TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of September 8, 1996

FictionNonfiction
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1
1
UNLIMITED ACCESS
Gary Aldrich
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UNLIMITED ACCESS

by Gary Aldrich · Regnery

4 wks at #1 · 8 on list
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2
BAD AS I WANNA BE
Dennis Rodman with Tim Keown
Cover of BAD AS I WANNA BE

BAD AS I WANNA BE

by Dennis Rodman with Tim Keown · Delacorte Press

17 wks on list

Autobiography from one of the most popular and eccentric basketballers currently playing in the US.

6
3
BARE KNUCKLES AND BACK ROOMS
Ed Rollins with Tom DeFrank
Cover of BARE KNUCKLES AND BACK ROOMS

BARE KNUCKLES AND BACK ROOMS

by Ed Rollins with Tom DeFrank · Broadway

3 wks on list

"Who else but Ed Rollins - the brilliant, bare-knuckled political consultant - would dare give us the inside story on how Washington really works? Famously outspoken, Rollins is a true maverick whose gift for winning campaigns is matched only by his talent for generating controversy. Now, in this astonishingly candid book, he delivers a no-holds-barred, hugely entertaining account of his thirty-year career in American politics." "Rollins has worked for almost every major Republican politician of the past two decades, but he was never a member of the Washington aristocracy. Raised in the tough shipyard town of Vallejo, California, he fought as a championship amateur boxer and won over 160 bouts. His love of politics was kindled when he worked for Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968, but after Kennedy's assassination and a life-changing experience during a violent anti-war demonstration, he joined the Republican party. By 1981, he had worked his way up to a job in the Reagan White House; the following year, he became the president's top political adviser. He has battled at the center of the political arena ever since, and he and his candidates have won far more often than they have lost." "If Rollins loves anything more than a good fight, it's a good story. Here is Richard Nixon complaining to him about the lack of a "nut-cutter" in the Reagan administration; Nancy Reagan berating him for his atrocious attire; Barbara Bush telling him he's not welcome in the White House; Ross Perot wailing about how expensive campaign advertising is; Arianna Huffington hiring a private detective to investigate an unfriendly journalist. But Rollins has made some spectacular blunders of his own, and he tells stories on himself too - most particularly when he provides the first full account of his role in the scandal that followed Christine Todd Whitman's election as governor of New Jersey."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

7
1
OUTRAGE
Vincent Bugliosi
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OUTRAGE

by Vincent Bugliosi · Norton

12 wks on list

A best-selling account by the author of Helter Skelter outlines the main reasons O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, from the jury's makeup to the incompetence of the prosecutors. Reprint.

9
2
THE CHOICE
Bob Woodward
Cover of THE CHOICE

THE CHOICE

by Bob Woodward · Simon & Schuster

9 wks on list

This author and these subjects (Clinton and Dole) need no comment. The book is based on Woodward's abundant sources. Covers personal and political matters. Note that BiP on CD-ROM carried the title The Race as late as August '96. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

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NEW
HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!
Laura Schlessinger
Cover of HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!

HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!

by Laura Schlessinger · HarperCollins

In her hard-hitting new book, Dr. Laura Schlessinger delivers a witty, wise, and workable moral philosophy - based on the principle of personal responsibility. How Could You Do That?! argues passionately against the self-indulgent subjective morality used in our society to excuse all sorts of bad behavior. In her lively, pull-no-punches style, Dr. Laura takes on the moral dilemmas of our time: from the mindless pursuit of pleasure and immediate gratification to taking the easy way out when those actions produce ugly or uncomfortable life-altering consequences. She demonstrates in no uncertain terms that personal values are never someone else's responsibility, but our own, and why choosing not to honor them actually compounds unhappiness. Finally, she explains that by disciplining self-indulgence and rising above temptation we can discover the infinite pleasures, the true happiness, of the moral high ground.

13
NEW
DRINKING: A LOVE STORY
Caroline Knapp
Cover of DRINKING: A LOVE STORY

DRINKING: A LOVE STORY

by Caroline Knapp · Dial Press

6 wks on list

Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor," a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it. It was love at first sight. The beads of moisture on a chilled bottle. The way the glasses clinked and the conversation flowed. Then it became obsession. The way she hid her bottles behind her lover's refrigerator. The way she slipped from the dinner table to the bathroom, from work to the bar. And then, like so many love stories, it fell apart. Drinking is Caroline Kapp's harrowing chronicle of her twenty-year love affair with alcohol. Caroline had her first drink at fourteen. She drank through her yeras at an Ivy League college, and through an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Publicly she was a dutiful daughter, a sophisticated professional. Privately she was drinking herself into oblivion. This startlingly honest memoir lays bare the secrecy, family myths, and destructive relationships that go hand in hand with drinking. And it is, above all, a love story for our times—full of passion and heartbreak, betrayal and desire—a triumph over the pain and deception that mark an alcoholic life. Praise for Drinking “Quietly moving . . . Caroline Knapp dazzles us with her heady description of alcohol's allure and its devastating hold.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “Filled with hard-won wisdom . . . [a] perceptive and revealing book.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Eloquent . . . a remarkable exercise in self-discovery.”—The New York Times “Drinking not only describes triumph; it is one.”—Newsweek

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JACK AND JACKIE
Christopher Andersen
Cover of JACK AND JACKIE

JACK AND JACKIE

by Christopher Andersen · Morrow

9 wks on list

Until now. With stunning information from important sources, some of whom were sworn to secrecy until Jackie's death in May 1994, and previously sealed archival material, international best-selling author Christopher Andersen examines their unique partnership and the courage, grace, and humor that defined it.

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