(4 of 4)
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. Paul Scofield's magnificent portrayal of Sir Thomas More again graces Robert Bolt's witty, thoughtful play, along with some added cinematographic dividends.
BOOKS
Best Reading
A SHORTER FINNEGANS WAKE, by James Joyce, edited by Anthony Burgess. Readers get a guided economy tour of the night life of H. C. Earwicker, mightiest of Irish dreamers, whose nocturnal visions embrace all human history, from the fall of man to Judgment Day. A gifted novelist and linguist, Burgess plays a lively Virgil to the Dublin Dante.
THE MAN WHO KNEW KENNEDY, by Vance Bourjaily. The first effort to capture the triumph and tragedy of the Kennedy era in fiction. Bourjaily's flashback-filled book is a sometimes brilliant and often evocative account of how the generation closest to Kennedy in age and aspirations reacted to his death.
THE LAST ONE LEFT, by John MacDonald. A busy, well-populated story of skulduggery at sea, tersely told by the current Big Daddy (53 books) of murder-suspense thrillers.
THE SOLDIER'S ART, by Anthony Powell. The eighth novel in a brilliantly executed marathon series depicting what British life was like between and during the two big wars, carries Narrator-Hero Nick Jenkins into the second year of World War II.
PAPER LION, by George Plimpton. The last long football season gave Americans the Super Bowl and the super book on the pro game. Plimpton's prose is worth a dozen coffee-table books filled with full-color pictures of golden boys in muddy pants.
Best Sellers
FICTION 1. The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Crichton (1 last week)
2. Capable of Honor, Drury (2)
3. The Arrangement, Kazan
4. Valley of the Dolls, Susann (6)
5. The Captain, De Hartog (3)
6. The Mask of Apollo, Renault (4)
7. The Birds Fall Down, West (5)
8. All in the Family, O'Connor (9)
9. The Beautiful Life, Gilbert
10. Tai-Pan, Clavell (7)
NONFICTION
1. Madame Sarah, Skinner (2)
2. Everything But Money, Levenson (1)
3. Paper Lion, Plimpton (3)
4. The Jury Returns, Nizer (5)
5. Games People Play, Berne (4)
6. Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet, Stearn
7. Rush to Judgment, Lane (6)
8. The Boston Strangler, Frank (7)
9. How to Avoid Probate, Dacey (9)
10. Inside South America, Gunther
* All times E.S.T.