Los Angeles Times Bestsellers

February 3, 2002

FICTION

Southern California Rating

1 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz.

2 A PAINTED HOUSE by John Grisham (Dell Island: $7.99) Violence looms over a boyhood in rural Arkansas in 1952.

3 THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $6.99) Volume 1 of “The Lord of the Rings.”

4 SHOPGIRL by Steve Martin (Theia: $10.95) Department store clerk Mirabelle meets an older man too good to be true.

5 THE SHIPPING NEWS by Annie Proulx (Scribner: $14) A burned-out father seeks renewal on Newfoundland.

6 GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier (Plume: $12) The woman who inspired a Vermeer painting.

7 THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $12) The adventures of Bilbo Baggins in the world of Middle-earth.

8 THE BLIND ASSASSIN by Margaret Atwood (Anchor: $14) A tale of two sisters and an unpublished sci-fi novel.

9 THE RED TENT by Anita Diamant (Picador USA: $14.95) The blossoming of Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter, in Genesis.

10 THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin: $20) An epic journey to destroy a dark lord’s evil ring.

NONFICTION

Southern California Rating

1 BLACK HAWK DOWN by Mark Bowden (Signet: $7.99) A gritty account of a disastrous 1993 military operation in Somalia.

2 A BEAUTIFUL MIND by Sylvia Nasar (Touchstone: $16) A brilliant mathematics professor’s battle with schizophrenia.

3 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Life lessons based on ancient Toltec wisdom.

4 FAST FOOD NATION by Eric Schlosser (HarperCollins: $13.95) The unappetizing practices of the junk food industry.

5 THE WRINKLE CURE by Nicholas Perricone (Warner: $13.95) Using antioxidants to keep the skin looking young.

6 9-11 by Noam Chomsky (Seven Stories Press: $8.95) An alternative view on the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

7 PERSONAL HISTORY by Katharine Graham (Vintage: $15) A memoir by the late publisher of the Washington Post.

8 PRAYERS by Don Miguel Ruiz (Amber-Allen: $12.95) Meditations on wisdom, healing, courage and love.

9 WORLD ALMANAC AND BOOK OF FACTS 2002 (World Almanac Books: $11.95) 2001 and then some.

10 THE BLESSINGS OF A SKINNED KNEE by Wendy Mogel (Penguin: $14) Applying Jewish thought to raising children.