Not all sunny for ‘Moons’

Charles Frazier’s “Thirteen Moons” is a bestseller, with more than 100,000 copies sold in its first month and high spots on the charts of the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and other publications.

But both commercially and critically, Frazier’s second book -- one of the year’s most anticipated novels -- is no “Cold Mountain.”

Frazier received $8 million from Random House to publish “Thirteen Moons,” the follow-up to “Cold Mountain,” which was a million seller and winner nine years ago of the National Book Award. That book made a literary star out of an obscure North Carolina rancher and literature professor.

But Frazier received no National Book Award nomination this year and reviews have been mixed for “Thirteen Moons,” a deeply researched novel about a white man who finds a home among Cherokees.

Though “Cold Mountain” was a word-of-mouth success, steadily building sales over time, “Thirteen Moons,” which came out in early October, has worked in the opposite direction.

According to Nielsen BookScan, it sold 41,000 copies in its first week but dropped to fewer than 15,000 per week in early November.