York to find love on the range in Montana.(2)*

Last Week: 2

Weeks on List: 22

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Southern California ranking: [5] IN THE BEAUTY OF THE LILIES by John Updike. (Knopf: $25.95.) The life choices of a 20th century American family as it wrestles with religious faith.(14)

Last Week: 7

Weeks on List: 6

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Southern California ranking: [6] WHITE RABBIT by Kate Phillips. (Houghton Mifflin: $19.95.) A feisty octogenarian’s last day on earth.

Last Week: --

Weeks on List: 1

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Southern California ranking: [7] INTENSITY by Dean Koontz. (Knopf: $25.) The survivor of a killer tries to save the next victim.(3)*

Last Week: 3

Weeks on List: 6

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Southern California ranking: [8] THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH by Salman Rushdie. (Pantheon: $25.) The rise and fall of a Portuguese family in India through four generations.(13)*

Last Week: 4

Weeks on List: 7

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Southern California ranking: [9] ABSOLUTE POWER by David Baldacci. (Warner: $22.95.) Murder among the elite in the nation’s capital.(7)

Last Week: --

Weeks on List: 1

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Southern California ranking: [10] THE POET by Michael Connelly. (Little, Brown and Company: $22.95.) A crime reporter tracks a murderer who has outwitted law enforcement’s best investigators.*

Last Week: 5

Weeks on List: 4

Nonfiction

Southern California ranking: [1] YOU’LL NEVER MAKE LOVE IN THIS TOWN AGAIN by Robin, Liza, Linda and Tiffany. (Dove Books: $22.95.) The used, and their users, in Tinsel Town.

Last Week: 2

Weeks on List: 4

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Southern California ranking: [2] RUSH LIMBAUGH IS A BIG FAT IDIOT And Other Observations by Al Franken. (Delacorte: $21.95.) Wise guy solutions to government complexities.(1)*

Last Week: 3

Weeks on List: 5

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Southern California ranking: [3] THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS by Deepak Chopra. (Amber-Allen Publishing: $12.95.)(5)*

Last Week: 6

Weeks on List: 45

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Southern California ranking: [4] MEN ARE FROM MARS: Women Are From Venus by John Gray, Ph.D. (HarperCollins: $23.)(2)*

Last Week: 5

Weeks on List: 102

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Southern California ranking: [5] TIME PRESENT, TIME PAST: A Memoir by Bill Bradley. (Knopf: $26.) How political disillusionment can snuff out the fire in the belly.(10)

Last Week: --

Weeks on List: 1

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Southern California ranking: [6] HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?! by Laura Schlessinger. (HarperCollins: $22.) The syndicated radio host looks at the perils of pleasure-seeking.(4)*

Last Week: 4

Weeks on List: 4

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Southern California ranking: [7] THE WAY OF THE WIZARD: 20 Lessons for Living a Magical Life by Deepak Chopra. (Crown/Harmony: $15.)(7)*

Last Week: 7

Weeks on List: 7

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Southern California ranking: [8] IT TAKES A VILLAGE: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us by Hillary Rodham Clinton (Simon & Schuster: $20.) Observations on the needs of children by the first lady.(3)*

Last Week: 1

Weeks on List: 6

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Southern California ranking: [9] EMOTIONIAL INTELLIGENCE by Daniel Goleman. (Bantam Doubleday Dell: $23.95.)(6)*

Last Week: --

Weeks on List: 18

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Southern California ranking: [10] BREAKING THE NEWS: How the Media Undermine American Democracy by James Fallows. (Pantheon: $23.)

Last Week: 8

Weeks on List: 3

Rankings are based on The Times’ poll of local bookstores. National rankings (parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. For information on Times bestsellers, call (213) 237-4336 after 11 a.m. on Wednesdays.

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson. (Vintage: $12.)*

2. THE RAINMAKER by John Grisham. (Bantam: $7.99.)*

3. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Jane Austen. (Signet/NAL: $5.99.)*

4. THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields. (Penguin: $10.95.)

5. CORELLI’S MANDOLIN by Louis De Bernieres. (Random: $13.)

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NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1996 L.A./SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95.)

2. THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron. (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam: $13.95.)*

3. THE BEARDSTOWN LADIES’ COMMON-SENSE INVESTMENT GUIDE. (Godin/Hyperion: $10.95.)

4. BEING DIGITAL by Nicholas Negroponte. (Vintage: $12.)

5. DEAD MAN WALKING by Helen Prejean. (Vintage: $12.)

* denotes books available in audio.

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National rankings (parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. For information on Times bestsellers, call (213) 237-4336 after 11 a.m. on Wednesdays.