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September/October
2002 Book Sense 76 Picks
76 unique and provocative
selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by
the independent booksellers of America.
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| The Top Ten Vote-Getters |
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 The
Last Girls
by Lee
Smith
"Based on a real-life raft journey down the Mississippi that the author
took with her buddies, this novel imagines four of those friends 35 years later
as they undertake another journey to spread the ashes of a fifth friend. A delicious
read, this is Smith at her prime!" - Julie Jacobson, The Bookstall
at Chestnut Court, Winnetka, IL
 Middlesex
by Jeffrey
Eugenides
"This book is utterly fantastic. It is reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's
Orlando and Gregory Maguire's Wicked,
intelligently peppered with some Catcher
in the Rye. Calliope is the new voice of the 21st century, and damn
if we don't need her. If I could only buy one book this year, this would be
the one." -Tara Mathison, Canterbury Booksellers, Madison, WI
Raising
Blaze: Bringing Up an Extraordinary Son in an Ordinary World
by Debra
Ginsberg
"This is a must-read about a gifted child whose mother defies everyone
and everything to show her son he is unique, and who proves to herself that
she is a good mother. All the doctors and teachers can't cope with his various
disorders, but she gives him the love to grow at his pace." - Jacky
Kirkpatrick, Merritt Bookstore, Millbrook, NY
 The
Heaven of Mercury
by Brad
Watson
"This is one of the finest novels I've read in a decade. Weaving the stories
of Finus Bates and his sweetheart, Birdie Wells, with those of other remarkable
characters, Watson is funny, melancholy, erotic, world-weary, romantic, gritty,
and finally, profound. He joins the ranks of our best novelists in one giant
step." - Carole Horne, Harvard Book Shop, Cambridge, MA
Cloud
of Sparrows
by Takashi
Matsuoka
"By turns filled with wit and poignant irony, this novel brilliantly portrays
the profound conflict of cultures between the rulers and newly arrived outsiders
in 1861 Japan. Remember the Shogun
frenzy of 30 years ago? Rejoice! A new and thrilling epic is here."
- Rosemary Pugliese, Quail Ridge Books and Music, Raleigh, NC
 The
Fruit of Stone
by Mark
Spragg
"After reading Spragg's exquisite collection of essays about his boyhood
in Wyoming, I knew there would be a novel from this hugely talented writer.
And here it is, a beautiful work of fiction. It is about regret and redemption
in the vast American West, and Spragg's prose is masterful." - Stan
Hynds, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT
 The
Crimson Petal and the White
by Michel
Faber
"Faber presents us with a sprawling Victorian novel, told with all the
devices and designs to which we've become accustomed, yet turning the genre
on its ear. Where Dickens
turned a blind or euphemistic eye, Faber shares every shocking detail of 1800s
London. The trials of the wealthy Rackham family make for an unforgettable story,
told with uncanny truth and humanity." - Drew Phillips, Warwick's,
La Jolla, CA
 Blood
of Victory
by Alan
Furst
"Furst once again follows the dangerous and forlorn lives of Russian, Turkish
and French dissidents, intellectuals and freedom fighters during the darkest
days of WWII. He is our new Le
Carre, in both elegant style and intricate plot. Don't miss this, his latest
and best." - Robert Greene, Bookpeople of Moscow, Moscow, ID
 The
Book of Illusions
by Paul
Auster
"Auster splices together the stories of a bereaved college professor and
an enigmatic silent film comedian who becomes the object of his obsessive study.
With customary deftness, Auster blurs the distinctions between life and art,
and we are left wondering what is real and what is merely a flickering illusion."
- Jennifer Gay, Book People, Austin, TX
 Across
the Nightingale Floor: Book One of the Tales of the Otori
by Lian
Hearn
"Cutting a sword stroke across genres, this will appeal to lovers of historical
fiction and fantasy. Set in a fantasy medieval Japan, here are the adventures
of an orphaned youth, a larger-than-life hero, villains galore and a resourceful
maiden. Spirituality and magic make this tale sparkle." - Becky Milner,
Vintage Books, Vancouver, WA
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