European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Best Sellers fiction 1 memories of Sid Mgill by Sidney Sheldon last week 3 weeks on list 2 2 the Burden of proof by Scott Turow last week 1 weeks on list 12 3 the women in his life by Barbara Taylor Bradford last week 2 weeks on list 4 4 message from Nam by Danielle steel last week 4 weeks on list 11 5 the stand by Stephen King last week 5 weeks on list 17 6 september by Rosamunde Pilcher last week 7 weeks on list 20 7 of the places you la go by or. Seuss last week 8 weeks on list 28 8 Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman last week 4 weeks on list 8 9 get shorty by Elmore Leonard last week 5 weeks on list 3 10 seventh heaven by Alice Hoffman last week 15 weeks on list 2. Non fiction 1 men at work by George f. Will last week 1 weeks on list 21 2 the politics of Rich and poor by Kevin Phillips last week 2 weeks on list 5 3 you just done to understand by Deborah Tannen last week 3 weeks on list 5 4 Dave Barry turns 40 by Dave Barry last week 4 weeks on list 14 5 Trump surviving at the top by Donald j. Trump first week on list 6 barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar last week 5 weeks on list 32 7 every spy a Prince by Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman last week 6 weeks on list 4 8 inside Job by Stephen Pizzo Mary Fricker and Paul Muolo last week 12 weeks on list 3 9 done to shoot its Only me by Bob Hope with Melville Shavelson last week 14 weeks on list 13 10 Meg trends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene last week 7 weeks on list 32 paperback fiction 1 presumed innocent by Scott Turow weeks on list 40 2 Clear and present danger by Tom Clancy weeks on list 7 3 the pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett weeks on list 6 4 rightfully mine by Doris Mortman weeks on list 7 5 silent partner by Jonathan Kellerman weeks on list 2 6 the endearment by Lavyrle Spencer weeks on list 4 7 while my pretty one sleeps by Mary Higgins weeks on list 10 8 the Joy Luck club by Amy Tan weeks on list 15 9 the Russia House by John Decarre weeks on list 11 10 Garden of lies by Eileen grudge weeks on list 11 paperback non fiction 1 All i really need to know i Learned in kindergarten by Robert Fulghum weeks on list 41 2 its always something by Gilda Radner weeks on list 10 3 when Rabbit howls by Truddie Chase weeks on list 13 4 a Brief history of time by Stephen hawking weeks on list 13 5 from Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas l. Friedman weeks on list 3 6 the Road less travelled by m. Scott Peck weeks on list 358 7 the bridesmaids by Judith Balaban Quine weeks on list 3 8 a woman named Jackie by c. David Heymann weeks on list 15 9 i want to grow hair i want to grow up i want to go to Boise by Erma Bombeck first week on list 10 love Medicine and miracles by Bernie s. Siegel weeks on list 109 paperback miscellaneous 1 Rand Mcnally Road Atlas by Rand Mcnally weeks on list 28 2 codependent no More by Melanie Beattie weeks on list 104 a 3 weirdos from another planet by Bill Watterson weeks on list 24 4 the to Factor fat Gram counter by Jamie Pope Cordle weeks on list 17 5 50 simple things you can do to save the Earth by the earthworks group weeks on list 30 compiled by the new York times stars and stripes Best Sellers fiction four past Midnight by Stephen King 2 message from Nam by Danielle steel 3 memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon 4 hammerheads by Dale Brown 5 the stand by Stephen King 6 the Burden of proof by Scott Turow 7 dragon by Clive Cussler 8 Coyote Waits by Tony Hillerman 9 Bright Star by Harold Coyle 10 the bad place by Dean Koontz non fiction 1 wealth without risk by Charles j. Givens 2 Dave Barry turns 40 by Dave Barry 3 men at work by George will 4 father son and co. By Thomas j. Watson or. And Peter Petre 5 it was on fire when i Lay Down on it by Robert Fulghum 6 barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar 7 done to shoot its Only me by Bob Hope with Melville Shavelson 8 whereas Waldo by Martin Handford 9 websters ninth new collegiate dictionary Index 10 head first by Norman cousins extra a of pops where it  William Safire new York times i see in my favorite sports Section a an old Friend wrote this Spring a the following a How big of a Deal was Princeton a near upset of Georgetown a a everywhere i go i see that a of a a he continued a and i hear it even More on radio and television. Is this something that you might find worthy of comment or am i making All this up a my friends ear is As keen As Ever. The use of the inserted a a of in casual speech has been growing despite the efforts of language mavens to slap it Down. A a he a not that Good of a Blocker a says the to sportscaster. A How big of an Issue will the Federal deficit be a asks the nation Facer. When i demand in Standard English a Gimme a slice of that Salami a the proprietor of the famed Hole in the Wall Delicatessen in Manhattan responds a How big of a slice do you want that is non Standard the usage not the Salami which is unsurpassed. An adjective like a a big modified by an adverb of degree like a a How should not be followed by a preposition like a a of in modifying the noun that follows in this Case a a slice. Standard English requires a How big a slice a and the response a not that big a slice because in a having Miriam a  How Long will it be until this unnecessary a a of becomes Standard a that is deemed Correct by those of us who make a living in syntax the usage is Halfway there a not that big of a deals is heard and accepted in speech to the Point that it achieved unassailable idiom status. However the extra a a of still looks funny in writing and is a Long Way from being accepted As  this is not the Only Case of an unneeded  consider a where did you get that hat a a i got it off of the  or this from the Wall Street journal a one Complex Case began in March 1973, when the wings broke off of a Hercules cargo  the word a a off started out As a variant of a of a in the sense of the latin a a away out from a expressing removal or derivation by 1600, a a Oft gained its own adverbial sense a the head flew off and that detachment sense was applied in a preposition a off his Rocker. Although a a off and a a of now have separate lives a off of is still As redundant As it was when Shakespeare used it. Get of tit never get off of it. Where do these extra a a of a come from i have a theory they Are refugees from two orgies of a a of napping. When reporters recently wrote of a mayor a swearing in a couple dozen new transit police officers and a with the tournament offering that size purse a what happened to the words that should have separated a a couple. A a dozen and a a size. A a purse they were Busy being misused  2, 1990 sunday c Page 9