



MR. SAMMLERS PLANET
by Saul Bellow · Viking Press
"Sammler, a New Yorker in his seventies, a refugee from Nazism, a thinker of complex thoughts, a touchstone around whom a heterogeneous group revolves, is not simply the protagonist but the prime mover of a many-sided novel held together by the centripetal force of his presence. The counterpoint of personalities, subplots, and incidents constitutes a tragi-comic commentary on twentieth-century urban life but it is Sammler's considered reflections on that life that dominate a novel which, most movingly, asks basic questions about how we live and what we live for at this chaotic point in history. Portions of the novel first appeared in the Atlantic."--Booklist Review.

THE INHERITORS
by Harold Robbins · Trident Press
"Harold Robbins as he once said is still writing the scene -- the Hollywood scene as it began with The Dream Merchants, continued with The Carpetbaggers, and now what's left of it in The Inheritors; obviously it's changed from Jean Harlow to Sharon Tate. The industry has fallen off, and so to a degree has Mr. Robbins since this book doesn't really have the development or the diversification of the earlier ones but it won't matter. A massive promotion campaign is already well under way and the million dollar understanding has been reached with Joseph Levine. This then, paralleling what's happened, mediates between films and television via the dual careers of Sam Benjamin, who has been trying to reach the top ever since his early days as an exhibitor from the Bronx -- and Steven Gaunt, a good generation younger, with complete autonomy at Sinclair Television. Swivelling through grabs for properties of all kinds, Steve is seen marrying Sinclair's daughter, Barbara, who dies; readily available to all kinds of beautiful women including Benjamin's Italian import who for a time distracts him from his marriage; and Finally in the messy business with Benjamin's daughter whom he calls Darling Girl but, who is lost before he starts to try and reclaim her -- to drugs..."--Kirkus

THE GANG THAT COULDN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT
by Jimmy Breslin · Viking Press
This series is aimed at pleasing a wide readership by offering a blend of the genres most frequently requested by library patrons: Mystery, Romance, Western, General Fiction, and Nonfiction titles. As fresh and outrageously entertaining as when it first drew America's attention to the comic underbelly of New York City's criminal underworld, Jimmy Breslin's bestselling first novel focuses on a Mafia turf war (it's focus, in turn, is a Brooklyn bicycle race) and introduces the most hilariously unsavory collection of gangsters ever to toss a guy into Sheepshead Bay with a jukebox around his neck.

FIRE FROM HEAVEN
by Mary Renault · Pantheon/Random House
Alexander's beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion taught him trust, while Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fueled his aspirations. Killing his first man in battle at the age of twelve, he became regent at sixteen and commander of Macedon's cavalry at eighteen, so that by the time his father was murdered, Alexander's skills had grown to match his fiery ambition. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.



