copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.
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[--- HOME --- HUBS --- SPECIALS --- ARCHIVES --- TODAY ---] | |
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Who really books in Chicago | BACK |
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Nos. 1 - 10 | LIT 50 HOME |
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1 OPRAH | Magnum Oprah |
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No surprise, right? After all, the Mighty O has topped our list for three years running now (no matter how hard we try to come up with a more "literary" name). This year, though, Oprah should be not just number one, but Number One with a whole bunch of neon arrows and stars around her name. Not only did her Book Club choices (including Bernard Schlink's "The Reader," Anita Shreve's "The Pilot's Wife," Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much is True" and the current selection, Janet Fitch's "White Oleander," which jumped from nowhere straight to Publisher Weekly's number two slot following Oprah's blessing) do their usual dance up the New York Times and PW best-seller lists, she also told you to Change Your Life and Remember Your Spirit through books. And you listened; books by self-help scions Gary Zukav ("The Seat of the Soul") and Phillip C. McGraw ("Life Strategies") both scaled the PW charts, and Iyanla Vanzant owes Oprah her new-found career as a guru to Stellas looking to get their groove back. Celebs like Reba McEntire, Bill Murray and, uh, Princess Di's brother all know that some Oprah airtime will help their bios fly off the shelves - or out of the Amazon.com warehouse. The online bookseller makes one-stop shopping a cinch for the Oprah faithful, collecting every book with even the smallest O connection on one page. Her only literary flaw? The tie-in tome "Journey to Beloved" (Hyperion) flopped even bigger than the film.
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2 MICHAEL JORDAN | Airloom |
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Michael Jordan is everywhere but where we want him to be. Even though His Airness Emeritus wasn't anywhere near the United Center this year, you could find him at McDonald's, Osco, Borders, Barnes & Noble... or, at least an incredible facsimile of MJ, in the pages of his long-awaited autobio, "For the Love of the Game" (Crown). Cannily released just in time for Christmas gift-giving, the slick book prompted long bookstore lines the night it went on sale and a cheaper, condensed, mini-version that was available at Mickey D's and Osco. Meanwhile, respected sports biographer David Halberstam weighed in with his well-received "Playing for Keeps," and even Charles Barkley got in the game, editing "The Definitive Word on Michael Jordan." Roland Lazenby offered a darker look with "Blood on the Horns: The Long Strange Ride of Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls," and local author Jay Amberg seemed to model his kidnapping-nightmare novel "Blackbird Singing" on the hoops star; still, not even these frowns could turn the page-turning powerhouse that is MJ upside down. At last count, there were more than 150 books about the man, the myth.
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3 ROBERT BOSAU | Acquiring character |
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Like the insert-stuffed Sunday paper, landing with an ever-heavier thud on our doorsteps each week, the Tribune Education Group continues to gain in sheer mass. In the last year, Trib Ed prez Bosau steered his company through a laundry list of acquisitions. Everything from the Keats health-books line to coffeetable king Peter Bedrick, Australian textbook companies to software manufacturers, have come under the Trib umbrella, and the pace seems unlikely to slacken anytime soon. In this frenzy of deal making, terms have not been disclosed, but Trib spokesmen assure us that they've added "a fair amount of substance" to Trib Ed. Hopefully they don't mean the same sort of "substance" added to the Sunday paper by Parade magazine.
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4 ANDREW GREELEY | Church bard |
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Who is Greeley? A professional Irishman? A repressed Catholic? According to his
Web site
, he's "Andrew M. Greeley: priest, author, sociologist." If you say so. No matter who he is, Greeley's fans eagerly buy up whatever he writes - and the fact that he's a workhorse puts his total sold at a whopping twenty million copies, definitely making him the best selling priest/novelist ever. Even at 71, Greeley routinely churns out at least three new books each year, usually scoring best sellers with tales of sin, sex, redemption - and more sex. Just since last June Greeley has published, in hardcover for Forge, "Contract With an Angel," "A Midwinter's Tale" and his forty-third novel - which hit stores on St. Patrick's Day - "Irish Mist: A Nuala Anne McGrail Novel." At the same time, five Greeley paperbacks elbowed their way into bookstores. Lowbrow or highbrow, Greeley sells. Period.
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5 STUDS TERKEL | Chi-town chronicler |
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The 800-pound gorilla of nonfiction has had a relatively low-profile season, but not an idle one. Terkel contributed an eloquent introduction to "A Wild Kind of Boldness," a history of Chicago published by New Press; the paperback version of his bestselling "My American Century" (New Press) hit shelves; and "American Dreams," one of the Pulitzer Prize-winner's classics, was re-released in April, a sure sign of the author's enduring popularity. Still resident sage at the Chicago Historical Society (where he's adapting some 9,000 worth of interviews to CD and tape), Terkel is currently at work on "Spectator," featuring his interviews with Hollywood and Broadway stars, from Buster Keaton to Edward Albee. A closing century has never boasted such an eloquent - or prolific - narrator.
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6 ROGER EBERT | Ham, solo |
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No longer part of a dynamic duo, Ebert's TV persona has struggled since the death of longtime sparring partner Gene Siskel, as he now has to break in a new "guest critic" every week. In the publishing realm, however, the Sun-Times' "answer man" stands tall alone. Last year, "Roger Ebert's Video Companion" (Andrews-McNeel) hit the one-million mark in sales, while the 1999 edition of "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook" racked up another 75,000. As if those laurels weren't enough to rest on, the just-released, twice-as-big version of "Ebert's Little Movie Glossary" has already sold 35,000 copies. Just in time for the millennium, "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2000" hits shelves in October.
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7 SCOTT TUROW | Court marshall |
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The original lawyer/author, Turow may be less prolific than John Grisham, but he's definitely got more class. He also has the distinction of having made the legal thriller not only a best-selling formula, but a literary achievement. But all good streaks come to an end: his last offering, "The Laws of Our Fathers," with its focus on social evils, foundered a bit, selling just under 600,000 copies in hardcover (compared to 4.7 million for "Presumed Innocent"). But Turow seems to be back on the right track with "Personal Injuries," set for October. "Injuries" takes us back to the world of Kindle County and, if the FSG catalog is to be believed, dabbles in the thrills of greed, corruption, deceit, love and human frailty. Sounds good to us.
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8 ELIZABETH TAYLOR | Trib elation |
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With the Books section getting a snappy new look and prominent placement in the Sunday Trib, section editor Liz Taylor seems to gain more might and muscle with each passing year. The oft-overlooked tabloid version (usually buried between Polident coupons and a Menards circular) is a thing of the past; in March, Books switched to a broadsheet format and claimed the spot formerly occupied by the puffy "WomanNews." After Taylor's methodical overhaul, the section now includes local best-seller lists, more reader interaction and expanded children's coverage. Couple Taylor's literary responsibilities with her gig as editor of the Tribune Sunday Magazine, and she is now among the hierarchy of power brokers at the Trib Tower.
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9 GARRY WILLS | Well, endowed |
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Having received a National Endowment for the Humanities award this year - which he presumably stuck on the shelf next to his Pulitzer - Chicago's hometown hero of historical nonfiction would seem likely to rest on his laurels for a while. But the Northwestern prof and acclaimed chronicler of our times (and others) shows no signs of slowing down. Wills' bio of Saint Augustine arrives in stores in July, and his book-length study of resistance to government, "Necessary Evil," is slated for October. Who says there's nothing exciting in Evanston?
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10 E. LYNN HARRIS | The niche is back |
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Depending on who you ask, E. Lynn Harris is either the bestselling African-American male novelist of the decade (Publisher's Weekly) or one of the bestselling African-American male novelists of the decade (his publisher, Doubleday). In any case, the author has won plenty of fans with his pop novels, stories of love, romance, friendship and betrayal that seamlessly blend straight and gay lifestyles. His latest, "Abide With Me," wraps up a popular trilogy; like his four other novels, it's earned Harris a place on the New York Times Bestseller List.
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copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc. |