FictionMASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon. (Henry...

Fiction

MASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon. (Henry Holt: $27.50). An astronomer and surveyor wend their way through the revolutions, scientific discoveries and American wilderness of the 18th century. Reviewed on Page 3. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) (2). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 10

PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster: $25). Despite police protection and a move to another city, an eyewitness to a murder is hunted by the killer (1). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 3

AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth. (Houghton Mifflin: $26). Richard Eder, The Times’ Book Critic, wrote that this novel “scintillates with more Rothian wit, paradox, eloquent tantrums and absurd pratfalls . . . than can be counted” (13). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 2

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE SON by Norman Mailer. (Random House: $22). Not content with the job done by the evangelists, Jesus presents his autobiography (6). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 2

LE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 15

PURPLE AMERICA by Rick Moody (Little, Brown & Company: $23.95). Our reviewer, Michael Frank, called this book “a stellar accomplishment. . . . An original and reverberative novel.” Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

3001: THE FINAL ODYSSEY by Arthur C. Clarke. (Del Rey: $25). Astronaut Frank Poole is awakened 1,000 years later to witness a new civilization and the meaning of the mysterious monoliths (8). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 10; Week on List: 7

ASYLUM by Patrick McGrath. (Random House: $22). Our reviewer, Joanna Scott, said that this book “succeeds brilliantly. . . . The story of this love affair unfolds like a dream into a nightmare.” Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 5

CROOKED LITTLE HEART by Anne Lamott. (Pantheon: $24). The fragile world of a dysfunctional couple is upset when their athletic daughter becomes the target of an obsessed fan. Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 3

Nonfiction

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) (2). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 28

UNDERBOSS: Sammy the Bull Gravano’s Story of Life in the Mafia by Peter Maas. (HarperCollins: $25) (1). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 3

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24). What went wrong with the 1996 expedition that resulted in the deaths of several moutaineers (8). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 4; Week on List: 2

LOCKED IN THE CABINET by Robert B. Reich. (Knopf: $25). Antics and anecdotes of the Clinton administration by the former secretary of Labor (9). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 9; Week on List: 2

WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT by Peter Bogdanovich. (Knopf: $39.95). Our reviewer, Peter Biskind, called the book “an invaluable one-volume view of cinema history from a director’s point of view.” Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 2

KIDS ARE PUNNY: Jokes Sent by Kids to The Rosie O’Donnell Show. (Warner: $10) (3). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 3

MONSTER: Living Off the Big Screen by John Gregory Dunne. (Random House: $21). Our reviewer, Michael Crichton, called Dunne’s book “a remarkable narrative . . . that tells more about the experience of writing for Hollywood than any other book ever written.” Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 12

MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS by Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth. (Doubleday: $24.95). Moments, in words and photos, from the lives of 37 women and their daughters (10). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

SIMPLE ABUNDANCE: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. (Warner: $17.95) (4). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 32

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95) (5). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 4

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. MARTIN DRESSLER: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser. (Vintage: $12)

2. NEANDERTHAL by John Darnton. (St. Martin’s: $7.99)

3. STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi. (Simon & Schuster Trade: $12)

4. THE RUNAWAY JURY by John Grisham. (Bantam: $7.99)

5. THE RAPTURE OF CANAAN by Sheri Reynolds. (Berkley: $12)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES / SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95)

2. THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride. (Riverhead: $12)

3. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE WOMAN’S SOUL by J. Canfield, M.V. Hansen, J. Hawthorne and M. Shimoff. (Health Communications: $12.95)

4. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF by Richard Carlson. (Hyperion: $8.95)

5. THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD by Carl Sagan. (Ballantine: $14)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly.