November 17,1999
(Elje Fortiani» Observer
■■■■■■ I N
by Aretha Franklin, David
Ritz
H a rd c o v e r-2 5 4 pages (Septem ber
1999)
V illa r d
Books
>
tt
Sam C ooke w ere all fam ily friends.
A voice that m any consider the
w o r l d ’s f in e s t , a s tr ik in g ly
W
U nlike the soul-
b a r i n g
perform ances that
have
d ra w n
listeners to her for
fo u r
decades,
A retha Franklin is
a bit cagey w hen it
com es
to
d is c u s s in g h e r
personal life in her
a u to b io g ra p h y .
From These Roots.
The
fa m o u s ly
press-shy A retha is
a fre e - s p e a k in g
anecdote spinner
and a blunt sharer
o f o p in io n s o f
c o w o rk e rs and
f e llo w
a r tis ts .
( D o n ’t g e t h e r
started on N atalie
C ole.) B ut som e
areas rem ain blurry; for instance,
h er troubled first m arriage to a
te m p e ra m e n ta l m u sic -b u s in e s s
figure nam ed T ed W hite is covered
in only a tiny handful o f pages.
O ther happier m em ories o f lovers
and o f her late father, the famed
m inister Rev. C.L. Franklin, find
her in a m ore expansive mood. M ost
consistently indelible in this telling,
though, is her m usical story. Bom
in 1942, she grew up around some
o f the century’s greatest singers—
C lara W ard, D inah W ashington, and
P R IN T
Bestsellers
Man, a Young Man and the
Last Great Lesson
u s, m a y b e e v e n re s u m e th e
H ardcover -1 9 2 pages (Septem ber m entorship? Plus, we m eet M orrie
S c h w a r tz — a o n e o f a k in d
1997) D oubleday
p ro fe sso r,
w h o m th e
This true
a u th o r
s to ry
describes as
about
looking like
the love
a
cro ss
betw een
b
e
tw
e
en a
a
b
i
b
l
i
cal
spiritual
prophet
and
m e n to r
C
h
r
i
s
t
m
as
a n d h is
e
lf.
A
n
d
pupil has
f
in
a
lly
w
e
so a re d
are
privy
to
to
th e
in tim a te
bestseller
om ents o f
lis t fo r
an old man, a young man, m
M
o r r i e ’ s
m any
final
days as
reasons.
he
lies
dying
F o r
and the last great lesson
fro m
a
starters:
te rm in a l
i
t
illness. Even
rem in d s
on
h is
us o f the
d
e
a
t
h
b
e
d,
affection
M itc h A lb o m
t
h
i
s
a n d
tw in k lin g -
gratitude
e
y e d
t h a t
m
ensch
m
anages
to
teach
us all
m a n y o f u s s till fee l fo r th e
about
living
robustly
and
fully.
significant m entors o f our past. It
K
udos
to
au
thor
and
acclaim
ed
also plays o ut a fantasy m any o f us
sports
colum
nist
M
itch
A
lbom
for
have entertained, w hat w ould it be
telling this universally touching
like to look those people up again,
story w ith such grace and humility.
tell them how m uch they m eant to
by Mitch Albom
tuesdays with
Morrie
individual touch on piano, and an
eclectic ear for m aterial com bined
to m ake her a notable artist who
m oved quickly from the gospel
circuit to C olum bia Records and
m oderate success in a variety o f
contexts, from show tunes to a gritty
tr ib u te to W a s h in g to n . H er
rem iniscences o f those days, and o f
the conquests that follow ed when
she m oved to the forefront o f the
soul revolution, are still fresh. The
book does m ake for an irresistible
reflection on a w om an and her art.
The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing
by Melissa Bank
H ardcover - 274 pages (June 1999)
V iking Press
Jane Rosenal, the narrator o f The
G irls’ G uide to Hunting and Fishing,
is w ise beyond her years. N ot that
th a t’s saying m uch— since none o f
her elders, w ith the exception o f her
father, is particularly wise. A t the
age o f 14, Jane w atches her brother
and his new girlfriend, searching
for clues for how to fall in love, but
by the end o f the sum m er sh e’s
trying to figure out how not to fail in
love. At tw ice that age, Jane quickly
internalizes How to M eet and Marry
Mr. Right, even though that retro
m anual is ruining her chances at
happiness. In the intervening years,
M elissa B an k 's heroine struggles at
love and work. The form er often
s e e m s
in d is tin g ­
u is h a b le
fro m
th e
la tte r , an d
h
e
r
e x p e rien c es
in
book
p u b l is h in g
inspire little
in the w ay o f
affection. As
J a n e
announces in
“The W orst
T h in g
a
S u b u rb a n
G irl C o u ld
Im a g in e ” :
“ I ’d been a
rising star at
H-------until
Page 7
M im i
H o w le tt,
th e
n ew
e x e c u t iv e
e d ito r,
d e c id e d I
w asju st the
lights o f an
airplane.”
B ank’s first
c o lle c tio n
h as
a
b e a u tif u l,
tr u e a rc ,
and all the
stphisOcalxTi
and control
her heroine
could ever
d e s ire . In
“ T h e
F lo a tin g
H ouse,” Jane and her boyfriend,
Jam ie, visit his ex-girlfriend in St.
Croix, and right from the start she
c a n ’t stop m im icking her beautiful
co m p etito r, in a notably idiotic
fashion. “ I ’m like one o f those
anim als that im itates its predators
to survive,” she realizes— one o f
several th o u san d o fB an k ’sruefully
funny phrases. But even as Jane
clow ns around, desperately trying
to keep up appearances, she is so
hyperaw are it hurts. A gain and
ag a in , th e a u th o r ex p lo re s the
dichotom y between life as it happens
and the rehearsed anecdote, the
preferred outcom e. In The G irls’
G uide to H unting and Fishing, even
suburban quiet has “nothing to do
w ith p e a c e .” B a n k ’s m u c h -
anticipated debut m erits all its buzz
and transcends it.
Hardcover Fiction
1 HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN, by J
K. Rowling.
2 HARRY POTTER AND THE
CHAMBEROFSECRETS.byJ.K
Rowling.
3 POP GOES THE WEASEL, by
Janies Patterson.
4 HARRY POTTER AND THE
SORCERER’S STONE, by J. K.
Rowling.
5 A WALK TO REMEMBER, by
Nicholas Sparks.
6 ’O ’’ IS FOR OUTLAW, by Sue
Grafton.
7 PERSONAL INJURIES, by Scott
Turow.
8 HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, by
Stephen King.
9 TARA ROAD, by Maeve Binchy.
10 SECOND W IND, by Dick
Francis.
Paperback Fiction
1 HARRY POTTER AND THE
SORCERER’S STONE, by J K
Rowling.
2 THE SIMPLE TRUTH, by David
Baldacci.
3 TOM CLANCY’S NET FORCE:
Hidden Agendas, created by Tom
Clancy and Steve Pieczenik.
4 BILLY STRAIGHT, by Jonathan
Kellerman.
5 RIVER. CROSS MY HEART, by
Breena Clarke.
6 RANSOM, by Julie Garwood.
7AMAN IN FULL,by Tom Wolfe.
8 ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT,
by Mary Higgins Clark.
9 WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, by
James Patterson.
10 THE LOOP, by Nicholas Evans.
Hardcover Non-Fiction
1 ’TIS, by Frank McCourt.
2 HAVE A NICE DAY! by Mick
Foley.
3 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE, by
Mitch Albom.
4AM ANNAM EDDAVE,byDave
Pelzer.
5 THE ART OF HAPPINESS, by
the Dalai Lama and Howard C.
Cutler.
6
WHEN
PRIDE
STILL
MATTERED, by David Maraniss.
7 DUTCH, by Edmund Morris.
8 »FAITH OF MY FATHERS, by
John McCain with Mark Salter.
9 THE NEW NEW THING, by
Michael Lewis.
10
THE
G R EA TEST
GENERATION, by Tom Brokaw
Paperback Non-Fiction
1 ANGELA’S ASHES, by Frank
McCourt.
2 BLIND MAN’S BLUFF, by Sherry
Sontag and Christopher Drew with
Annette Lawrence Drew
3 THE SEAT OF THE SOUL, by
Gary Zukav.
4 A CHILD CALLED ’IT,” by
Dave Pelzer.
5 THE LOST BOY, by Dave Pelzer.
6
»PER FEC T
M URDER,
PERFECT TOWN, by Lawrence
Schiller.
7 A WALK IN THE WOODS, by
Bill Bryson
8 THE PERFECT STORM, by
Sebastian J unger.
9 THE PROFESSOR AND THE
MADMAN, by Simon Winchester.
10 SOURCES OF STRENGTH, by
Jimmy Carter.