TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of July 7, 2002

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YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS
John McEnroe with James Kaplan
Cover of YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS

by John McEnroe with James Kaplan · Putnam

2 wks at #1 · 2 on list

A no-holds-barred, intimate memoir by John McEnroe—the bad boy of professional tennis. John McEnroe stunned the tennis elite when he came out of nowhere to make the Wimbledon semifinals at the age of eighteen—and just a few years later, he was ranked number one in the world. You Cannot Be Serious is McEnroe at his most personal, an intimate examination of Johnny Mac, the kid from Queens, and his “wild ride” through the world of professional tennis at a boom time when players were treated like rock stars. In this “bracing serve-and-volley autobiography” (The Boston Globe) he candidly explores the roots of his famous on-court explosions; his ambivalence toward the sport that made him famous; his adventures (and misadventures) on the road; his views of colleagues from Connors to Borg to Lendl; his opinions of contemporary tennis; his marriages to actress Tatum O'Neal and pop star Patty Smyth; and his roles as husband, father, senior tour player, and often-controversial commentator.

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STUPID WHITE MEN
Michael Moore
Cover of STUPID WHITE MEN

STUPID WHITE MEN

by Michael Moore · ReganBooks/ HarperCollins

18 wks on list

Rember when everything was looking up? When the government was running at a surplus pollution was disappearing peace was breaking out in the middle East and Northern Ireland and the Bridge to the Twenty-First century was strung with Internet cable and paved with 401 (k) gold? Well, so much for the future. Michael Moore the award winning povocateur behind Roger & Me and the best seller Downsize This! now returns to size up the new century and that big, ugly special interest group that's laying waste to the world as we know it: stupid white men. Among the targets of Mike's Manifesto on Malfeasance and mediocrity are the Bush family Junta, Bll Clinton the Idiot Nation and Corporate American.

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THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME
Marlo Thomas
Cover of THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME

THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME

by Marlo Thomas · Atria

Featuring reflections on how different people found wisdom and hope in the inspirational words of loved ones, a collection of thoughtful advice includes contributions by Tom Brokaw, Jimmy Carter, Steven Spielberg, Amy Tan, and many others.

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JOHN ADAMS
David McCullough
Cover of JOHN ADAMS

JOHN ADAMS

by David McCullough · Simon & Schuster

52 wks on list

Profiles John Adams, an influential patriot during the American Revolution who became the nation's first vice president and second president.

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A MIND AT A TIME
Mel Levine
Cover of A MIND AT A TIME

A MIND AT A TIME

by Mel Levine · Simon & Schuster

13 wks on list

"Different minds learn differently," writes Dr. Mel Levine, one of the best-known education experts and pediatricians in America today. And that's a problem for many children, because most schools still cling to a one-size-fits-all education philosophy. As a result, these children struggle because their learning patterns don't fit the schools they are in. In A Mind at a Time, Dr. Levine shows parents and others who care for children how to identify these individual learning patterns. He explains how parents and teachers can encourage a child's strengths and bypass the child's weaknesses. This type of teaching produces satisfaction and achievement instead of frustration and failure. Different brains are differently wired, Dr. Levine explains. There are eight fundamental systems, or components, of learning that draw on a variety of neurodevelopmental capacities. Some students are strong in certain areas and some are strong in others, but no one is equally capable in all eight. Using examples drawn from his own extensive experience, Dr. Levine shows how parents and children can identify their strengths and weaknesses to determine their individual learning styles. For example, some students are creative and write imaginatively but do poorly in history because weak memory skills prevent them from retaining facts. Some students are weak in sequential ordering and can't follow directions. They may test poorly and often don't do well in mathematics. In these cases, Dr. Levine observes, the problem is not a lack of intelligence but a learning style that doesn't fit the assignment. Drawing on his pioneering research and his work with thousands of students, Dr. Levine shows how parents and teachers can develop effective strategies to work through or around these weaknesses. "It's taken for granted in adult society that we cannot all be 'generalists' skilled in every area of learning and mastery. Nevertheless, we apply tremendous pressure to our children to be good at everything. They are expected to shine in math, reading, writing, speaking, spelling, memorization, comprehension, problem solving...and none of us adults can" do all this, observes Dr. Levine. Learning begins in school but it doesn't end there. Frustrating a child's desire to learn will have lifelong repercussions. This frustration can be avoided if we understand that not every child can do equally well in every type of learning. We must begin to pay more attention to individual learning styles, to individual minds, urges Dr. Levine, so that we can maximize children's learning potential. In A Mind at a Time he shows us how.

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MASTER OF THE SENATE
Robert A. Caro
Cover of MASTER OF THE SENATE

MASTER OF THE SENATE

by Robert A. Caro · Knopf

9 wks on list

Master of the Senate, Book Three of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, carries Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his twelve years, from 1949 to 1960, in the United States Senate. A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years At the heart of the book is its unprecedented revelation of how legislative power works in America, how the Senate works, and how Johnson, in his ascent to the presidency, mastered the Senate as no political leader before him had ever done. It was during these years that all Johnson’s experience—from his Texas Hill Country boyhood to his passionate representation in Congress of his hardscrabble constituents to his tireless construction of a political machine—came to fruition. Caro introduces the story with a dramatic account of the Senate itself: how Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun had made it the center of governmental energy, the forum in which the great issues of the country were thrashed out. And how, by the time Johnson arrived, it had dwindled into a body that merely responded to executive initiatives, all but impervious to the forces of change. Caro anatomizes the genius for political strategy and tactics by which, in an institution that had made the seniority system all-powerful for a century and more, Johnson became Majority Leader after only a single term-the youngest and greatest Senate Leader in our history; how he manipulated the Senate’s hallowed rules and customs and the weaknesses and strengths of his colleagues to change the “unchangeable” Senate from a loose confederation of sovereign senators to a whirring legislative machine under his own iron-fisted control. Caro demonstrates how Johnson’s political genius enabled him to reconcile the unreconcilable: to retain the support of the southerners who controlled the Senate while earning the trust—or at least the cooperation—of the liberals, led by Paul Douglas and Hubert Humphrey, without whom he could not achieve his goal of winning the presidency. He shows the dark side of Johnson’s ambition: how he proved his loyalty to the great oil barons who had financed his rise to power by ruthlessly destroying the career of the New Dealer who was in charge of regulating them, Federal Power Commission Chairman Leland Olds. And we watch him achieve the impossible: convincing southerners that although he was firmly in their camp as the anointed successor to their leader, Richard Russell, it was essential that they allow him to make some progress toward civil rights. In a breathtaking tour de force, Caro details Johnson’s amazing triumph in maneuvering to passage the first civil rights legislation since 1875. Master of the Senate, told with an abundance of rich detail that could only have come from Caro’s peerless research, is both a galvanizing portrait of the man himself—the titan of Capital Hill, volcanic, mesmerizing—and a definitive and revelatory study of the workings and personal and legislative power.

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FIREHOUSE
David Halberstam
Cover of FIREHOUSE

FIREHOUSE

by David Halberstam · Hyperion

4 wks on list

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist offers an intimate portrait of Engine 40, Ladder 35 on the Upper West Side of New York City, which lost 12 men in the World Trade Center attack.

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PROFILES IN COURAGE FOR OUR TIME
Caroline Kennedy
Cover of PROFILES IN COURAGE FOR OUR TIME

PROFILES IN COURAGE FOR OUR TIME

by Caroline Kennedy · Hyperion

In the spirit of John F. Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning Profiles in Courage, 13 essays honoring modern-day political heroes, penned by a collection of stellar authors. Nearly half a century after then-Senator John F. Kennedy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage, his masterful portrait of American heroes, the words "politician" and "courage" are rarely uttered in the same breath. But, as this celebration of modern political bravery amply demonstrates, there are countless examples of heroism among today's elected officials. Profiles in Courage for Our Time pays tribute to 13 such heroes, each a recipient of the prestigious Profile in Courage award. The essays' authors are as noteworthy as their subjects: Anna Quindlen writes about Governor James Florio's passing of the strictest gun control law in the nation; Al Hunt details Russell Feingold and John McCain's efforts to reform political financing; Bob Woodward writes on former President Gerald Ford's controversial decision of conscience to pardon former President Richard Nixon. "The Profiles in Courage Award seeks to honor those whose lives of service prove that politics can be a noble profession. We hope that Americans realize that there are men and women serving at all levels of our government who are legends of our time." --Caroline Kennedy Renowned authors and award-winners featured in Profiles in Courage for Our Time: --Michael Beschloss on Carl Elliot, Sr. --Bill Kovach on Charles Weltner --E. J. Dionne on Lowell Weicker, Jr. --Anna Quindlen on James Florio --Pete Hamill on Henry Gonzalez --Steve Roberts on Michael Synar --Marian Wright Edelman on Corkin Cherubini --Maryanne Vollers on Charles Price --Ron Suskind on Nickolas C. Murnion --Michael Daly on Irish Peace Makers --Anthony Walton on Hilda Solis --Al Hunt on Russell Feingold and John McCain --Teresa Carpenter on John Lewis --Bob Woodward on Gerald Ford

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ONCE UPON A TOWN
Bob Greene
Cover of ONCE UPON A TOWN

ONCE UPON A TOWN

by Bob Greene · Morrow

4 wks on list

This New York Times bestseller shares the true story of a small Midwest town's hospitality to U.S. soldiers traveling to the battlefields of World War II. In search of "the best America there ever was," award-winning journalist Bob Greene finds it in Nebraska where he discovers the echoes of the most touching love story imaginable: a love story between a country and its sons. During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains en route to their ultimate destinations in Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town, wanting to offer the servicemen warmth and support, transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen. Every day of the year, every day of the war, the Canteen—staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers—was open from five a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. Astonishingly, this remote plains community of only twelve,zero people provided welcoming words, friendship, and baskets of food and treats to more than six million GIs by the time the war ended. In this poignant and heartwarming eyewitness history, based on interviews with North Platte residents and the soldiers who once passed through, Bob Greene tells a classic, lost-in-the-mists-of-time American story of a grateful country honoring its brave and dedicated sons. "Bob Greene is a virtuoso of the things that bring journalism alive." —Tom Wolfe "Lovely . . . inspiring . . . uplifting . . . I was moved to tears, and you will be, too." —Ann Landers

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LUCKY MAN
Michael J. Fox

LUCKY MAN

by Michael J. Fox · Hyperion

12 wks on list

Autobiografie van de Amerikaanse filmacteur (1961- ), die in 2000 zijn carrière heeft moeten beëindigen vanwege de ziekte van Parkinson.

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THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M.
Catherine Millet
Cover of THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M.

THE SEXUAL LIFE OF CATHERINE M.

by Catherine Millet · Grove Press

1 wks on list

Catherine Millet, una figura de gran prestigio en el ámbito de la estética, autora de ensayos y monografías sobre artistas contemporáneos, decidió explicar su intensa y tumultuosa vida sexual, con una crudeza y una claridad absolutamente inesperadas. el r

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ODD GIRL OUT
Rachel Simmons
Cover of ODD GIRL OUT

ODD GIRL OUT

by Rachel Simmons · Harcourt

10 wks on list

The classic work on female bullying now revised and updated to include new material on cyberbullying and the dangers of life online. When Odd Girl Out was first published, it became an instant bestseller and ignited a long-overdue conversation about the hidden culture of female bullying. Today the dirty looks, taunting notes, and social exclusion that plague girls' friendships have gained new momentum in cyberspace. In this updated edition, educator and bullying expert Rachel Simmons gives girls, parents, and educators proven and innovative strategies for navigating social dynamics in person and online, as well as brand new classroom initiatives and step-by-step parental suggestions for dealing with conventional bullying. With up-to-the-minute research and real-life stories, Odd Girl Out continues to be the definitive resource on the most pressing social issues facing girls today. "Peels away the smiley surfaces of adolescent female society to expose one of girlhood's dark secrets: the vicious psychological warfare waged every day in the halls of our . . . schools."— San Francisco Chronicle "Provocative . . . Cathartic to any teen or parent trying to find company . . . it will sound depressingly familiar to any girl with a pulse."— Detroit Free Press "Encourages girls to address one another when they feel angry or jealous, rather than engage in the rumor mill."— Chicago Tribune "Simmons examines how such 'alternative aggression'—where girls use their relationship with the victim as a weapon—flourishes and its harmful effects . . . Simmons makes an impassioned plea that no form of bullying be permitted."— Publishers Weekly

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OH, THE THINGS I KNOW!
Al Franken
Cover of OH, THE THINGS I KNOW!

OH, THE THINGS I KNOW!

by Al Franken · Dutton

5 wks on list

The classic New York Times bestseller by Senator Al Franken, author of Giant of the Senate Senator Al Franken, or Dr. Al Franken, as he prefers to be called, has written the first truly indispensable book of the new millennium. Filled with wisdom, observations, and practical tips you can put to work right away, Oh, the Things I Know! is a cradle-to-grave guide to living, an easy-to-follow user's manual for human existence. What does a megasuccess like Al Franken—bestselling author, Emmy-award winning television star, sitting U.S. Senator, and honorary Ph.D.—have to say to ordinary people like you? Well, as Dr. Al himself says, "There's no point in getting advice from hopeless failures." Join Mr. Franken—sorry, Dr. Franken—on a journey that will take you from your first job ("Oh, Are You Going to Hate Your First Job!"), through the perils and pitfalls of your twenties and thirties ("Oh, the Person of Your Dreams vs. the Person You Can Actually Attract!"), into the joys of marriage and parenthood ("Oh, Just Looking at Your Spouse Will Make Your Skin Crawl!"), all the way to the golden years of senior citizenship ("Oh, the Nursing Home You'll Wind Up In!"). Don't travel life's lonesome highway by yourself. Take Al Franken along, if not as an infallible guide, then at least as a friend who will make you laugh.

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WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MAN
Bob Kerrey

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MAN

by Bob Kerrey · James H. Silberman/Harcourt

1 wks on list

In Bob Kerrey's own words, the inspiring story of his journey from America's heartland to a fateful coming-of-age in the cauldron of the Vietnam War. Bob Kerrey grew up outside Lincoln, Nebraska, in the 1950s, and in his trademark style -- serious, sometimes wry -- he tells of his journey from that heartland to the dangers of Vietnam, to the hospitals where he recovered from his grievous injuries, and finally to the Nixon White House where he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. A quest begins and ends this book. When his father was dying, he asked Kerrey to find out how his Uncle John had really died in World War II. It is this quest that inspires Bob Kerrey as he narrates his own personal odyssey in this remarkable and powerful book. B&W photos.

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THE PACT
Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page
Cover of THE PACT

THE PACT

by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page · Riverhead

1 wks on list

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A remarkable story about the power of friendship. Chosen by Essence to be among the forty most influential African Americans, the three doctors grew up in the streets of Newark, facing city life’s temptations, pitfalls, even jail. But one day these three young men made a pact. They promised each other they would all become doctors, and stick it out together through the long, difficult journey to attaining that dream. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt are not only friends to this day—they are all doctors. This is a story about joining forces and beating the odds. A story about changing your life, and the lives of those you love most... together.

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