The Clintons' marriage may seem to be worked-over territory. But Sheehy, drawing on interviews with hundreds of subjects—some of whom have kept silent until now—breaks new ground in addressing the big question: Do the Clintons love one another—or is it just a political partnership? Her answer: Hillary is addicted to Bill. "He is her only rebellion," writes Sheehy, "the one thing she can't logically explain." The author charts the dog days of the Clintons' relationship, when, in the late '80s, Bill fell in love with a blonde Arkansas divorcée and Hillary contemplated divorce. Sheehy also explores Hillary's character—her toughness, her ambition, her willingness to blame her husband's problems on others—without suggesting these qualities are less appealing in a woman than in a man. (Random House, $23.95)
Bottom Line: Dishy and satisfying
by Anita Shreve
Book of the week
In her seventh novel, Shreve returns to the craggy coastal landscape of her bestselling The Pilot's Wife to spin another powerful story of people driven to emotional extremes. This time, she chronicles a turn-of-the-century affair between a precocious 15-year-old girl and a married doctor nearly three times her age. Shreve signals her intent early on when she observes that authors go back to the past not only for "baroque Ianguage and richer color," but also because "the social mores of a previous era might better highlight certain moral dilemmas of one's own time."
Therein lie the book's sins and virtues. The liaison is so indulgently paced and lavishly detailed (every muddied hem is noted) that readers may grow impatient. But when Shreve turns to practical, emotional and moral consequences, Fortune's Rocks achieves a riveting force that reinforces her reputation as a master storyteller. (Little, Brown, $24.95)
Bottom Line: Another spellbinder from a mesmerizing author
by Bernie Brillstein with David Rensin
With his Santa Claus looks and a Catskills-size heart hiding killer instincts, Bernie Brillstein recounts tales humorous and tragic from his five decades as a showbiz agent, manager and producer. Growing up in Manhattan with his uncle, a stand-up comedian, Brillstein fell in love with the roar of the crowd and the smell of a deal. As a young agent, he worked with such clients as Señor Wences and Harpo Marx. He even accompanied Elvis to his first TV show in 1956. Noticing that the boy was shivering, "I ran across the street to a haberdashery and bought him a sweater," Brillstein writes. "He loved it." Brillstein's greatest triumphs came in the 1970s when he managed a TV-transforming stable of talent, including Jim Henson and the Saturday Night Live cast. He was distraught over John Belushi's fatal drug overdose and Gilda Radner's death from ovarian cancer. "She'd stay at the Beverly Hills Hotel across from my home. She'd pop over, bring her dirty laundry and play with my kids," he recalls. Brillstein, who also produced such TV shows as Alf, shares an intriguing history of deals and damage. (Little, Brown, $24.95)
Bottom Line: Great tales from a showbiz insider
by Cindy Hazen and Mike Freeman
When country singer Patsy Cline died in a 1963 plane crash outside Camden, Tenn., at age 30, she left behind a husband, two small children and an enduring string of hits like "Crazy," "Walkin' After Midnight" and "Sweet Dreams"—plaintive, heartfelt ballads that haven't lost their emotional power. But the Virginia-born artist also left a remarkable record of her rise to fame—letters she wrote to teenager Treva Miller, who organized and ran a fan club for Cline until 1959, when Miller herself died at age 22 in a car crash. From this trove, recently discovered in an old jewelry box, emerges a moving portrait of an ordinary woman trying to make a decent life for herself and her family. In 1957, after her second husband has been drafted into the Army, Cline writes to Treva, "I'm so onesome and sick at heart I could die. P.S. Last Sat. I did a show with Johnny Cash and Jean Shepard and Benny Martin. I got top billing. How about that?" (Berkley, $13.95)
Bottom Line: Treasures from the attic
Thomas Capano: The Deadly Seducer
by Ann Rule
Thomas Capano had charm, looks and money—everything a girl could want. Or so he thought. In a 1996 case that made headlines around the country, the Wilmington, Del., lawyer killed his young mistress, Delaware governor's aide Anne Marie Fahey—she had tried to end their affair—and dumped her body in the Atlantic. For more than a year afterward, he continued to live as one of Wilmington's most prominent citizens. But at Capano's trial in 1998 his sordid doings came tumbling into the light: how he tried to control Fahey's every move; how he tried to pin her murder on another woman from his harem of girlfriends; and how, when the noose of evidence tightened around his neck, he erupted in court with all the anger of a cornered rat. (Capano, currently in a Delaware prison, was sentenced to death by lethal injection.)
Rule, a first-class crime writer who lives near Seattle but traveled to Delaware to re-create this grim tale, succeeds admirably—save for her tendency to cast Fahey as Cinderella. This portrait of an evil prince needs no embellishment. (Simon & Schuster, $25)
Bottom Line: Truly creepy true crime story
>IRRESISTIBLE FORCES Danielle Steel Torn apart by dueling ambitions, the high-powered couple at the center of Steel's latest romance try to redeem their love. (Delacorte, $26.95)
JOHN GLENN: A MEMOIR John Glenn with Nick Taylor The former astronaut and senator recounts his many achievements, including his triumphant return to outer space in 1998. (Bantam, $27)
HUNTING BADGER Tony Hillerman In their much-anticipated reunion, Sgt. Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn pursue cop-killers across the Navajo reservation. (HarperCollins, $26)
>Dana Reeve
When actor Christopher Reeve, 47, became a quadriplegic after a horseback-riding accident in 1995, he and his wife, Dana, were deluged with mail from sympathetic well-wishers. Within a month they had received about 35,000 letters; four years later the total had reached a quarter million. "We read them aloud to Chris," says Dana, who wed the Superman star in 1992. "They inspired us." In her new book, Care Packages: Letters to Christopher Reeve from Strangers and Other Friends, Dana shares 200 of her favorite missives. "It popped in my mind that they would be helpful for others to read," she says. A family affair, the book is dedicated to the couple's 7-year-old son Will. Reeve's children from a previous relationship, Alexandra, 16, and Matthew, 20, helped Dana sift through the collection, which took her two years to edit.
Many letters bear the signatures of celebrity friends, including John Travolta, David Hyde Pierce, the Clintons and Nancy Reagan. (Kate Hepburn memorably wrote, "Let me know if I can do anything. Golly, what a mess.") But some of the most poignant are from people the Reeves never met. "The children's letters make me laugh," says Dana. "One from a little boy says, 'I'm sorry, let's hope it doesn't happen again.' "
Sadly missing, however, is a note from Princess Diana, whom Reeve met in the '80s. "He'd always been a fan of her grace, kindness and beauty," Dana says. Alas, the letter disappeared while the couple were renovating their Upstate New York country home to make it wheelchair-friendly.
- Contributors:
- Francine Prose,
- Jill Smolowe,
- J.D. Reed,
- Elizabeth Mcneil,
- Amy Waldman,
- Patrick Rogers.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
