Fall Book Preview

Sept. 3, 2000 -- Thirty years after their breakup, and 20 yearsafter the death of John Lennon, it’s time yet again to meet theBeatles.

In bookstores.

At least nine Beatle-related titles are expected this fall, fromthe authorized The Beatles Anthology to a biography of theirlate manager, Brian Epstein. Other books include an illustratedvolume of Paul McCartney’s paintings, a reissue of Lennon’scollection of verse, In His Own Write, and a look at theBeatles’ time in India with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

While a generation has been born and raised since the Beatleswere together, they remain a major moneymaker and culturalpresence. The band’s albums sold more than 50 million copiesworldwide over the past decade. Dozens of Beatles fans clubs stillexist, from Australia to Russia to Brazil.

Fab Four Re-Issues, New Editions Beatle books have been coming out since the group first started,but readers apparently still want more. The Beatles Anthology,an oral history assembled by the three surviving Beatles andLennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, has advance orders of more than 1 millionand will be published in at least eight languages.

“I remember being at the booksellers convention a couple ofyears ago and Linda McCartney was there to promote one of hervegetarian cookbooks,” says Constance Sayre, director of MarketingPartners International, a publishing consultant.

“The publisher gave a party and you should have seen the lineupof people to shake Sir Paul’s hand. You’ve never seen such a crowd.The Beatles are certainly a big deal with booksellers.”

A minor surprise is the reissue of Lennon Remembers,Lennon’s famously bitter, marathon interview with Rolling Stonepublisher Jann Wenner, given just as the group was breaking up.Lennon had agreed to the interview on the condition that Wenner notput it out in book form. When he did so anyway, Lennon was enragedand spoke bitterly about Wenner right until the end of his life.

But the new publication arrives with the approval of Yoko Ono,who contributed a forward. Material originally edited out has beenrestored and some lyrics never recorded will be included.

Lennon Remembers is classic Lennon, Ono writes.

“It’s nota sit-back-and-put-your-feet-up read … It’s a jolt on yournerves like bad, bad espresso. People with weak stomachs shouldclose the window before reading. You might just feel like jumpingout.”

Memoirs from Stephen King, Salinger Also this fall, Tom Wolfe comments on contemporary culture inHooking Up, Matt Drudge sums up his life — so far — in DrudgeManifesto and Ted Koppel looks back at recent news events inOff Camera.

Although the market remains tiny, some titles will be availableonly as e-books. They include Blair Witch: Graveyard Shift,which anticipates November’s sequel to The Blair Witch Project,and the science fiction series Star Trek S.C.E. Stephen Kingfans can expect more installments of his online novel, ThePlant.

Back on paper, King remembers his near fatal car accident inOn Writing and Mary Karr, author of the best-selling TheLiar’s Club, writes about her teenage years in Cherry. J.D.Salinger’s daughter, Margaret, reflects on her family in DreamCatcher. The McCourt franchise continues with Singing Him MySong, Malachy’s McCourt sequel to A Monk Swimming.

Memoirs also are due from historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., thelate football star Walter Payton, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli,Natalie Cole, Jerry Butler, the Neville Brothers, Jerry Stiller,Tina Sinatra and the pro wrestler Chyna.

Bellow is James Atlas’ highly anticipated biography of Nobellaureate Saul Bellow. Ian Kershaw, author of an acclaimed historyabout Hitler’s rise to power, is coming out with the second volume.David Levering Lewis completes his two-volume series on civilrights pioneer W.E.B. DuBois. Other biography subjects this fallinclude President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy, GeorgeOrwell and Robert E. Lee.

All Star Fiction The fiction list seems especially strong, with books expectedfrom Margaret Atwood, Ha Jin, Carlos Fuentes, William Trevor,Michael Chabon, John Updike, Kazuo Ishiguro, Jane Hamilton, CalebCarr, Alice Walker and Nobelists Gunter Grass and Jose Saramago.Notable new authors include Bonnie Burnard, Nomi Eve, Allen B.Ballard and F.X. Toole.

Tennessee Williams fans should look for a collection of hisletters and a volume of his early plays. Also expected are theletters of Dashiell Hammett, essays by Arthur Miller, stories fromIsaac Bashevis Singer and the original, unedited version of ThomasWolfe’s novel, Look Homeward, Angel, published upon thecentennial of the author’s birth.

Among commercial titles, the biggest seller could well be TheMark: The Beast Rules the World, the latest apocalyptic thrillerfrom Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim F. LaHaye. Other names to look forinclude Anne Rice, Tami Hoag, Elmore Leonard, Johanna Lindsey,Richard Paul Evans, Colleen McCullough, Patricia Cornwall andPhilip Margolin.

Two of the season’s more unusual titles could be labeleddetective stories. In Author Unknown: On the Trail ofAnonymous, handwriting expert Don Foster reveals how he unmaskedPrimary Colors novelist Joe Klein. The Island of Lost Mapsfollows the cartographic trail of Gilbert Bland, Jr., an antiquesdealer with an unfortunate passion for stealing vintage maps fromresearch libraries throughout the United States and Canada.