Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

March 24, 2002

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE SUMMONS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A man discovers $3 million in his dead father’s house and hides it from his prodigal brother and a mysterious extortioner. Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 5

2 2nd CHANCE by James Patterson (Little, Brown: $26.95) The Women’s Murder Club is back on the case, looking to stop a racist killer who doesn’t like cops. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 2

3 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26) The saga of a dysfunctional Midwestern family living at the end of the 20th century. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 28

4 ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday: $26) A haunting novel of guilt and redemption that follows several lives through the chaos of England in World War II. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

5 BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Daj Sijie (Alfred A. Knopf: $18) Two Chinese youths use classic Western literature to free their minds in the face of communist re-education. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 11

6 THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN by Daniel Silva (Putnam: $25.95) An art restorer and spy finds himself framed for the murder of a client and untangles a web of betrayals to find the killer. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 2

7 SOUTHAMPTON ROW by Anne Perry (Ballantine: $25) A spiritualist’s murder in 1890s England threatens to derail a candidate’s Parliament bid, unless Thomas Pitt can find the killer. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

8 THE COTTAGE by Danielle Steel (Delacorte Press: $26.95) An aging movie star encounters a whole new world when money troubles force him to rent out part of his Bel-Air estate. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 2

9 THE NANNY DIARIES by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (St. Martin’s: $24.95) The travails of an overworked and underappreciated Park Avenue caregiver. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 2

10 THE GOOD MEN by Charmaine Craig (Riverhead: $24.95) A village rector and the women he loves cope with their desires as inquisitors hunt for heretics in 14th century France. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 5

11 HATESHIP, FRIENDSHIP, COURTSHIP, LOVESHIP, MARRIAGE by Alice Munro (Alfred A. Knopf: $24) Stories tracing the nuanced lives of women and their relationships. Last Week: 15 Weeks on List: 12

12 HUNTING SEASON by Nevada Barr (Putnam: $24.95) When a body turns up in Mississippi’s Natchez Trace National Park, a ranger finds her investigation sabotaged at every turn. Last Week: 14 Weeks on List: 3

13 THE MILLIONAIRES by Brad Meltzer (Warner: $25.95) Two brothers who loot the account of a deceased client at a private bank get more than they bargained for. Last Week: 12 Weeks on List: 9

14 BASKET CASE by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.95) Once a hotshot reporter, an obituary writer for a small paper unravels the bizarre causes of a rock star’s death. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 7

15 THE JOHN FANTE READER Edited by Stephen Cooper (William Morrow: $25.95) Excerpts from the novels, stories and letters of the celebrated chronicler of Southern California life. Last Week: 13 Weeks on List: 2

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 STUPID WHITE MEN ... AND OTHER SORRY EXCUSES FOR THE STATE OF THE NATION by Michael Moore (Regan Books: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 3

2 THE WISDOM OF MENOPAUSE by Christiane Northrup (Bantam: $27.95) A physician sees menopause, its symptoms and treatments as an opportunity for personal growth. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 4

3 BIAS by Bernard Goldberg (Regnery: $27.95) A veteran CBS reporter argues that the mainstream media have been seriously damaged by a liberal, closed-minded worldview. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 12

4 SELF MATTERS by Phillip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster: $25) A self-improvement guru and “Oprah” regular teaches readers how to “create your life from the inside out.” Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 8

5 WHAT WENT WRONG by Bernard Lewis (Oxford University: $23) An esteemed historian describes the Islamic Middle East’s fall from enlightenment into repression and tyranny. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 6

6 NIGGER by Randall Kennedy (Pantheon: $22) The evolution of an explosive word and its shifting meanings in the history of American race relations. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

7 SATISFACTION by Kim Cattrall and Mark Levinson (Warner: $24.95) A star of HBO’s “Sex and the City” and her husband draw on viewer feedback for this guide to pleasing women. Last Week: 14 Weeks on List: 6

8 SACRED CONTRACTS by Caroline Myss (Harmony: $25) Lessons in decoding symbols, myths, intuition and coincidences to understand your purpose in life. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 6

9 SHADOW WARRIORS by Tom Clancy with Gen. Carl Stiner (Putnam: $29.95) The recent history of the U.S. military’s Special Forces and their usefulness when conventional tactics fail. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 5

10 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) The co-author of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 103

11 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.” Last Week: 15 Weeks on List: 43

12 THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking (Bantam: $35) The celebrated physicist offers up a look at space, time and the origin and future of the universe. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 13

13 THE BUREAU AND THE MOLE by David A. Vise (Atlantic Monthly: $25) The story behind Robert Hanssen, the veteran FBI agent who doubled as a Russian spy. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 2

14 SHAKEDOWN by Kenneth R. Timmerman (Regnery: $29.95) An investigative reporter contends that Jesse Jackson has used the race issue for personal gain. Last Week: 13 Weeks on List: 2

15 YOU’RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR NEXT ONE by Mike Medavoy with Josh Young (Pocket Books: $27) Memoir of a studio exec’s rise from the Universal mailroom to movie mogul-dom. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 5

Paperbacks

FICTION

Southern California Rating

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

2 TELL NO ONE by Harlan Coben (Dell: $6.99) A long-dead love affair is revived when a man receives a strange message.

3 1st TO DIE by James Patterson (Warner Vision: $7.99) Four

women track a killer with a penchant for newlyweds.

4 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Ballantine: $7.99) A ghostwriter uncovers her family’s anguished past.

5 A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) Violence looms over a boyhood in rural Arkansas in 1952.

6 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14.95) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

7 THE LAST TIME THEY MET by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $13.95) Two poets share a lifelong passion.

8 A WALK TO REMEMBER by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $6.99) A man recalls the bittersweet love story of his youth.

9 A SMALL DEATH IN LISBON by Robert Wilson (Berkley: $7.99) A murder in 1970s Portugal has a Nazi connection.

10 A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT by Michael Connelly (Warner: $7.99) An ace detective is a prime murder suspect.

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE WRINKLE CURE by Nicholas Perricone (Warner: $13.95) Using antioxidants to keep the skin looking young.

2 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry.

3 A BEAUTIFUL MIND by Sylvia Nasar (Touchstone: $16) A brilliant mathematics professor’s battle with schizophrenia.

4 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

5 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects.

6 THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE by Wendy Mogel (Penguin: $14) Applying Jewish thought to raising children.

7 WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE ... AND YOUNG by Harold G. Moore and Joseph Galloway (Harper: $7.99) Against all odds.

8 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom.

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

10 THE TIPPING POINT by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay: $14.95) How fads, trends and ideas behave like viruses in a society.