FICTION

THE PATCH BOYS by Jay Parini. (Owl: $8.95.) The story of an Italian boy growing up in a Pennsylvania mining town.

STANLEY AND THE WOMEN by Kingsley Amis. (Perennial: $6.95.) An all out battle between the sexes, narrowly seen through the eyes of Stanley, whose confrontations are exacerbated by the burden of caring for his schizophrenic son.

SERENISSIMA by Erica Jong. (Dell: $4.95.) A modern-day heroine finds herself in 16th-Century Venice, having an affair with William Shakespeare.

SYLVIE AND BRUNO by Lewis Carroll. (Dover Publications: $7.95) Carroll’s last major work, 20 years after the Alice books. He tells the adventures of 10-year-old Sylvie and her 5-year-old brother with his inimitable mix of frolic and philosophical inquiry.

RUMPOLE’S LAST CASE by John Mortimer. (Penguin: $3.95.) Featuring the popular English barrister whose penchant for claret, poetry and a good story put him in the right frame of mind to solve the current mystery.

NONFICTION

EYES ON THE PRIZE: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 by Juan Williams. (Penguin: $10.95.) This companion text to the PBS series of the same name memorializes the benchmarks of the civil rights movement.

WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS: Understanding the Ideas and Ideals of the Constitution by Mortimer J. Adler. (Collier: $6.95.) Every person’s guide to the Constitution of the United States.

THE CHURCH AND THE HOMOSEXUAL: Updated and Expanded Edition by John J. McNeill. (Beacon Press: ($9.95.) Third edition of a recently out-of-print book. Pioneering analysis of the relationship between homosexuals and the Catholic Church written by a former Jesuit. Newest edition features updated text, three new appendixes and AIDS material.

BUNNY: The Real Story of Playboy by Russell Miller. (Signet: $4.95.) An unauthorized biography of the Playboy Empire from its inception down to Hugh Hefner’s latest sexual habits.

ROBERT KENNEDY: A Memoir by Jack Newfield. (Plume: $7.95.) Written by a close friend and traveling companion; reissued, after 20 years, to commemorate Robert Kennedy’s assassination. Newfield is a journalist who kept notes of his conversations with Kennedy, his friends, associates and rivals.

SELF HELP

TAKING CARE OF YOUR AGING FAMILY MEMBERS by Nancy R. Hooyman and Wendy Lustbader. (Free Press: $9.95.) As the extended family fades, the “care-giver” duties of the nuclear family grow. In-home and out-of-home situations and solutions are discussed.

sg

SAVE YOUR KNEES by James M. Fox MD and Rick McGuire. (Dell: $6.95.) If you support your knees, your knees will support you. A preventive maintenance, as well as treatment guide about one of the most commonly abused and injured parts of the human anatomy.