The jacket of Algonquin Books' American Savior by Roland Merullo (September), a satirical novel about the state of politics in the U.S., will feature an endorsement from Susan Cheever, who rang editor Chuck Adams with words of praise after receiving an advance reading copy. And in true political campaign fashion, the publisher had buttons and bumper stickers promoting the title.

HarperCollins has the distinction of claiming both the last #1 Book Sense Pick for The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (June) and the first #1 Indie Next List selection for The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (July)--part of the ABA's new IndieBound initiative (Shelf Awareness, June 2, 2007).

Newmarket Press featured a dual reading copy with the backlist title Ping: A Frog in Search of a New Pond by Stuart Avery Gold in one half and the parable's sequel, The Way of Ping: Journey to the Great Ocean (December), on the flip side. The company is also hoping to strike it big with $1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire (September), the rags-to-riches story of businessman Sam Wyly. Along with his wife, Cheryl, Wyly owns Explore Booksellers and Bistro in Aspen, Colo. (Shelf Awareness, January 30, 2007). Wyly is contributing to Newmarket's $300,000 campaign for the book, which includes ads in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, radio ads, airport promotions and more.

Two of the Penguin Group's highlights are the thriller Fresh Kills by Amazon Breakthrough Award winner Bill Loehfelm (Putnam/August) and Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates (Riverhead/October).

The Random House booth drew long lines for signings by Katherine Neville for her latest novel, The Fire (Ballantine/October), and Andrew Davidson, author of the debut novel The Gargoyle (Doubleday/August). Coming in December is Azar Nafisi's new memoir, Things I've Been Silent About, which will be preceded by a deluxe edition of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books in November.

Running Press touted two books tying into anniversaries. One is Marlo Thomas' Free to Be . . . You and Me (October), first published 35 years ago. This edition will include new essays by Drew Barrymore and others, a newly designed cover and a foreword by teen star Miley Cyrus. The second title is You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (September), a photo-filled tome celebrating 85 years of the movie studio's history and the companion volume to a PBS series narrated by Clint Eastwood.

Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint spotlighted The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own by David Carr (September). The memoir recounts Carr's self-described "trip from crack-house regular to regular columnist at the Times" (the New York Times, that is).

Storey Publishing is publishing the first memoir in the company's history, 25-year-old web designer and homesteader Jenna Woginrich's Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life.

Show-goers queued up in Workman's Artisan booth for a photo-op promoting Sleeveface (October), Carl Morris and John Rostron's photographic book featuring people striking interesting poses while holding vintage album covers in front of their faces and other parts of the body. The most popular icon among BEA attendees? David Bowie.

Workman author Joshua Jay drew attention to his forthcoming title, Big Book of Magic (November), by entertaining passersby with demonstrations of his craft, and a tux-clad butler served up copies of Christopher Tennant's The Official Filthy Rich Handbook (June) on a silver tray.

One of Weinstein Books' fall titles is We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee (September), who shares the story of how he and his family moved into an unlikely new home--a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Also in the company's fall line-up is The Journal of Hélène Berr (October), a diary by a young Jewish woman and English literature student at the Sorbonne in Nazi-occupied Paris.--Shannon McKenna Schmidt