Not a Sleeper

Chuck Palahniuk's fifth bestseller, Lullaby, has an intriguing cover—on the front, there's a chartreuse-and-black dead bird; the title and author name are on the back. While that will get many a bookstore customer to pick up the book, it's the author's reputation for, as PW noted, "hilarious satire," that will get them to the cash register. Palahniuk is in the midst of a 14-city tour and, according to Doubleday, he is enjoying SRO crowds. Copies in print total 100,000 after four trips to press. He is the second author to be featured in the reading series sponsored by the New Yorker and Bacardi (River-head's The Frog King by Adam Davies was the first). A reading/party is scheduled in a downtown Manhattan club on October 10, and a Bacardi advertorial feature about the author and Lullaby will appear in the October 14 issue of the New Yorker.