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Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of November 12, 1989

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IT WAS ON FIRE WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT
Robert Fulghum
Cover of IT WAS ON FIRE WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT

IT WAS ON FIRE WHEN I LAY DOWN ON IT

by Robert Fulghum · Villard

8 wks on list

From the author to the reader: Show-and-Tell was the very best part of school for me, both as a student and as a teacher. As a kid, I put more into getting ready for my turn to present than I put into the rest of my homework. Show-and-Tell was real in a way that much of what I learned in school was not. It was education that came out of my life experience. As a teacher, I was always surprised by what I learned from these amateur hours. A kid I was sure I knew well would reach down into a paper bag he carried and fish out some odd-shaped treasure and attach meaning to it beyond my most extravagant expectation. Again and again I learned that what I thought was only true for me . . . only valued by me . . . only cared about by me . . . was common property. The principles guiding this book are not far from the spirit of Show-and-Tell. It is stuff from home—that place in my mind and heart where I most truly live. P.S. This volume picks up where I left off in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, when I promised to tell about the time it was on fire when I lay down on it.

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ROSEANNE
Roseanne Barr
Cover of ROSEANNE
6
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CONFESSIONS OF AN S.O.B.
Al Neuharth

CONFESSIONS OF AN S.O.B.

by Al Neuharth · Doubleday

4 wks on list

America's #1 maverick C.E.O.--and self-proclaimed S.O.B.--tells the story of his rise from AP reporter to becoming head of Gannett newspapers and creating USA Today, the nation's second largest daily. "Brazen . . . with nuggets of business wisdom . . . a primer for a corporate Machiavelli-in-the-making".--Newsweek.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME
Stephen W. Hawking
Cover of A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME

by Stephen W. Hawking · Bantam

82 wks on list

Stephen Hawking has earned a reputation as the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Einstein. In this landmark volume, Professor Hawking shares his blazing intellect with nonscientists everywhere, guiding us expertly to confront the supreme questions of the nature of time and the universe. Was there a beginning of time? Will there be an end? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? From Galileo and Newton to modern astrophysics, from the breathtakingly cast to the extraordinarily tiny, Professor Hawking leads us on an exhilarating journey to distant galaxies, black holes, alternate dimensions--as close as man has ever ventured to the mind of God. From the vantage point of the wheelchair from which he has spent more than twenty years trapped by Lou Gehrig's disease, Stephen Hawking has transformed our view of the universe. Cogently explained, passionately revealed, "A Brief History of Time is the story of the ultimate quest for knowledge: the ongoing search for the tantalizing secrets at the heart of time and space.

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CHILI DAWGS ALWAYS BARK AT NIGHT
Lewis Grizzard
Cover of CHILI DAWGS ALWAYS BARK AT NIGHT

CHILI DAWGS ALWAYS BARK AT NIGHT

by Lewis Grizzard · Villard

2 wks on list

In Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night, Lewis Grizzard once again confirms his reputation as the "William Faulkner of just plain folks" using colorful storytelling to tackle such Grizzardian subjects as: Fashion: "Don't wear anything that features a picture of a pelican, a pink flamingo, or a beer can." The Future: "I'm predicting the world isn't going to come to an end anytime soon. There's too much unresolved, like whether or not Elvis is still alive, Jimmy Swaggart can stay on television, and if there will be another Rambo sequel." Dating: "Any single white female who has to resort to taking out an ad to find a boyfriend would take a SWM who's into yodeling, Hustler magazine, Ripple, and robbing convenience stores." People Who Cheat in the 12-Items-or-Less Lane: "Previously, I have dog-cussed these people and put curses on them, like, 'May your children grow up to be liberal Democrats.' I'm not going to be that mean-spirited anymore. What I'm going to do is go to the vegetable bin, grab a large cucumber, and beat them about the head and shoulders with it." Lewis Grizzard offers his views on everything from politics, religion, sex, and golf to the largest condom heist in history, wittier and more outrageous than ever. Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night shows why the South's most popular humorist continues to be America's most popular funny man.

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WONDERFUL LIFE
Stephen Jay Gould
Cover of WONDERFUL LIFE

WONDERFUL LIFE

by Stephen Jay Gould · Norton

1 wks on list

"[An] extraordinary book. . . . Mr. Gould is an exceptional combination of scientist and science writer. . . . He is thus exceptionally well placed to tell these stories, and he tells them with fervor and intelligence."—James Gleick, New York Times Book Review High in the Canadian Rockies is a small limestone quarry formed 530 million years ago called the Burgess Shale. It hold the remains of an ancient sea where dozens of strange creatures lived—a forgotten corner of evolution preserved in awesome detail. In this book Stephen Jay Gould explores what the Burgess Shale tells us about evolution and the nature of history.

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NEW
DRIVE
Larry Bird with Bob Ryan
Cover of DRIVE

DRIVE

by Larry Bird with Bob Ryan · Doubleday

1 wks on list

The long-silent superstar sets the record straight, revealing a side of himself and basketball you've never seen before. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

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LIAR'S POKER
Michael Lewis
Cover of LIAR'S POKER

LIAR'S POKER

by Michael Lewis · Norton

1 wks on list

Selvbiografisk reportage om den unge kunsthistoriker der gjorde lynkarriere i Wall Street i 1980'erne som bankier

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.