Villard Books, named after the Stanford White brownstone mansion on New York's Madison Avenue that was the home of Random House for twenty years, was founded in 1983. It publishes a general nonfiction and fiction list that has positioned itself on the leading edge of popular culture. Among its bestselling authors are Jon Krakauer, Governor Jesse Ventura, Melissa Etheridge, and Peter Greenberg, the "Travel Detective." It is also known for its titles in the areas of sports, personal narrative, new-voice fiction, and cooking. In January 2001 it introduced Striver's Row, a new series devoted to publishing African-American fiction and nonfiction in trade-paperback format.