BOOKS
August 11, 2002
*--* Southern California Rating FICTION *--* *--* 1 EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo (Vintage: $14.95) A warmhearted novel about working-class lives in Maine 2 THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY by Michael Chabon (Picador: $15) Cousins in the comics biz 3 BEL CANTO by Ann Patchett (HarperPaperbacks: $13.
ENTERTAINMENT
June 17, 2002 | RICHARD NATALE, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
The feature film version of the '70s TV animation series "Scooby-Doo" didn't bowl over critics, but it did pluck the strings of nostalgia for a generation and its children, soaring to a sensational $56.4-million estimate in 3,447 theaters in its first three days. That's the biggest June debut ever and the best opening weekend of the year save for "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones" and "Spider-Man."
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
March 13, 2001 | LOUIS SAHAGUN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
Suspense and thriller novelist Robert Ludlum, whose bestsellers drew readers into battles against world takeovers by evil forces, died Monday at age 73. The cause of death was believed to have been a heart attack, according to Matthew Shear, a spokesman for Ludlum's publisher, St. Martin's Press. Details were being withheld until today at the request of the family in Naples, Fla., where Ludlum died. "It's a horrible loss for all of his fans and for his publisher," Shear said.
NEWS
November 7, 1997 | PAUL D. COLFORD, NEWSDAY
It's a purely unscientific conclusion, but one drawn repeatedly during years of riding commuter trains and lolling on summer beaches: More people are reading Robert Ludlum at any given time than any other writer. Indeed, more than 200 million copies of his suspense novels are in print around the world, making him a regular on national bestseller lists.
ENTERTAINMENT
May 7, 1988 | HOWARD ROSENBERG, Times Television Critic
You start out believing that "The Bourne Identity" will be wonderful fun, and some of it is: a two-part ABC rendering (9 p.m. Sunday and Monday on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42) of one more Robert Ludlum novel about, yes, "murder, greed and passion." The meat of our lives, agreed? Ludlum is a fine technician who tells a great story.
BOOKS
April 13, 1986
Regarding Dick Lochte's review of "The Bourne Supremacy" by Robert Ludlum (The Book Review, March 23), warm and enthusiastic thanks for blowing the whistle on the spy and mystery writers whose overblown novels seem to ride the best-seller lists despite their inferiorities. Hype by greedy publishers, I presume. One would think that at these ridiculous prices, the second-rate "thrillers" would be ignored by readers. The fact that they continue to sell in the millions surely is a commentary on the TV intellects of the buyers.