FictionTHE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE SON by...

Fiction

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. Reviewed on Page 6. Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

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: 2; Last Weeks: 2; Week on List: 2

AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth. (Houghton Mifflin: $26) The idyllic life of a Newark family is disrupted as America comes of age in the 1960s. Reviewed on Page 2 (15). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) (2). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 9

THE PASSION DREAM BOOK by Whitney Otto. (HarperCollins: $22) A love story about an unconventional artistic couple, stretching from the Italian Renaissance to the early 20th century. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

THE DISCOVERY OF DRAGONS by Graeme Base. (Abrams: $16.95) Vivid illustrations accompany an eccentric Victorian scientist’s tales of the Eastern Temple Worm and other terrifying creatures. Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 2

LE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 14

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: 8; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 2

THE RANCH by Danielle Steel. (Delacorte: $25.95) Three women gather at a Wyoming ranch to close the distance in their friendships created by time and their traumatic lives (3). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: 5; Week on List: 2

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 (5). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: 7; Week on List: 6

Nonfiction

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) (1). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Weeks: 1; Week on List: 27

UNDERBOSS: Sammy the Bull Gravano’s Story of Life in the Mafia by Peter Maass. (HarperCollins: $25) Defying a blood oath to the mob, Gravano defected in 1992 and testified against boss John Gotti (2). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Weeks: 3; Week on List: 2

8 WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body’s Natural Healing Power by Andrew Weil. (Knopf: $23) (4). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Weeks: 8; Week on List: 8

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. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

KIDS ARE PUNNY: Jokes Sent by Kids to The Rosie O’Donnell Show. (Warner: $10) (6). Southern California ranking: 5; 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 that serves as a reminder that movie-making did not begin with ‘Wayne’s World.’ ” Southern California ranking: 6; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

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: 5; Week on List: 11

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95) (5). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Weeks: 6; Week on List: 3

LOCKED IN THE CABINET by Robert B. Reich. (Knopf: $25) Antics and anecdotes of the Clinton administration by the former secretary of Labor (15). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

MEMORIES OF SUMMER: When Baseball Was an Art, and Writing About It a Game by Roger Kahn. (Hyperion: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Weeks: --; Week on List: 1

Paperbacks: FICTION

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

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

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

4. LILY WHITE by Susan Isaacs. (HarperPaperbacks: $6.99)

5. STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi. (Simon & Schuster Trade: $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. DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF by Richard Carlson. (Hyperion: $8.95)

4. DR. ATKINS’ NEW DIET REVOLUTION by Robert C. Atkins. (M. Evans: $12.95)

5. THE CLOISTER WALK by Kathleen Norris. (Riverhead: $12.50)

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