What's new on the shelves for Sunday, April 19

Olympian News Services • Published April 19, 2009

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"The Winner Stands Alone," by Paulo Coelho, Harper, 345 pages, $25.99 — He's a serial killer running loose at the Cannes film festival, but he's convinced himself that he has a good motive: love.

Now a superrich magnate in the Russian telephone industry, Igor learned a barehanded way of killing in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It's called "Sambo" — an acronym of the Russian words for "self-defense without weapon."

It kills quickly and leaves so little chance of resistance that in the heart of Cannes, without anyone noticing, he can murder his first random victim, a young Portuguese woman who had listened to his love story. In full view of busy traffic, he lays her dead body on the cloth where she had displayed the souvenirs she was selling. Then he walks away, leaving the police to mistake her as the probable victim of a drug overdose.

The last time Igor talked with Ewa, his ex-wife, he had told her he would "destroy worlds" to get her back. An Orthodox Catholic, he has made a vow to do that "without too much sacrifice," as Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho puts it. He explains that everyone has a particular idea of the world. By killing a person, he destroys that world. He believes that Ewa wants to come back to him but lacks courage to leave her new husband.

Coelho has written 12 novels, among the world's most widely read. They have sold more than 100 million copies in 150 countries, including 5 million in the United States. This fine one deals largely with the irrationalities of Hollywood and high fashion. He sees the yearnings of women to become models and actresses as distorting their minds and bodies.

"When Skateboards Will Be Free," by Said Sayrafiezadeh, The Dial Press, 287 pages, $22 — Growing up in Pittsburgh, Said Sayrafiezadeh led a through-the-looking-glass existence. His estranged parents were members of the Socialist Workers Party who schooled young Said in the evils of capitalism. He was forbidden to eat grapes (the United Farm Workers boycott). When he asked for a skateboard, his mother balked at the $10.99 price tag; skateboards would be free for everyone, she assured him, "once the revolution comes."

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