# What was on the New York Times bestseller list when you were born? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839 "2011-01-24T21:58:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/41 "2011-01-25T23:12:36Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > For me Chesapeake was #2 in fiction. Mommie Dearest still #1 in non-fiction. > > The only book I’ve heard of and let alone read was THE SILMARILLION J.R.R. Tolkien at #8. Your use of the word “still” means to me, that you believe you are a little bit younger than me. It could be that you’re slightly older and Chesapeake was on the rise to #1 when you were born. Either way, we can’t be more than a couple of months apart at most. Here’s the full list for me: NYT Best Sellers for Week Ending 24/12/1978 Fiction 1 CHESAPEAKE James A. Michener author info 2 WAR AND REMEMBRANCE Herman Wouk 3 SECOND GENERATION Howard Fast 4 FOOLS DIE Mario Puzo 5 THE FAR PAVILIONS M.M. Kaye 6 THE SILMARILLION J.R.R. Tolkien 7 EVERGREEN Belva Plain 8 BRIGHT FLOWS THE RIVER Taylor Caldwell 9 ILLUSIONS Richard Bach 10 PRELUDE TO TERROR Helen MacInnes 11 THE EMPTY COPPER SEA John D. MacDonald 12 THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER John Cheever 13 EYE OF THE NEEDLE Ken Follett 14 WIFEY Judy Blume 15 SCRUPLES Judith Krantz Non-Fiction 1 MOMMIE DEAREST Christina Crawford 2 GNOMES text Wil Huygen, illustrated Rien Poortvliet 3 AMERICAN CAESAR William Manchester 4 A DISTANT MIRROR Barbara W. Tuchman 6 FAERIES described and illustrated Brian Froud and Alan Lee 7 IN SEARCH OF HISTORY Theodore H. White 8 THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING James F. Fixx 9 THE COUNTRY DIARY OF AN EDWARDIAN LADY Edith Holden 10 JACKIE OH! by Kitty Kelley. (Holt $14.95.) 11 JULIA CHILD & COMPANY Julia Child 12 ROBERT KENNEDY AND HIS TIMES Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. 13 THE ANN LANDERS ENCYCLOPEDIA A TO Z Ann Landers. 14 A TIME FOR TRUTH William E. Simon 15 TUTANKHAMUN: The Untold Story Thomas Hoving ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/42 "2011-01-28T19:42:42Z")
09/10/86: Fiction 1 IT Stephen King Fiction 2 RED STORM RISING Tom Clancy Fiction 3 WANDERLUST Danielle Steel Horror, war, romance. Lovely. Fiction 6 THE PRINCE OF TIDES Pat Conroy Fiction 12 THE BOURNE SUPREMACY Robert Ludlum Oh hey movies! Non-Fiction 2 FATHERHOOD Bill Cosby Not that Dad would have read it, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/43 "2011-01-28T21:50:01Z")
NYT Best Sellers for Week Ending 24/01/1960 Fiction 1 ADVISE AND CONSENT Allen Drury 2 HAWAII James Michener 3 POOR NO MORE Robert Ruark 4 DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN Taylor Caldwell 5 THE WAR LOVER John Hersey 6 THE DARKNESS AND THE DAWN Thomas B. Costain 7 EXODUS Leon Uris 8 THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE Morrs L. West 9 THE UGLY AMERICAN William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick 10 THE MANSION William Faulkner 11 THE CAVE Robert Penn Warren 12 TOO MANY GHOSTS Paul Gallico 13 RETURN TO PEYTON PLACE Grace Metalious 14 THE THIRTEENTH APOSTLE Eugene Vale 15 THRUSH GREEN “Miss Read” 16 THE BREAKING POINT Daphne du Maurier Non-Fiction 1 ACT ONE Moss Hart 2 FOLK MEDICINE Deforest Clinton Jarvis 3 THIS IS MY GOD Herman Wouk 4 THE LONGEST DAY Cornelius Ryan 5 THE ARMADA Garrett Mattingly 6 THE STATUS SEEKERS Vance Packard 7 THE JOY OF MUSIC Leonard Bernstein 8 FOR 2c PLAIN Harry Golden author info 9 THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White 10 MY WICKED WICKED WAYS, Errol Flynn 11 GROUCHO AND ME Groucho Marx 12 TRIUMPH IN THE WEST Arthur Bryant 13 MAY THIS HOUSE BE SAFE FROM TIGERS Alexander King 14 THE APE IN ME Cornelia Otis Skinner 15 DIPLOMAT Charles Wheeler Thayer 16 GENTLEMEN SCHOLARS AND SCOUNDRELS (fiction 2 & , Horace Knowles I’ve only read four of them (fiction 2 & 8 and non-fiction 4 & 9). ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/44 "2011-01-28T22:55:53Z")
NYT Best Sellers for Week Ending 30/08/1959 (my birthdate) Fiction 1 EXODUS Leon Uris Fiction 2 LADY CHATTERLY’S LOVER D.H. Lawrence Fiction 3 THE UGLY AMERICAN William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick Fiction 4 DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN Taylor Caldwell Fiction 5 DOCTOR ZHIVAGO Boris Pasternak Fiction 6 ADVISE AND CONSENT Allen Drury Fiction 7 CELIA GARTH Gwen Bristow Fiction 8 THE ART OF LLEWELLYN JONES Paul Hyde Bonner Fiction 9 CALIFORNIA STREET Niven Busch Fiction 10 THE TENTS OF WICKEDNESS Peter De Vries Fiction 11 LOLITA Vladimir Nabokov Fiction 12 THE YOUNG TITAN F. Van Wyck Mason Fiction 13 THE LIGHT INFANTRY BALL Hamilton Basso Fiction 14 NINE COACHES WAITING Mary Stewart Fiction 15 THE CHINESE BOX Katherine Wigmore Eyre Fiction 16 LORENA Frank G. Slaughter Non-Fiction 1 THE STATUS SEEKERS Vance Packard Non-Fiction 2 FOR 2C PLAIN Harry Golden Non-Fiction 3 THE YEARS WITH ROSS James Thurber The first three fiction works, plus #5 and #11, are pretty well-known today. Also, we had a copy of #6 on the family bookshelves when I was growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/45 "2011-01-28T23:01:02Z")
Fiction 1 THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo Fiction 2 THE HOUSE ON THE STRAND Daphne du Maurier Fiction 3 THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN John Fowles Fiction 4 IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE Rumer Godden Fiction 5 THE INHERITORS Harold Robbins Fiction 6 PUPPET ON A CHAIN Alistair MacLean Fiction 7 FIRE FROM HEAVEN Mary Renault Fiction 8 THE SEVEN MINUTES Irving Wallace Fiction 9 THE SHIVERING SANDS Victoria Holt Fiction 10 THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN Michael Crichton Non-Fiction 1 THE SELLING OF THE PRESIDENT 1968 Joe McGinniss Non-Fiction 2 THE PETER PRINCIPLE Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull Non-Fiction 3 PRESENT AT THE CREATION Dean Acheson Non-Fiction 5 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS Antonia Fraser Non-Fiction 6 THE COLLAPSE OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC William L. Shirer Non-Fiction 7 AMBASSADOR’S JOURNAL John Kenneth Galbraith Non-Fiction 8 PRIME TIME Alexander Kendrick Non-Fiction 9 THE GRAHAM KERR COOKBOOK the Galloping Gourmet and Hubert 9 THE GRAHAM KERR COOKBOOK, the Galloping Gourmet and Hubert Sieben Non-Fiction 10 MY LIFE WITH JACQUELINE KENNEDY Mary Barelli Gallagher The only of these I have actually read is The Andromeda Strain. I’ve never read The Godfather. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/46 "2011-01-29T00:12:45Z")
Whenever I type in my birthday it shows a screen saying that I typed in November 2nd, which is definitely not when I was born, and it says “Sorry, no bestsellers listed for this week”. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/47 "2011-01-30T03:30:38Z")
Wow. I had no idea the Atkins diet was that old. Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions, a book I’ve read and did not understand one word of, was the top fiction best seller. The Atkins thing was non-fiction, followed by The Joy of Sex. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/48 "2011-01-30T04:33:06Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Whenever I type in my birthday it shows a screen saying that I typed in November 2nd, which is definitely not when I was born, and it says “Sorry, no bestsellers listed for this week”. Oh well. I think it asks for day and month, not month and day…? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/49 "2011-01-30T05:07:16Z")
The second week of October 1969: Fiction - [ul] [li]THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo[/li][li]THE LOVE MACHINE Jacqueline Susann[/li][li]THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN Michael Crichton[/li][li]PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT Philip Roth[/li][li]NAKED CAME THE STRANGER Penelope Ashe[/li][li]THE PRETENDERS Gladys Rockmore Davis[/li][li]THE PROMISE Chaim Potok[/li][li]THE HOUSE ON THE STRAND Daphne du Maurier[/li][li]A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY Sarah Gainham[/li][li]IN THIS HOUSE OF BREDE Rumer Godden[/li][/ul] Non-Fiction - [ul] [li]THE PETER PRINCIPLE Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull[/li][li]THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER Gay Talese[/li][li]MY LIFE WITH JACQUELINE KENNEDY Mary Barelli Gallagher[/li][li]THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 1968 Theodore H. White[/li][li]MY LIFE AND PROPHECIES Jeane Dixon[/li][li]BETWEEN PARENT & TEENAGER Haim G. Ginott[/li][li]CAPTIVE CITY Ovid Demaris[/li][li]THE DOCTOR’S QUICK INCHES OFF DIET Irwin Maxwell Stillman[/li][li]JENNIE Ralph G. Martin[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/50 "2011-01-30T05:37:51Z")
1st of February, 1987 Fiction: 1. THE EYES OF THE DRAGON by Stephen King 2. RED STORM RISING by Tom Clancy 3. IT by Stephen King 4. BANDITS by Elmore Leonard 5. NIGHT OF THE FOX by Jack Higgins 6. WHIRLWIND by James Clavell 7. THE PRINCE OF TIDES by Pat Conroy 8. FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER by Stephen Coonts 9. A TASTE FOR DEATH by P.D. James 10. DEATH QUEST by L. Ron Hubbard Non-fiction: 1. A SEASON ON THE BRINK by John Feinstein 2. FATHERHOOD by Bill Cos 3. HIS WAY by Kitty Kelley 4. YOU’RE ONLY OLD ONCE by Dr. Seuss 5. THE RECKONING by David Halberstam 6. THE 6 MCMAHON by Jim McMahon 7. THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE by Jane Wagner 8. JAMES HERRIOT’S DOG STORIES by James Herriot 9. DANCING ON MY GRAVE by Gelsey Kirkland with Greg Lawrence 10. WORD FOR WORD by Andrew A. Rooney ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/51 "2011-01-31T19:04:47Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The second week of October 1969: > > Fiction - > [ul] > [li]THE GODFATHER Mario Puzo[/li] > [/ul] I was born in October of 1964! Five years at number one for the Godfather! Maybe I should read that sometime. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/52 "2011-01-31T19:16:25Z")
Hmmm. Wikipedia says it was published in [March of '69](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_(novel)). ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/53 "2011-01-31T19:28:50Z")
August 21 1981 Fiction 1- Cujo - Stephen King 2- Nobel House - James Clavell 3- The Third Deadly Sin - Lawrence Sanders 4- Gorkey Park - Martin Cruz Smith 5- The Glitter Dome - Joseph Wambaugh 6- Goodbye - Janette, Harold Robbins 7- Trade Wind M.M. Kaye 8- The Cardinal Sins - Andrew M Greeley 9- The Clowns of God - Morris West 10- God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert Non-Fiction 1- The Beverly HIlls Diet - Judy Mazel 2- The Lord God Made them All - James Herriot 3- Never-Say-Diet Book - Richard Simmons 4- Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life - Miss Piggy as told by Henry Beard 5- The Cinderella Complex - Colette Dowling 6- Theory Z - William G. Ouchi 7- The Hite Report on Male Sexuality - Shere Hite 8- Living Alone and Liking it! Lynn Shahan 9- How to Make Love to a Man - Alexandra Penney 10- The Eagle’s Gift - Carlos Castaneda Out of all of those I have only read Cujo. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/54 "2011-01-31T19:54:12Z")
Nothing I ever heard of in Fiction; the only author in the top 10 I’ve heard of is Robert Penn Warren. In NF, #2 was **Worlds in Collision** , and #4 was **Dianetics** , so obviously it was a great time to be born stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/55 "2011-02-03T05:38:37Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Hmmm. Wikipedia says it was published in [March of '69](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather_(novel)). Here is my corrected list. Somehow I put in 964 instead of 1964. How this got to be 1969 I don’t know. Fiction 1 HERZOG Saul Bellow Fiction 2 THE RECTOR OF JUSTIN Louis Auchincloss Fiction 3 THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD John le Carré Fiction 4 THIS ROUGH MAGIC Mary Stewart Fiction 5 CANDY Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg Fiction 6 JULIAN Gore Vidal Fiction 7 YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE Ian Fleming Fiction 8 ARMEGEDDON Leon Uris Fiction 9 THE MAN Irving Wallace Fiction 10 A MOTHER’S KISSES Bruce Jay Friedman Non-Fiction 1 REMINISCENCES Douglas MacArthur Non-Fiction 2 HARLOW Irving Shulman Non-Fiction 3 A MOVEABLE FEAST Ernest Hemingway Non-Fiction 4 MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY Charles Chaplin Non-Fiction 5 THE INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT David Wise and Thomas B. Ross Non-Fiction 6 A TRIBUTE TO JOHN F. KENNEDY Pierre Salinger and Sander Vanocur Non-Fiction 7 THE ITALIANS Luigi Barzini Non-Fiction 8 THE KENNEDY WIT Bill Adler Non-Fiction 9 MISSISSIPPI: THE CLOSED SOCIETY James W. Silver Non-Fiction 10 FOUR DAYS U.P.I. and American Heritage Magazine ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839/56 "2011-02-03T05:59:35Z")
#1 is \* Love Possessed\* by James Gould Cozzens. Ugh, #4 is _Atlas Shrugged_, which I haven’t read, nor will I likely ever unless stuck in some remote country with no other reading material. However, _On the Beach_ was #9, which was pretty good, and the only book I’ve read on my list. Back then, I guess there were only 3 books on the non-riction best seller list. **Zebra**. I’m guessing that in 964, the best sellers were the Bible and the Qur’an. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-on-the-new-york-times-bestseller-list-when-you-were-born/568839.md?page=2)