NONFICTIONMEANS OF ASCENT: The Years of Lyndon...

NONFICTION

MEANS OF ASCENT: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro (Vintage: $15). Voluminous biography suggests the 36th President either was an aberration or an embodiment of the American Dream.

THE MURCHISONS: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty by Jane Wolfe (St. Martin’s: $5.95). At work, this clan made multimillion-dollar deals and influenced Presidents; at play, they formed the Dallas Cowboys football team.

A STORY THAT STANDS LIKE A DAM by Russell Martin (Owl: $12.95). The waterline at Glen Canyon Dam rose--and so did pioneering conservation efforts.

TOYLAND: The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry by Sydney Ladensohn Stern and Ted Schoenbaus (Contemporary: $11.95). Manufacturer, distributor and inventor anecdotes in this world-unto-itself.

FICTION

BROKENCLAW by John Gardner (Berkley: $5.50). Bond shows signs of wear confronting the latest villain in a changing world.

CALL AND RESPONSE by T. R. Pearson (Avon: $10.95). Alice-in-Wonderlandesque romp through the South.

THE COLLECTED STORIES OF WALLACE STEGNER by Wallace Stegner (Penguin: $10.95). Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award and Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award winner’s writings span 50 years.

SKINNY LEGS AND ALL by Tom Robbins (Bantam: $5.95). Spoon, Can o’ Beans, Dirty Sock, Painted Stick and Conch Shell follow in the steps of some ancient and contemporary lovers when they set out for Jerusalem seeking the meaning of life. (You had to be there.)