Read more of Amazon.com's interview with Robert Smith at
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HOT CD TOP SELLERS
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"No Strings Attached"
'N Sync
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The anticipation for 'N Sync's new album has been as high as
the pitch of a 13-year-old girl's scream. No Strings
Attached has more of an R&B edge than their 1998 debut, and
you can still expect the tightly crafted vocal harmonies and
dance beats these princes of pop have perfected.
"The Man Who"
Travis
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Travis's latest release enjoyed a comfortable stay at the
top of the U.K. charts, and is now finally making waves in
the U.S. The album's sound visits the musical haunts of
Radiohead but Travis's ghosts are much friendlier, although
equally as somber. Brit-rock fans will go mad for the
lullaby melodies, intricate layering of acoustic guitars and
organic-spirited synths, and tastefully diverse
instrumentation from sitar to harmonica.
"Bachelor No. 2"
Aimee Mann
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Although Aimee Mann's new album borrows 3 songs from her
previous effort, the "Magnolia" soundtrack, there is no lack
of new and inspired material. Mann's maturity as a singer-
songwriter is clearly evident from album to album, but here,
she takes a giant leap forward. Sizing up her subjects and
cutting them down, Mann's truths sting, but she's no less
easy on herself. Honesty is rarely this obliquely
entertaining.
"Real Live Woman"
Trisha Yearwood
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The softer side of Trisha Yearwood reveals itself on "Real
Live Woman." The trick is that "soft" doesn't mean "weak."
Her voice is forthright and soulful, especially on her cover
of Linda Ronstadt's "Try Me Again" and the title track. Her
most sophisticated release, high style suits her very well.
"The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerk"
Fishbone
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One of the great mysteries in rock over the last decade and
a half has been the failure of Fishbone to break through to
a larger audience that has embraced such like-minded
funksters as the Red Hot Chili Peppers (whose Flea, Chad
Smith, and John Frusciante guest here) and Primus. As
eclectic as ever with funk, punk, pop, and ska grooves
popping out all over place, the fully revitalized ensemble
enlists a slew of party pals to contribute to the
festivities, including George Clinton, Gwen Stefani, Perry
Farrell, Rick James, and Donnie Osmond.
EDITOR's CHOICE: EELS' "DAISIES OF THE GALAXY"
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"Daisies Of The Galaxy"
Eels
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Eels' E (very short nickname for bandleader Mark Everett)
reflects on and heals from recent tragedies on "Daisies of
the Galaxy." Having endured the suicide of his sister and
the loss of his mother to cancer, E enlists the talents of
Grant Lee Buffalo's Grant Lee Phillips and R.E.M.'s Peter
Buck in creating a set of tracks that are life-affirming,
yet never stray from the gritty lyrical realism that made
"Electro-Shock Blues" so beautifully disturbing.
OUR CUSTOMERS RECOMMEND: NICK DRAKE'S "PINK MOON"
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"Pink Moon"
Nick Drake
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From a customer in England:
"'Pink Moon' is the deepest form of romance, borne out of
dispair. And yet Nick Drake breathes magic into the soft
words and deceptive guitar. There is today really no
equivalent to this tormented genius."
NEW CATEGORY: LATIN MUSIC
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Our customers have told us that they just can't get enough
of the great Latin artists that have won the collective ear
of broadening audiences. We've listened, and have created a
new page devoted exclusively to Latin artists from all
walks. From Ricky Martin to Buena Vista Social Club--you can
find them all in one location by following the link below:
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Plus, you may want to discover the system that enabled
author Robert Kiyosaki to retire at 47, spelled out in his
book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids
About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!":
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"Faith of My Fathers"
by John McCain
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John McCain may or may not be our next president, but he
sure has the most awe-inducing life story of any
candidate. His grandpa and dad were the first father-son
admirals in American history; John was a navy brat who
became a war prisoner in a Vietnamese camp. He refused their
offer to free him, so they tortured him for five years,
steeling his will. What a saga!
"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"
by Dave Eggers
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What's it like to be young, gifted, suddenly orphaned,
launching a stellar career, and raising your kid brother in
the weird world of San Francisco? "It was a hopeless sort of
exhilaration, a kind of arrogance born of fatalism, I
guess," writes Eggers in the most dazzlingly ironic
novelistic memoir of the season.
"101 Nights of Grrreat Sex"
by Laura Corn
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The key to success in love, as in war, is the element of
surprise. Each page of this book is sealed, and readers and
their partners tear out a page once a week, keeping the
instructions secret and keeping the beloved in pleasant
suspense. Among other sexy secrets, Corn claims to reveal
the Marilyn Monroe trick that "caused JFK's toes to curl"!
FREE SAMPLES
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"Tuesdays with Morrie"
by Mitch Albom
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Morrie Schwartz: biblical prophet, Christmas elf, or
twinkling-eyed deathbed sage? All of the above, says this
moving memoir of a student's last lesson from his favorite
professor. Read an excerpt:
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"Scandalmonger"
by William Safire
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Isn't it awful how people write such horrid things about
Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and Alexander Hamilton that
are absolutely and completely true? Safire's novel about
James Callender, sleaze merchant, blends history with the
piquant spice of invention. Read an excerpt:
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"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
by Tracy Chevalier
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Enter the mind of Vermeer's mysterious beauty, fall in love
with the painter, and explore 17th-century Holland via Tracy
Chevalier's utterly absorbing, sumptuously detailed
historical novel. Read an excerpt:
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INTERVIEW: JOHN GRISHAM
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John Grisham's 11th legal thriller, "The Brethren," follows
three incarcerated judges--good ol' boys all--as they seek
their fortune in extortion and mail fraud. The excitement
picks up when they unexpectedly begin to reap as they have
sown. Grisham talks to Amazon.com about his literary
influences and the morals inherent in his work.
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Also, set your glasses aside and read the large-print
edition of Grisham's "The Brethren":
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OSCAR WORTHIES
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"The Cider House Rules"
by John Irving
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A good old-fashioned Dickensian novel about the orphan Homer
Wells, Dr. Wilbur Larch, the meaning of fatherhood, and the
secrets of cider houses.
"The Green Mile"
by Stephen King
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The horror master's death-row drama won the 1997 Bram Stoker
Award for Best Novel. There's another, cheaper edition with
Tom Hanks's picture on the cover, but this one contains an
introduction by King.
"American Beauty: The Shooting Script"
by Alan Ball
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When star Kevin Spacey read this stunningly original
midlife-crisis tale (Ball's first screenplay), he almost
fell out of bed. When Steven Spielberg read it, he said,
"Let's make this movie and not change a word." Read it and
weep, and laugh, and weep.
"Angela's Ashes"
by Frank McCourt
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Not that the recent sequel "'Tis" isn't great--it is--but
nothing can match the magic and sad grandeur of McCourt's
first memoir about growing up poor and Irish and rich in
literary spirit.
"The Talented Mr. Ripley: A Screenplay"
by Anthony Minghella
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See how Anthony "The English Patient" Minghella artfully
updated Patricia Highsmith's classic thriller about a
millionaire-beguiling forger and murderer living the high
life in Italy.
Or read the original novel by Patricia Highsmith:
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INTERVIEW: MICHAEL LEWIS
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Michael Lewis tells Amazon.com how wild it was to meet
Netscape founder and chronic Silicon Valley zillionaire Jim
Clark and "hitch a ride on the back of his life" for "The
New New Thing."
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COMING SOON
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It's a big month for big books. Pre-order titles by your
favorite authors and we'll send them to you the day they go
on sale.
"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea"
by Charles Seife
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The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the
Hindus worshiped it, and the Church used it to fend off
heretics. And today, the zero--that little nothing--could
account for everything. Seife's page-turning debut is a
wholly positive one.
"Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"
by Helen Fielding
Publication date: February 28
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Can Bridget Jones and her Singleton brigade triumph over
Smug Marrieds, man-stealing skinny vixens, "rude thoughts"
about Prince William, and a Thai prison diet? Find out in
her new diary.
"Harry Potter and the Doomspell Tournament"
by J.K. Rowling
Publication date: July 8
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What adventure is next for Harry, distinguished student of
the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Order now,
have a hot butterbeer, and it will arrive like magic in your
home before the bookstore stampede even starts.
PAPERBACK BESTSELLERS
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Here's a peek at what's piquing interest on Amazon.com's
paperback bestseller list.
"First Lady"
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
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Cornelia Case, the lovely widow of an assassinated
president, goes on the run from the Secret Service, hitches
a ride with the man of her troublesome dreams, and lives out
a most entertaining romance by rising-star writer Phillips.
"Designing Web Usability"
by Jakob Nielsen
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The world wide guru of Web design tells how to make it
simple and make it great. Just say "no" to frames!
"The Hours"
by Michael Cunningham
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The dark-horse literary smash is a tour de force about an
L.A. woman in 1949 and a New York woman in the present day
gliding in and out of Virginia Woolf's mind in 1923, seeking
"an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds
and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've
ever imagined."