Daddy Dearest
by Daisy Maryles -- Publishers Weekly, 6/23/2003
It's interesting to note that, as with Mother's Day, one or two books tend to show up on the charts right after Father's Day. (Of course it's hard to track other gifts, as there's no bestseller list for neckties.) One of this year's faves was Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir by Paul O'Neill with Burton Rocks. Appearances by the former Yankees player, said William Morrow media relations director Sharyn Rosenblum, "have been incredible, with sales at signings ranging from 600 to 1,200 copies." The author's June 11 gig on Live with Regis and Kelly, she added, "proved to be a huge hit for sales." Other media hits have run the gamut from NPR's Talk of the Nation to Fox Sports Network's Best Damn Sports Show Period. Following a May 13 pub date, the in-print total is 50,000 after seven printings.
Another book that benefited from Dad's Day gifting (it's just below our top 15) is Father to Daughter: Life Lessons on Raising a Girl, published May 13 by Workman with 110,000 copies in print. Author Harry H. Harrison's earlier title, Father to Son, came out in April 2000 and is up to 424,000 copies after 16 printings. The publisher promoted both titles on Harrison's recent media junket—a nine-city tour plus a 25-city radio satellite tour—so that all fathers would feel a part of TV and radio discussions, store events, etc.
With reporting by Dick Donahue
