Bestseller

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Olivia Goldsmith burst onto the publishing scene in 1991 with the phenomenal success of her first novel, The First Wives Club. Her exposé of middle-aged men and their collection of trophy wives spoke to jilted audiences the world over. The film adaptation brought women storming to the box office in droves, the more crazed fans having formed clubs of their own.

Now Goldsmith is back with The Bestseller, this time taking on the elusive world of book publishing with her scathing and hilarious style. From power lunches to glamorous book parties, from closed-conference whisperings to the grueling reality of the book-publicity tour, Goldsmith chronicles the blood, sweat, and tears shed in the struggle to succeed in the publishing industry.

The Bestseller is the story of five authors, five novels, one publisher, one fall list, and only one bestseller. Davis & Dash is one of New York City's top trade-book publishers, but the company is not without its struggles and conflicting personalities as it fights to produce the strongest list of new books for the industry's crucial fall season. In presenting the race to the coveted bestseller list, Goldsmith introduces a colorful cast of characters that are amazingly true to life — a broad array of authors, editors, literary agents, and booksellers whose lives intersect as each character eagerly pursues his or her own aspirations and agendas.

Goldsmith's appropriately named The Bestseller is a must-read for starving artists and established authors alike. The novel may be fictional, but this dishy newnovel"skewers the publishing industry and many of its real-life movers and shakers" (Newsday). Goldsmith herself suffered through 26 rejections before her first novel was accepted for publication, and as a result, having experienced the industry firsthand, she has woven a great deal of truth into the lines of The Bestseller.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Davis & Dash is the epitome of Manhattan's glittering publishing scene, a world of multimillion-dollar advances and Champagne publication parties. But as the do-or-die fall season approaches, D&D is scrambling to outmaneuver its competitors. Five authors are slotted for publication on their coveted fall list - but there will be only one bestseller. Interweaving the tales of five desperate authors with a scathing and hilarious inside look at the publishing world, Olivia Goldsmith offers her most mischievous and provocative novel since The First Wives Club. Every book has a story, but when the dust settles, which one will be the bestseller?

FROM THE CRITICS

Newsday

A mordantly dishy new novel that skewers the publishing industry and many of its real life movers and shakers.

Newsweek

You keep licking your fingers and reaching for the next page as if it were a potato chip.

Cosmopolitan

Great summer reading.

Glamour

This dishy roman à clef will serve as a clever parable about insecure writers, sharklike agents, and corrupt publishers.

Washington Post Book World