Last fall came the money (a $3.15 million advance -- reportedly the biggest ever for a first novel -- and a $3 million movie deal). Then, when the book was published earlier this month, came the neigh-saying from critics. But now it looks as if The Horse Whisperer, by British screenwriter Nicholas Evans, is earning back some of that hay: The novel debuts at No. 2. Guess they aren't calling it The Horses of Madison County for nothing.
FICTION WEEKS ON LIST 1 ''L'' IS FOR LAWLESS Sue Grafton, Holt, $24 2 2 THE HORSE WHISPERER Nicholas Evans, Delacorte, $23.95 1 3 COMING HOME Rosamunde Pilcher, St. Martin's, $25.95 3 4 MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT Sidney Sheldon, Morrow, $24 1 5 BEACH MUSIC Pat Conroy, Doubleday/Talese, $27.50 11 6 FROM POTTER'S FIELD Patricia Cornwell, Scribner, $24 6 7 THE CELESTINE PROPHECY James Redfield, Warner, $17.95 81 8 A PLACE CALLED FREEDOM Ken Follett, Crown, $25 2 9 DEAD MAN'S WALK Larry McMurtry, Simon & Schuster, $26 3 10 MEMNOCH THE DEVIL Anne Rice, Knopf, $25 9
NONFICTION
1 MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS John Gray, Ph.D., HarperCollins, $23 128 2 MY POINT...AND I DO HAVE ONE Ellen DeGeneres, Bantam, $19.95 3 3 A GOOD WALK SPOILED John Feinstein, Little, Brown, $23.95 14 4 THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS Deepak Chopra, New World Library, $14 30 5 TO RENEW AMERICA Newt Gingrich, HarperCollins, $24 11 6 NEW PASSAGES Gail Sheehy, Random House, $25 13 7 STOP AGING NOW! Jean Carper, HarperCollins, $24 7 8 SPONTANEOUS HEALING Andrew Weil, M.D., Knopf, $23 17 9 MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL John Berendt, Random House, $23 73 10 MY OLD MAN AND THE SEA David Hays and Daniel Hays, Algonquin Books, $19.95 6
TRADE PAPERBACKS
1 CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen, Health Communications, $12.95 60 2 THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE Stephen R. Covey, Fireside, $12 242 3 THE STONE DIARIES Carol Shields, Penguin, $10 21 4 2ND HELPING OF CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen, Health Communications, $12.95 22 5 TEN STUPID THINGS WOMEN DO TO MESS UP THEIR LIVES Laura Schlessinger, HarperPerennial, $10 32 6 DR. ATKINS' NEW DIET REVOLUTIONS Robert Atkins, M.D., M. Evans, $12.95 9 7 REVIVING OPHELIA Mary Pipher, Ballantine, $12.50. 24 8 WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE EXPECTING A. Eisenberg, H. Murkoff, and S. Hathaway, Workman, $10.95. 118 9 O.J.'S LEGAL PAD Henry Beard, John Boswell, and Ron Barrett, Villard, $8.95. 19 10 I COULD DO ANYTHING IF I ONLY KNEW WHAT IT WAS Barbara Sher with Barbara Smith, Dell, $11.95 3
SOURCE: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
