(4 of 4)
THE BIG KNOCKOVER, by Dashiell Hammett. These collected early detective stories are every bit as fresh as they were 40 years ago, and demonstrate why the many imitators of Hammett's realistic tough-guy technique are just that—imitators.
MR. CLEMENS AND MARK TWAIN, by Justin Kaplan. The best humor has a cutting edge, and Kaplan's able biography explains the bitterness and cynicism that underlay everything Mark Twain wrote.
THE LAST GENTLEMAN, by Walker Percy. A meditative novel by a talented Southern writer (The Movie-Goer) about a young Southerner whose daydreams provide the meaning he cannot find in life.
SELECTED POEMS, by Eugenic Montale. The light, the colors and the fruits of Italy are brightly evoked by a great modern Italian poet, but his musings on his fellow men are somber. The translations faith fully reflect the poet's spare, luminous language.
ARIEL, by Sylvia Plath. Author Plath, who committed suicide at 30, wrote a mass of morbid but powerful poetry in the last few months of her unhappy life, and in the three years since her death has become the most celebrated woman poet of her generation.
Best Sellers
FICTION
1. Valley of the Dolls, Susann (1 last week)
2. The Adventurers, Robbins (2)
3. Tai-Pon, Clavell (5)
4. The Source, Michener (3)
5. Tell No Man, St. Johns (6)
6. The Double Image, Maclnnes (4)
7. The Embezzler, Auchincloss (7)
8. Those Who Love, Stone (8)
9. I, the King, Keyes(10)
10. The Mission, Habe (9)
NONFICTION
1. How to Avoid Probate, Dacey (3)
2. Papa Hemingway, Hotchner (2)
3. The Last Battle, Ryan (1)
4. Human Sexual Response, Masters and Johnson (4)
5. In Cold Blood, Capote (5)
6. Churchill, Moran (9)
7. Games People Play, Berne (6)
8. Unsafe at Any Speed, Nader (7)
9. The Proud Tower, Tuchman (8) 10. The Crusades, Oldenbourg
* All times E.D.T.