FictionMASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon. (Henry...

Fiction

MASON & DIXON by Thomas Pynchon. (Henry Holt: $27.50.) Our reviewer, Ted Mooney, called the novel a “remarkable book” in its vision of “a wilderness America, peopled as much by European hopes and longings as by the interlocking kingdoms of the indigenous. . . . A masterpiece” (4). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 3

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE SON by Norman Mailer. (Random House: $22.) Not content with the job done by the evangelists, Jesus presents his autobiography (9). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 4

AMERICAN PASTORAL by Philip Roth. (Houghton Mifflin: $26.) Richard Eder, The Times’ book critic, wrote that this novel “scintillates with more Rothian wit, paradox, eloquent tantrums and absurd pratfalls . . . than can be counted.”. Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 4

THE ACTUAL by Saul Bellow. (Viking: $17.95.) A semi-retired businessman pursues an old high school flame and learns about spiritual exile in the process. Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 10; Weeks on List: 2

THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA by Margaret George. (St. Martin’s: $27.95.) The Queen of the Nile describes her shaky rule in a mighty kingdom and her reign over men’s hearts (15). Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

LE DIVORCE by Diane Johnson. (Dutton: $23.95). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 16

PRETEND YOU DON’T SEE HER by Mary Higgins Clark. (Simon & Schuster: $25.) (1). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 5

THE PARTNER by John Grisham. (Doubleday: $26.95) (2). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 12

HARLEM by Len Riley. (Doubleday: $21.95.) A girl shuns her poor family when she moves to 1920s Harlem and carves out a new life among the tenements and jazz clubs. Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 2

EVENING CLASS by Maeve Binchy. (Delacorte: $24.95.) An Italian course brings together eight Dublin students, each with disappointments and secrets that come to light (11). Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

Nonfiction

WITHOUT A DOUBT by Marcia Clark with Teresa Carpenter. (Viking: $25.95.) More on the melodrama of the Simpson trial, plus the former prosecutor’s struggles with being a single working mom in the glare of the spotlight (8). Southern California ranking: 1; Last Week: 1; Weeks on List: 2

ANGELA’S ASHES by Frank McCourt. (Scribner: $24) (3). Southern California ranking: 2; Last Week: 2; Weeks on List: 30

INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. (Villard: $24) (5). Southern California ranking: 3; Last Week: 5; Weeks on List: 4

CONVERSATIONS WITH GOD, BOOK ONE by Neale Donald Walsch. (Putnam: $19.95) (9). Southern California ranking: 4; Last Week: 7; Weeks on List: 6

THE SECRET TO TENDER PIE: America’s Grandmothers Share Their Favorite Recipes by Mindy Marin. (Ballantine: $17.95.) A scrapbook of grandmotherly reminiscences and recipes from around the country. Southern California ranking: 5; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 1

8 WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body’s Natural Healing Power by Andrew Weil. (Knopf: $23) (10). Southern California ranking: 6; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 9

LOCKED IN THE CABINET by Robert B. Reich. (Knopf: $25.) Antics and anecdotes of the Clinton administration by the former secretary of Labor (12). Southern California ranking: 7; Last Week: 6; Weeks on List: 4

UNDERBOSS: Sammy the Bull Gravano’s Story of Life in the Mafia by Peter Maas. (HarperCollins: $25) (6). Southern California ranking: 8; Last Week: 4; Weeks on List: 5

MOTHERS & DAUGHTERS by Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth. (Doubleday: $24.95.) Moments from the lives of 37 women and their daughters (1). Southern California ranking: 9; Last Week: 3; Weeks on List: 3

WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT by Peter Bogdanovich. (Knopf: $39.95.) Our reviewer, Peter Biskind, called the book “an invaluable one-volume view of cinema history from a director’s point of view.” Southern California ranking: 10; Last Week: --; Weeks on List: 3

Paperbacks: FICTION

1. MARTIN DRESSLER by Steven Millhauser. (Vintage: $12)

2. THE BLUE FLOWER by Penelope Fitzgerald. (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin: $12)

3. THE LAST DON by Mario Puzo. (Ballantine: $7.99)

4. THE LOST WORLD by Michael Crichton. (Ballantine: $7.99)

5. STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi. (Simon & Schuster Trade: $12)

Paperbacks: NONFICTION

1. ZAGAT SURVEY 1997 LOS ANGELES/SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT GUIDE edited by Merrill Shindler and Karen Berk. (Zagat Survey: $10.95)

2. CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE WOMAN’S SOUL by J. Canfield, M.V. Hansen, J. Hawthorne and M. Shimoff. (Health Communications: $12.95)

3. THE CLOISTER WALK by Kathleen Norris. (Riverhead: $12.50)

4. THE SHELTER OF EACH OTHER by Mary Pipher. (Ballantine: $12.95)

5. HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?! by Laura Schlessinger. (Harper Perennial: $13)

Rankings based on Times’ poll of local bookstores. National hardcover rankings (in parentheses)are those of Publishers Weekly.