Some Mighty Interesting Books...

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION/DEBUT:

O. Henry Prize winner Mary Swan's BOYS IN THE TREES, the story of an unthinkable crime that destroys one family and reverberates in the lives and imaginations of the town's inhabitants for generations to come, to Jack Macrae at Holt, by Dorian Karchmar and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at William Morris Agency (NA).

THRILLER:

Former Army intelligence officer Steven Graham's THE ARCHANGEL PROJECT, a debut in which a Gulf War vet with a psychiatric discharge attracts unwanted attention from a defense conglomerate after participating in a university study on a psychic method known as "remote viewing," inspired by actual classified programs the U.S. government once pursued to train operatives, to Lyssa Keusch at William Morrow, by Helen Breitwieser at Cornerstone Literary (World). hb@cornerstoneliterary.com

Mafia Summer author E. Duke Vincent's BLACK WIDOW, in which a Navy pilot falls for a gorgeous young widow and finds himself at the glamorous, dangerous intersection where the military meets Hollywood and the Mob,to Karen Rinaldi at Bloomsbury, by Ed Victor at Ed Victor Ltd. (world).

GENERAL/OTHER:

The Wife and The Position author Meg Wolitzer's THE TEN YEAR NAP, following Sarah McGrath to Riverhead, by Suzanne Gluck at William Morris Agency.

MIT behavioral economist, Dan Ariely's PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL, showing how the world often works according to principles of irrationality in the places where we expect rationality, with research that shows people make the same types of mistakes over and over, in a predictable manner -- which means understanding this behavior can improve decision-making, to Jonathan Burnham and Claire Wachtel at Harper, for publication in winter 2008, by James Levine at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world English).

Entertainment Weekly writer Karen Valby's WELCOME TO UTOPIA: A Ballad of a Small-Town (or, How Broadband, the Internet, and MySpace are Forever Changing Rural America, about a blissfully isolated rural Texas town called Utopia on the cusp of dramatic change brought about by an invasion of mainstream American culture via the web, to Chris Jackson at Spiegel & Grau, by Betsy Lerner at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (NA).gkoss@randomhouse.com

FILM:

Susan Wiggs's TABLE FOR FIVE, in which two unlikely guardians and three orphaned children cobble together a family in this domestic drama, to producer Kate McArdle and Zimand Entertainment, by Meg Ruley at Jane Rotrosen Agency, with Maria Ruvalbaca Hackett at Intellectual Property Group.

HISTORY/POLITICS/WORLD AFFAIRS:

AOL director of news programming and former U.S. News & World Report chief congressional reporter Terrence Samuel's TOP OF THE WORLD, BOTTOM OF THE CLASS, which will follow a handful of freshman U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle, as their idealism confronts political reality in a sort of "One-L" for Senators, to Will Murphy at Random House, in a pre-empt, by Jeff Kleinman at Folio Literary Management (world).

University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government professor Stephen Walt's book based on their article "The Israel Lobby," describing the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the United States provides to Israel, to Farrar, Straus, in a pre-empt, by Bill Clegg of the William Morris Agency.

NARRATIVE:

U.S. Memory Champion (and brother of novelist Jonathan) Joshua Foer's MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN: A Journey into Memory and the Mind, an exploration of the art and science of memory, and the people who master it - using the World Memory Championship as the book's spine, to Vanessa Mobley at Penguin Press, for publication in spring 2009, by Elyse Cheney of Elyse Cheney Agency (NA).

Neil White's THE OUTCASTS, the story of imprisonment, friendship and transformation after spending a year in the last leper colony in the continental United States, to Laurie Chittenden at William Morrow, at auction, by Jeff Kleinman at Folio Literary Management (NA).Film: Howard Sanders at UTAForeign: Anna Stein

Lisa R. Cohen's AFTER ETAN, a narrative account of the disappearance in 1979 of six-year old Etan Patz, and the subsequent search for his abductor, to Amy Einhorn at Warner, in a pre-empt, by Alice Martell.

New Yorker writer Dan Baum's THE NEUTRAL GROUND, about New Orleans, before, during, and after the hurricane, as told through the lives of a small cast of characters -- rich and poor, black and white, men and women, heroic and venal, famous and obscure, to Chris Jackson at Spiegel & Grau, by Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency (NA).mailto:.gkoss@randomhouse.com

SPORTS:

Winner of five major championships and 32 titles overall, Hall of Fame golfer Amy Alcott's GOLF LESSONS, in which she and other renowned golfers, business leaders, movie stars, and other high achievers discuss how golf captured them, its mysteries and pleasures, and what it has taught them on and off the course, to Judith Curr at Atria, with Wendy Walker editing, by Amy Rennertat the Amy Rennert Agency.

UK:

Jennifer Worth's CALL THE MIDWIFE, the life of a midwife in 1950s east end of London, and SHADOWS OF THE WORKHOUSE, to Kirsty Dunseath at Weidenfeld & Nicolson, by Eugenie Furniss at William Morris Agency.

Wrap...