Wanderlust seems to be on the minds of the customers of Three Lives
& Company in New York City. From a mystery set in Italy to a memoir
about life in Bombay, this Greenwich Village bookstore's first-ever
bestseller list (for the week ending July 30) has a distinctly
international flavor. "I knew that without really realizing it," said
Three Lives owner Toby Cox, who was inspired to find out his store's
top sellers during a conversation with a colleague. They were perusing
the NEBA and NAIBA regional lists and noted, as Cox said, that "many of
those titles we never sell."
One book that surprised Cox was the No. 1 title on the hardcover fiction list: District & Circle, a collection of poems by Irish Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney. "That has been slow and steady for us, but I didn't expect it to be No. 1," said Cox. For the most part, though, he wasn't surprised at the titles that ranked as the store's bestsellers. "It's a small shop. I know what's moving."
Staff recommendations, both handsells and those featured in a display area in the store, heavily influence the bestselling titles. "As with many bookshops, it's the ones that we're recommending, the ones that we like a lot, that are selling the best," Cox commented. "The staff favorites are mostly older books. We try to pull backlist for that section," he added, which explains why the bestseller lists include both recently and not-so-recently published titles such as Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott.
Unusually some publishers are as popular as individual books with Three Lives' clientele. "We have customers coming in and asking, 'What did New York Review publish recently?' " said Cox. Europa Editions, a relative newcomer to the U.S. market whose list of European fiction ranges from crime novels to British comedy, is equally sought after. "I have customers who have read everything they've published and want to know what they're doing next," Cox said. "There's always talk about how you can't brand publishers, it's the writers, and suddenly there is this niche publisher having--at least in my shop--people coming in and saying, 'I'll read anything they publish.' " Europa's Old Filth by Jane Gardam is No. 1 on the trade paperback fiction list.
Writers with a New York City connection also get their due at Three Lives. The paperback edition of The Accidental Masterpiece by New York Times chief art critic Michael Kimmelman arrived recently and "has been selling so well for us," said Cox. The late New York playwright Wendy Wasserstein's debut novel, Elements of Style, is No. 5 on the hardcover fiction list. Bill Buford's Heat is a hit, something that Cox attributes not only to Buford's frequent byline in the New Yorker but also to the proximity of Babbo. Not far from Three Lives, this three-star restaurant is where Buford worked with celebrity chef Mario Batali--an experience he chronicles in the book.
Maximum City by Suketu Mehta and Naples '44 by Norman Lewis benefited from placement on a travel literature display, "which we thought would be nice for summer," said Cox, but two other travel titles needed no such helping hand. Julian Green's Paris and Leonard Pitt's Walks through Lost Paris were destined to sell well at Three Lives simply because of their titles. "If it has Paris in the title, it will sell in my store," noted Cox.
Alas, there will be no more bestseller lists for Three Lives, at least for a while. With no computer system to do the tallying, "it's very time-consuming," said Cox, who is considering another bestseller list in October when the pace is "a little more brisk. I would be interested to see what it looks like then."
And what is Cox reading while vacationing on Washington State's San Juan Islands this week? In a reflection of Three Lives' bestseller lists, Cox's selections include both a backlist book and a current title: Some Hope by Edward St. Aubyn and Alice McDermott's After This, coming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux next month.--Shannon McKenna
Three Lives & Company's bestsellers during the week ended Sunday, July 30:
Hardcover Fiction
1. District & Circle: Poems by Seamus Heaney (FSG, $20, 0374140928)
2. Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky (Knopf, $25, 1400044731)
3. Everyman by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 061873516X)
4. The Brambles by Eliza Minot (Knopf, $23.95, 1400042690)
5. Elements of Style by Wendy Wasserstein (Knopf, $23.95, 1400042313)
6. Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee (Random House, $23.95, 1400061695)
7. Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (Knopf, $24, 0307263711)
8. Talk Talk by T. C. Boyle (Viking, $25.95, 0670037702)
9. By a Slow River by Philippe Claudel (Knopf, $23, 1400042801)
10. The Promise of Happiness by Justin Cartwright (Thomas Dunne Books, $23.95, 0312348800)
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas Ricks (Penguin Press, $27.95, 159420103X)
2. Untold Stories by Alan Bennett (FSG, $32.50, 0374281033)
3. The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 by Ron Suskind (S&S, $27, 0743271092)
4. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin, $19.95, 0618477942)
5. Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford (Knopf, $25.95, 1400041201)
6. The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life by Virginia Woolf (Ecco, $26.95, 0060881283)
7. My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'Homme (Knopf, $25.95, 1400043468)
8. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Knopf, $23.95, 140004314X)
9. Friendship: An Exposé by Joseph Epstein (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618341498)
10. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different by Gordon S. Wood (Penguin Press, $25.95, 1594200939)
Trade Paperback Fiction
1. Old Filth by Jane Gardam (Europa Editions, $14.95, 1933372133)
2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin, $14, 0143037145)
3. Red Lights by Georges Simenon (New York Review Books Classics, $14, 1590171934)
4. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Penguin, $14, 0143036742)
5. Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott (Picador, $13, 0312422911)
6. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, $14, 0375706674)
7. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill (Vintage, $13.95, 037572785X)
8. Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin, $13, 014303748X)
9. Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Patterson (Europa Editions, $14.95, 193337201X)
10. What's for Dinner by James Schuyler (New York Review Books Classics, $14, 1590171675)
Trade Paperback Nonfiction
1. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous (Picador, $14, 0312426119)
2. The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman (Penguin, $15, 0143037331)
3. Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler (Harper Perennial, $17.95, 0060935723)
4. A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit (Penguin, $15, 0143037242)
5. Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs (Picador, $14, 0312315953)
6. Paris by Julian Green (Marion Boyars Modern Classics, $14.95, 0714534048)
7. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta (Vintage, $16, 0375703403)
8. Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy by Norman Lewis (Carroll & Graf, $13.95, 0786714387)
9. Walks through Lost Paris: A Journey into the Heart of Historic Paris by Leonard Pitt (Shoemaker & Hoard, $22, 1593761031)
10. The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (HarperSanFrancisco, $11.95, 006251346X)
One book that surprised Cox was the No. 1 title on the hardcover fiction list: District & Circle, a collection of poems by Irish Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney. "That has been slow and steady for us, but I didn't expect it to be No. 1," said Cox. For the most part, though, he wasn't surprised at the titles that ranked as the store's bestsellers. "It's a small shop. I know what's moving."
Staff recommendations, both handsells and those featured in a display area in the store, heavily influence the bestselling titles. "As with many bookshops, it's the ones that we're recommending, the ones that we like a lot, that are selling the best," Cox commented. "The staff favorites are mostly older books. We try to pull backlist for that section," he added, which explains why the bestseller lists include both recently and not-so-recently published titles such as Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott.
Unusually some publishers are as popular as individual books with Three Lives' clientele. "We have customers coming in and asking, 'What did New York Review publish recently?' " said Cox. Europa Editions, a relative newcomer to the U.S. market whose list of European fiction ranges from crime novels to British comedy, is equally sought after. "I have customers who have read everything they've published and want to know what they're doing next," Cox said. "There's always talk about how you can't brand publishers, it's the writers, and suddenly there is this niche publisher having--at least in my shop--people coming in and saying, 'I'll read anything they publish.' " Europa's Old Filth by Jane Gardam is No. 1 on the trade paperback fiction list.
Writers with a New York City connection also get their due at Three Lives. The paperback edition of The Accidental Masterpiece by New York Times chief art critic Michael Kimmelman arrived recently and "has been selling so well for us," said Cox. The late New York playwright Wendy Wasserstein's debut novel, Elements of Style, is No. 5 on the hardcover fiction list. Bill Buford's Heat is a hit, something that Cox attributes not only to Buford's frequent byline in the New Yorker but also to the proximity of Babbo. Not far from Three Lives, this three-star restaurant is where Buford worked with celebrity chef Mario Batali--an experience he chronicles in the book.
Maximum City by Suketu Mehta and Naples '44 by Norman Lewis benefited from placement on a travel literature display, "which we thought would be nice for summer," said Cox, but two other travel titles needed no such helping hand. Julian Green's Paris and Leonard Pitt's Walks through Lost Paris were destined to sell well at Three Lives simply because of their titles. "If it has Paris in the title, it will sell in my store," noted Cox.
Alas, there will be no more bestseller lists for Three Lives, at least for a while. With no computer system to do the tallying, "it's very time-consuming," said Cox, who is considering another bestseller list in October when the pace is "a little more brisk. I would be interested to see what it looks like then."
And what is Cox reading while vacationing on Washington State's San Juan Islands this week? In a reflection of Three Lives' bestseller lists, Cox's selections include both a backlist book and a current title: Some Hope by Edward St. Aubyn and Alice McDermott's After This, coming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux next month.--Shannon McKenna
Three Lives & Company's bestsellers during the week ended Sunday, July 30:
Hardcover Fiction
1. District & Circle: Poems by Seamus Heaney (FSG, $20, 0374140928)
2. Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky (Knopf, $25, 1400044731)
3. Everyman by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 061873516X)
4. The Brambles by Eliza Minot (Knopf, $23.95, 1400042690)
5. Elements of Style by Wendy Wasserstein (Knopf, $23.95, 1400042313)
6. Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee (Random House, $23.95, 1400061695)
7. Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (Knopf, $24, 0307263711)
8. Talk Talk by T. C. Boyle (Viking, $25.95, 0670037702)
9. By a Slow River by Philippe Claudel (Knopf, $23, 1400042801)
10. The Promise of Happiness by Justin Cartwright (Thomas Dunne Books, $23.95, 0312348800)
Hardcover Nonfiction
1. Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas Ricks (Penguin Press, $27.95, 159420103X)
2. Untold Stories by Alan Bennett (FSG, $32.50, 0374281033)
3. The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11 by Ron Suskind (S&S, $27, 0743271092)
4. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin, $19.95, 0618477942)
5. Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford (Knopf, $25.95, 1400041201)
6. The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life by Virginia Woolf (Ecco, $26.95, 0060881283)
7. My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'Homme (Knopf, $25.95, 1400043468)
8. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Knopf, $23.95, 140004314X)
9. Friendship: An Exposé by Joseph Epstein (Houghton Mifflin, $24, 0618341498)
10. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different by Gordon S. Wood (Penguin Press, $25.95, 1594200939)
Trade Paperback Fiction
1. Old Filth by Jane Gardam (Europa Editions, $14.95, 1933372133)
2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin, $14, 0143037145)
3. Red Lights by Georges Simenon (New York Review Books Classics, $14, 1590171934)
4. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Penguin, $14, 0143036742)
5. Child of My Heart by Alice McDermott (Picador, $13, 0312422911)
6. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, $14, 0375706674)
7. Veronica by Mary Gaitskill (Vintage, $13.95, 037572785X)
8. Rounding the Mark by Andrea Camilleri (Penguin, $13, 014303748X)
9. Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Patterson (Europa Editions, $14.95, 193337201X)
10. What's for Dinner by James Schuyler (New York Review Books Classics, $14, 1590171675)
Trade Paperback Nonfiction
1. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous (Picador, $14, 0312426119)
2. The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa by Michael Kimmelman (Penguin, $15, 0143037331)
3. Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler (Harper Perennial, $17.95, 0060935723)
4. A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit (Penguin, $15, 0143037242)
5. Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs (Picador, $14, 0312315953)
6. Paris by Julian Green (Marion Boyars Modern Classics, $14.95, 0714534048)
7. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta (Vintage, $16, 0375703403)
8. Naples '44: A World War II Diary of Occupied Italy by Norman Lewis (Carroll & Graf, $13.95, 0786714387)
9. Walks through Lost Paris: A Journey into the Heart of Historic Paris by Leonard Pitt (Shoemaker & Hoard, $22, 1593761031)
10. The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (HarperSanFrancisco, $11.95, 006251346X)