Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

October 7, 2001

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

2 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

3 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Anchor: $14) A tale of two sisters and an unpublished sci-fi novel.

4 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

5 BEE SEASON by Myla Goldberg (Vintage: $13) A young girl wins her family’s attention after excelling at spelling bees.

6 THE FEAST OF LOVE by Charles Baxter (Vintage: $13) Love, sacrifice and redemption in Michigan lives.

7 THE HUMAN STAIN by Philip Roth (Vintage: $14) Sex and scandal surround an aging faculty dean in a quiet town.

8 WHITE TEETH by Zadie Smith (Vintage: $14) Race, sex and class refracted in the lives of two eccentric London families.

9 DROWNING RUTH by Christina Schwarz (Ballantine: $14.95) A mystery set in Wisconsin at the end of World War I.

10 L.A. DEAD by Stuart Woods (Signet: $7.99) Stone Barrington is a moth to an old flame who may have killed her husband.

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.

2 PARIS TO THE MOON by Adam Gopnik (Random House: $14.95) Joyous dispatches from the City of Light.

3 ON WRITING by Stephen King (Pocket: $14.95) Memoir of the writer’s early years and the inspiration for “Carrie.”

4 BAND OF BROTHERS by Stephen E. Ambrose (Touchstone Books: $16) The elite fighting force Easy Company.

5 ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris (Little, Brown: $14.95) Wisecracking essays on life in Paris and elsewhere.

6 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

7 A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers (Vintage: $14) A 22-year-old raises his kid brother.

8 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE BIKE by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (Berkley: $13) A cyclist’s race against cancer.

9 CHERRY by Mary Karr (Plume: $14) “The Liars’ Club” author describes her teen years in a lonesome Texas town.

10 THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO SURVIVAL HANDBOOK by Joshua Piven & David Borgenicht (Chronicle: $14.95) S-O-S!