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OUR CROWD, by Stephen Birmingham. New York's great Jewish families—the Warburgs, Guggenheims, Strauses, Lehmans, Goldmans, Loebs, to name a few—once maintained a social structure as exclusive in its way as Mrs. Astor's. Author Birmingham renders an affectionate portrait of what he calls Manhattan's "other Society."
SIGNS AND WONDERS, by Francoise Mallet-Joris. Against a backdrop of Gaullist France near the end of the Algerian war, a writer plods his slow march to lunacy. In her sixth novel, Mile. Mallet-Joris again demonstrates her ability to create worlds that readers accept instantly.
THE WOBBLIES, by Patrick Renshaw. The Industrial Workers of the World lasted barely 50 years as a national movement, but a lively half-century it was. A British scholar chronicles the activities of the labor organization whose innovations included the sitdown strike and integrated locals.
SELECTED LETTERS OF DYLAN THOMAS, edited by Constantine FitzGibbon. This carefully culled selection of the tragic Welsh poet's letters painfully—and touchingly—shows that his great chronic fault was a reckless profligacy in practically everything he did.
A PRELUDE: LANDSCAPES, CHARACTERS AND CONVERSATIONS FROM THE EARLIER YEARS OF MY LIFE, by Edmund Wilson. Turning to autobiography after 51 years as critic, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright and novelist, Wilson draws entries from a journal begun in 1914. The result is a rich account juxtaposing his growth as a writer with the breakdown of his snug prewar world.
SNOW WHITE, by Donald Barthelme. Translating the old story into the contemporary idiom, Barthelme goes wild with words. His amusingly refurbished novel of the absurd is as episodic and pointless as a kaleidoscope, yet just as strangely affecting.
STORIES AND TEXTS FOR NOTHING, by Samuel Beckett. In 16 carefully wrought stories and bright fragments, Beckett restates his eternal theme—that the ravages of time are unending.
Best Sellers
FICTION
1. The Arrangement, Kazan (1 last week)
2. The Eighth Day, Wilder (2)
3. The Plot, Wallace (3)
4. The Chosen, Potok (4)
5. Washington, D.C., Vidal (5)
6. Rosemary's Baby, Levin (6)
7. The Secret of Santa Vittoria, Crichton (7)
8. Tales of Manhattan, Auchincloss (8)
9. The King of the Castle, Holt (10) 10. Fathers, Gold
NONFICTION
1. The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (4)
2. Everything But Money, Levenson (2)
3. The Death of a President, Manchester (1)
4. The New Industrial State, Galbraith (6)
5. By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, White, ed. (5)
6. Anyone Can Make a Million, Shulman (10)
7. At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, Eisenhower (3)
8. A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church, Kavanaugh
9. Games People Play, Berne (7)
10. Madame Sarah, Skinner (8)
* All times E.D.T.