Madison County

OK. I read the book. Now I've seen the movie. And I'm totally disillusioned with women. How could this story enthrall so many of you?Not just women addicted to pulp fiction and the day-time soaps. But intelligent women. Happily married women. Women who read literature and enjoy good conversation. The story sweeps them away.''I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea.'' Really!Lines like that weren't the only reason to despise ''The Bridges of Madison County.

Zebra mussels, one of the most notorious aquatic pests in the nation, have been discovered in a small New York reservoir that feeds into the Susquehanna River, and top scientists are meeting today to outline a plan to prevent them from spreading in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The tiny mollusks, which are native to Europe and have no natural enemies here, have spread rapidly since they were brought to the Great Lakes in a ship's ballast water in the early 1980s. They grow so quickly that they can clog intake pipes at power plants, factories and municipal water plants, forcing them to shut down.

If some Americans somehow are untouched by "The Bridges" phenomenon, it won't be because Time Warner isn't trying. Speaking about the book/record promotion strategy involving Warner Books and Atlantic Records, co-chairman Doug Morris of the Atlantic Group boasted, "We look forward to breaking new marketing ground in the service of such a terrific and exciting project."Here's the cross-marketing campaign, according to a spokeswoman for Atlantic Records:"The Bridges of Madison County" book and "The Ballads of Madison County" record will be packaged together on a home shopping channel to be determined.

There are a thousand country roads, and one of them leads to Mike and Jean Hardy's place in Alpine, Texas. Their store is called Front Street Books, though technically, it's not on Front Street, but on the very European-sounding Holland Avenue. Mike and Jean will tell you that in the 1880s when the bookstore was founded, the strip of pavement and businesses was called "Front Street" because it faced the railroad tracks. The tracks are still there. And as soon as you get out of town, past the florist's shop, the art gallery, the jewelry store and movie theater, Holland Avenue reverts to its original identity, an identity that precedes even the invention of the diesel engine.

Sometime soon -- probably this month, his publisher says -- the 3 millionth copy of Robert James Waller's "The Bridges of Madison County" will be printed. On Sunday, it will have been on the best-seller list of The New York Times Book Review for exactly one year. This slim novel of bittersweet love in rural Iowa has been the Times' No. 1 fiction seller for 24 of those weeks, and remains atop the list despite competition from such heavyweights as John Grisham, Scott Turow and John le Carre.

SIAMESE DREAMSmashing Pumpkins (Virgin 88267)Not all guitar noise is created equal. Some albums may make the mighty crunch of Marshall amps seem screechy and abrasive, but not "Siamese Dream." Even when the members of Smashing Pumpkins crank their amps to 11 (which is most of the time), the resultant roar is smooth and polished, keeping the instrumental clangor for crowding out the band's melodic flair. Add in the cool understatement of Billy Corgan's vocals, and the Pumpkins are left with a sound that's as tuneful as it is powerful -- and that's as true of full-throttle romps like "Cherub Rock" or "Geek U.S.A."

BEIJING -- When the titillating Hollywood film, "The Bridges of Madison County," opened here, one in 10 Beijingers lined up for a peek. Unable to resist temptation, Zhao Weihong joined the crowd, expecting a steamy account of love, sex and passion.What he saw disappointed him."The story is simply about an extramarital affair," Mr. Zhao said. "In China nowadays, this isn't a big deal."Indeed it isn't. Adultery, taboo 20 years ago and frowned upon 10 years ago, is now widely accepted, part of a radical change over the past two decades in Chinese attitudes toward marriage and sex.In China's big cities, attitudes are being influenced by developed countries, with premarital and extramarital sex becoming an accepted, if not always a condoned, part of life.

As a sensitive and artistic individual, I have spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out how I can cash in on "The Bridges of Madison County." This is of course the humongous best-seller book by Robert James Edward Henry Morton "Bud" Waller. It was recently made into one of the summer's top movies.It tells the compelling story of a lonely and bored Iowa farm wife named Francesca Johnson, who is actually Meryl Streep.One day Francesca's family goes away on a trip, and her life is changed forever by the arrival of photographer Robert Kincaid, who is really Clint Eastwood.

Zebra mussels, one of the most notorious aquatic pests in the nation, have been discovered in a small New York reservoir that feeds into the Susquehanna River, and top scientists are meeting today to outline a plan to prevent them from spreading in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The tiny mollusks, which are native to Europe and have no natural enemies here, have spread rapidly since they were brought to the Great Lakes in a ship's ballast water in the early 1980s. They grow so quickly that they can clog intake pipes at power plants, factories and municipal water plants, forcing them to shut down.

They're making a movie from the book ''The Bridges of Madison County.'' Even as I write, Clint Eastwood is off on location somewhere, looking into Meryl Streep's eyes and saying things like, ''I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea.''Oh boy.This book has sold a gazillion copies and has everybody talking about Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson, the Eastwood and Streep characters. Kincaid is a photographer on assignment to shoot the covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa.

In 1992, Warner Books published a novel by an unknown writer named Robert James Waller that forever will confirm a simple truth: The U.S. reading public and publishing industry are ethereal mysteries. It was launched with virtually no fanfare -- nor much expectation. Then -- Leapin' Vesuvius! By the time it was ready for paperback sales, it had sold 6 million copies, making it, by most estimates, the best-selling hardcover novel of all time. Since then, Waller has published three other novels, a book of essays and one of photographs, with declining sales.

There's a local boy making good on CBS tonight."Second Noah" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- From the ABC press release: "Ben's first experience in pre-school gets him in trouble with his teacher and his new girlfriend's parents." Sounds like he must have kissed her; I say let's throw the kid in jail. ABC."Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" (8 p.m.-9 p.m., WJZ, Channel 13) -- Towson State alum Joseph Dean Vachon is among the guest cast tonight, as a baby dies while under Dr. Quinn's care and the parents threaten to sue. Vachon plays the father.

BEIJING -- When the titillating Hollywood film, "The Bridges of Madison County," opened here, one in 10 Beijingers lined up for a peek. Unable to resist temptation, Zhao Weihong joined the crowd, expecting a steamy account of love, sex and passion.What he saw disappointed him."The story is simply about an extramarital affair," Mr. Zhao said. "In China nowadays, this isn't a big deal."Indeed it isn't. Adultery, taboo 20 years ago and frowned upon 10 years ago, is now widely accepted, part of a radical change over the past two decades in Chinese attitudes toward marriage and sex.In China's big cities, attitudes are being influenced by developed countries, with premarital and extramarital sex becoming an accepted, if not always a condoned, part of life.

As a sensitive and artistic individual, I have spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out how I can cash in on "The Bridges of Madison County." This is of course the humongous best-seller book by Robert James Edward Henry Morton "Bud" Waller. It was recently made into one of the summer's top movies.It tells the compelling story of a lonely and bored Iowa farm wife named Francesca Johnson, who is actually Meryl Streep.One day Francesca's family goes away on a trip, and her life is changed forever by the arrival of photographer Robert Kincaid, who is really Clint Eastwood.

I remember years ago, laughing at a comic strip character having a noise war with popcorn-crunching movie-goers by munching carrots, celery and other really loud raw vegetables. While not quite in a league with Buck Rogers for predicting amazing future events, our hero's vision has at last come true.I got to enjoy the opening night of "Bridges of Madison County" while noshing assorted fresh veggies and dip, fresh apples, pears and strawberries with brie, a glass of red wine and a grilled chicken Caesar salad.

OK. I read the book. Now I've seen the movie. And I'm totally disillusioned with women. How could this story enthrall so many of you?Not just women addicted to pulp fiction and the day-time soaps. But intelligent women. Happily married women. Women who read literature and enjoy good conversation. The story sweeps them away.''I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea.'' Really!Lines like that weren't the only reason to despise ''The Bridges of Madison County.

"Unless you're content to do nothing more than copy others and float in safe waters, risks have to be taken," Robert James Waller writes in "One Good Road Is Enough," his second collection of essays.Mr. Waller may or may not be one of the last cowboys, as he is fond of saying, but unquestionably he's lived a freewheeling and stubbornly individualistic life.He's 54, has been married to the same woman for 31 years (Georgia Ann Waller is a potter), has two grown daughters, and lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The women of the book club to which I belong read "The Bridges of Madison County" and so it made sense that we see the movie together.We knew we should not have liked that book. Critics threw it across the room and started yelling. To see the movie would xTC compound our simple-mindedness. But we looked at it as an academic exercise. Sort of a field trip. We would pack tissues instead of a boxed juice drink.But Betsy's husband had a night meeting and she couldn't go. Nan had to attend the graduation ceremonies at the school where she is a teacher.

The women of the book club to which I belong read "The Bridges of Madison County" and so it made sense that we see the movie together.We knew we should not have liked that book. Critics threw it across the room and started yelling. To see the movie would xTC compound our simple-mindedness. But we looked at it as an academic exercise. Sort of a field trip. We would pack tissues instead of a boxed juice drink.But Betsy's husband had a night meeting and she couldn't go. Nan had to attend the graduation ceremonies at the school where she is a teacher.

They're making a movie from the book ''The Bridges of Madison County.'' Even as I write, Clint Eastwood is off on location somewhere, looking into Meryl Streep's eyes and saying things like, ''I am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea.''Oh boy.This book has sold a gazillion copies and has everybody talking about Robert Kincaid and Francesca Johnson, the Eastwood and Streep characters. Kincaid is a photographer on assignment to shoot the covered bridges of Madison County, Iowa.