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September/October
2003 Book Sense 76 Picks
Unique and provocative
selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by
the independent booksellers of America.
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| New fiction in paperback |
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 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, he 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
 Coastliners
by Joanne Harris
"This is about a classic father-daughter struggle, set on an island off the
coast of France. Half-truths and partially understood family legends lead to an
explosive display of tempers involving the entire island. Scenic, beautiful, and
wild -- this is Harris' best yet." -- Maryann Eastman, White Birch Books,
North Conway, NH
 The Crimson Petal and the White
by Michel Faber
"Set in the London of Queen Victoria in the early 1870s, this brings the
sights, sounds, and odors of the era vividly to life. Sugar is the crimson petal,
a whore known for her willingness to do anything a customer wants, and Agnes is
the white, a married woman still so innocent that she has no idea how she could
be the mother of a little girl. Lovers of Dickens
will enjoy the tale, as will everyone else who enjoys old-fashioned storytelling."
-- Susan Taylor, Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, MA
 The Heaven of Mercury
by Brad Watson
"All the elements of the very best in Southern fiction unfold in this brilliant
novel like kudzu spreading over an old cotton field. Here are rich characters
rooted and shaped by place and history, a love story, a mystery, and a whiff of
the supernatural alongside the scent of bourbon and honeysuckle. Watson is a writer
of enormous talent and sensitivity." -- Tom Campbell, The Regulator Bookshop,
Durham, NC
 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 Book Stall At
Chestnut Court, Winnetka, IL
 Moon's Crossing: A Novel
by Barbara Croft
"This historical fiction takes us from the 19th century, when the affluent
were cultured and in quiet control, to the roaring, fast-advancing, industrial
modern age. Jim Moon, a gentle, simple man, reads about the White City in Chicago
and is so drawn to it that he leaves his wife and son to travel there. Weaving
together three stories, this is the story of the kinds of people who worked at
the fair, came to the fair to see the dream city, and became lost in its wonder."
-- Dorie Schultz, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop, Mequon, WI
 A Sack of Teeth
by Grant Buday
"It is a rare moment in literature when a writer can capture the voice and
internal world of a child, and rarer still to sustain this voice for the length
of a novel. Buday achieves this feat, seemingly effortlessly, in his portrayal
of six-year-old Jack Klein, on his harrowing first day of school. The characters
in A Sack of Teeth, along with the lilt of its language and the pacing
of its dialogue, will stay with you long after you slowly, regretfully turn the
last page." -- Andrea Tetrick, Spellbinder of Bishop Books & Coffee Bar,
Bishop, CA
 The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
by Louise Murphy
"Murphy deftly weaves the tale of Hansel and Gretel into the story of a
family in Nazi-occupied Poland, giving meaning to one of the most meaningless
periods of history. At times beautiful and horrifying, this is a powerful story
not easily forgotten." -- Kimberly Fox, Schuler Books & Music, Grand
Rapids, MI
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