Consider it a case of literary friendly fire. Debuting at No. 1 three weeks ago, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six knocked fellow Putnam denizen Patricia Cornwell's Point of Origin out of the cushy top spot it held for a mere four weeks. Since Clancy (along with that Grisham guy) is a card-carrying member of the 2-million-first-printing club, an opening at No. 1 is practically a no-brainer. So why did the authors' publisher release its two biggest titles within weeks of each other, guaranteeing an inevitable duke-out? Maybe John Clark and Kay Scarpetta should get together and figure it out.
FICTION WEEKS ON LIST
1 RAINBOW SIX Tom Clancy, Putnam, $27.95 3 2 I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE Wally Lamb, ReganBooks, $27.50 12 3 THE FIRST EAGLE Tony Hillerman, HarperCollins, $25 4 4 POINT OF ORIGIN Patricia Cornwell, Putnam, $25.95 7 5 SUMMER SISTERS Judy Blume, Delacorte, $21.95 13 6 BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY Helen Fielding, Viking, $22.95 12 7 A NIGHT WITHOUT ARMOR Jewel Kilcher, HarperCollins, $15 9 8 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE Nicholas Sparks, Warner, $20 20 9 MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA Arthur Golden, Knopf, $25 39 10 A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR John Irving, Random House, $27.95 17 NONFICTION
1 TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE Mitch Albom, Doubleday, $19.95 43 2 SUGAR BUSTERS! H. Leighton Steward, Morrison C. Bethea, M.D., Sam S. Andrews, M.D., and Luis A. Balart, M.D., Ballantine, $22 17 3 THE DAY DIANA DIED Christopher Andersen, Morrow, $27 2 4 THE 9 STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM Suze Orman, Crown, $23 23 5 A PIRATE LOOKS AT FIFTY Jimmy Buffett, Random House, $24.95 12 6 THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, Longstreet, $22 57 7 ANGELA'S ASHES Frank McCourt, Scribner, $24 100 8 A WALK IN THE WOODS Bill Bryson, Broadway, $25 12 9 A MONK SWIMMING Malachy McCourt, Hyperion, $23.95 12 10 IN THE MEANTIME Iyanla Vanzant, Simon & Schuster, $23 20
MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
1 THE NOTEBOOK Nicholas Sparks, Warner, $5.99 33 2 DR. ATKINS' NEW DIET REVOLUTION Robert C. Atkins, M.D., Avon, $6.50 83 3 THE PERFECT STORM Sebastian Junger, HarperPaperbacks, $6.99 12 4 INTO THIN AIR Jon Krakauer, Anchor, $7.99 20 5 SHE'S COME UNDONE Wally Lamb, Pocket, $7.99 15 6 RAVEN (THE ORPHANS) V.C. Andrews, Pocket, $3.99 2 7 PROTEIN POWER Michael R. Eades, M.D., and Mary Dan Eades, M.D., Bantam, $6.50 8 8 HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK Terry McMillan, Signet, $6.99 12 9 GUILT John Lescroart, Dell, $6.99 1 10 THE BEST LAID PLANS Sidney Sheldon, Warner, $7.99 7
SOURCE: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
