Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

March 10, 2002

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE SUMMONS by John Grisham (Doubleday: $27.95) A man discovers $3 million in his dead father’s house and hides it from his prodigal brother and a mysterious extortioner. Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 3

2 UP COUNTRY by Nelson Demille (Warner: $26.95) A U.S. Army investigator travels to Vietnam to probe a 30-year-old murder in which the only living eyewitness is an enemy soldier. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 4

3 THE CORRECTIONS by Jonathan Franzen (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $26) The saga of a dysfunctional Midwestern family living at the end of the 20th century. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 26

4 TISHOMINGO BLUES by Elmore Leonard (William Morrow: $25.95) A high diver plunges into the Delta drug trade and the Dixie Mafia after witnessing a murder from atop his rig. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 4

5 BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS by Daj Sijie (Alfred A. Knopf: $18) Two Chinese youths use classic Western literature to free their minds in the face of communist re-education. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 9

6 THE GOOD MEN by Charmaine Craig (Riverhead: $24.95) A village rector and the women he loves cope with their desires as inquisitors hunt for heretics in 14th century France. Last Week: 10 Weeks on List: 3

7 HUNTING SEASON by Nevada Barr (Putnam: $24.95) When a body turns up in Mississippi’s Natchez Trace National Park, a ranger finds her investigation sabotaged at every turn. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

8 THE MILLIONAIRES by Brad Meltzer (Warner: $25.95) Two brothers who loot the account of a deceased client at a private bank get more than they bargained for. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 7

9 BASKET CASE by Carl Hiaasen (Alfred A. Knopf: $25.95) Once a hotshot reporter, an obituary writer for a small paper unravels the bizarre causes of the death of a rock star. Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 8

10 A MULTITUDE OF SINS by Richard Ford (Alfred A. Knopf: $25) The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Independence Day” returns with a collection of stories about adultery and its aftermath. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 2

11 THREE WEEKS IN PARIS by Barbara Taylor Bradford (Doubleday: $24.95) Alumni of a Parisian art school return to honor a beloved teacher and confront their stormy pasts. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

12 TEPPER ISN’T GOING OUT by Calvin Trillin (Random House: $22.95) A New Yorker becomes an urban legend by taking prized parking spots only to sit and read in his car. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 2

13 UNDER FIRE by W.E.B. Griffin (Putnam: $26.95) A Marine captain tries in vain to alert top brass of an impending invasion by the North at the outset of the Korean War. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 5

14 HELL TO PAY by George Pelecanos (Little, Brown: $24.95) When thugs murder the rising star on his Pee Wee football team, investigator Derek Strange is torn between the law and revenge. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

15 THE SNOW GARDEN by Christopher Rice (Talk Miramax: $23.95) Clouds of angst loom over a male college student and his lover, a professor whose wife has died in strange circumstances. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 SELF MATTERS by Phillip C. McGraw (Simon & Schuster: $25) A self-improvement guru and “Oprah” regular teaches readers how to “create your life from the inside out.” Last Week: 1 Weeks on List: 6

2 BIAS by Bernard Goldberg (Regnery: $27.95) A veteran CBS reporter argues that the mainstream media have been seriously damaged by a liberal, closed-minded worldview. Last Week: 2 Weeks on List: 10

3 STUPID WHITE MEN ... AND OTHER SORRY EXCUSES FOR THE STATE OF THE NATION by Michael Moore (Regan Books: $24.95) Lampooning the Bush administration and more. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 1

4 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster: $35) The story of our second president, a man Thomas Jefferson called “the colossus of independence.” Last Week: 9 Weeks on List: 41

5 WHAT WENT WRONG by Bernard Lewis (Oxford University: $23) An esteemed historian describes the Islamic Middle East’s fall from enlightenment into repression and tyranny. Last Week: 7 Weeks on List: 4

6 THE WISDOM OF MENOPAUSE by Christiane Northrup (Bantam: $27.95) A physician sees menopause, its symptoms and treatments as an opportunity for personal growth. Last Week: 6 Weeks on List: 2

7 WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? by Spencer Johnson (Putnam: $19.95) The co-author of “The One-Minute Manager” uses the parable of mice in a maze to discuss managing change. Last Week: 15 Weeks on List: 101

8 YOU’RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR NEXT ONE by Mike Medavoy with Josh Young (Pocket Books: $27) Memoir of a studio exec’s rise to mogul-dom. Reviewed by Kenneth Turan, Page 5. Last Week: 12 Weeks on List: 3

9 SHADOW WARRIORS by Tom Clancy with Gen. Carl Stiner (Putnam: $29.95) The recent history of the U.S. military’s Special Forces, and their usefulness when conventional tactics fail. Last Week: 11 Weeks on List: 3

10 SACRED CONTRACTS by Caroline Myss (Harmony: $25) Lessons in decoding symbols, myths, intuition and coincidences to understand your purpose in life. Last Week: 3 Weeks on List: 4

11 SATISFACTION by Kim Cattrall and Mark Levinson (Warner: $24.95) A star of HBO’s “Sex and the City” and her husband draw on viewer feedback for this guide to pleasing women. Last Week: 4 Weeks on List: 4

12 THE UNIVERSE IN A NUTSHELL by Stephen Hawking (Bantam: $35) The celebrated physicist offers up a look at space, time and the origin and future of the universe. Last Week: 8 Weeks on List: 14

13 JACK by Jack Welch with John A. Byrne (Warner: $29.95) The life and times of a respected chief executive, from a Massachusetts childhood to his successful reinvention of General Electric. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 16

14 JOURNEY THROUGH HEARTSONGS by Mattie J.T. Stepanek (Hyperion: $14.95) A new collection of poetry from a boy struggling with a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Last Week: 5 Weeks on List: 5

15 FIERCE PAJAMAS edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder (Random House: $27.95) Literary laughter from the pages of the New Yorker, from James Thurber to Woody Allen. Last Week: -- Weeks on List: 3

Paperbacks

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

2 FALL ON YOUR KNEES by Ann-Marie MacDonald (Scribner: $14) The travails of a family in coal-mining Nova Scotia.

3 A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) Violence looms over a boyhood in rural Arkansas in 1952.

4 A WALK TO REMEMBER by Nicholas Sparks (Warner: $6.99) A man recalls the bittersweet love story of his youth.

5 THE BONESETTER’S DAUGHTER by Amy Tan (Ballantine: $7.99) A ghostwriter uncovers her family’s anguished past.

6 THE LAST TIME THEY MET by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown: $13.95) Two poets share a lifelong passion.

7 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

8 MY DREAM OF YOU by Nuala O’Faolain (Riverhead: $14) An Irish writer uncovers a 150-year-old love story.

9 1st TO DIE by James Patterson (Warner Vision: $7.99) Four

women track a killer with a penchant for newlyweds.

10 INTERPRETER OF MALADIES by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner: $12) Stories of love and loss collide with Indian customs.

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 A BEAUTIFUL MIND by Sylvia Nasar (Touchstone: $16) A brilliant mathematics professor’s battle with schizophrenia.

2 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk-food industry.

3 THE WRINKLE CURE by Nicholas Perricone (Warner: $13.95) Using antioxidants to keep the skin looking young.

4 RICH DAD, POOR DAD by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter (Techpress: $15.95) Adventures in fiscal parenting.

5 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom.

6 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view of the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

7 BLACK HAWK DOWN by Mark Bowden (Signet: $7.99) A gritty account of a disastrous 1993 military operation in Somalia.

8 FOUNDING BROTHERS by Joseph Ellis (Vintage: $14) The genius, cunning and flaws of the nation’s architects.

9 THE BLESSING OF A SKINNED KNEE by Wendy Mogel (Penguin: $14) Applying Jewish thought to raising children.

10 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage:

$15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.