NEW in Paperback
THE TENNIS PARTNER Abraham Verghese (HarperPerennial, $14, first published in 1998) Enthralling psychological mystery about the bitter tragedy that befalls Verghese's new friend and protegee.
PURE DRIVEL Steve Martin (Hyperion, $9.95, 1998) Collection of the actor's humor pieces that have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times.
THE RESTRAINT OF BEASTS Magnus Mills (Scribner, $11, 1998) Alternately chilling and wickedly funny, this deadpan tale of three manual laborers was short-listed for the Booker Prize.
THE HOBBIT AND THE LORD OF THE RINGS J.R.R. Tolkien (Houghton Mifflin, $45, 1937, 1954-1955) Classic fantasy trilogy and its prequel about the denizens of Middle-earth are available in a handsome new boxed set.
THE POISONWOOD BIBLE Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial, $14, 1998) Brimming with stylistic marvels, this complex novel by the author of The Bean Trees follows an American Baptist missionary family in the Belgian Congo.
