TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of December 11, 1949

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
1
THE EGYPTIAN
Mika Waltari
Cover of THE EGYPTIAN

THE EGYPTIAN

by Mika Waltari · Putnam

16 wks at #1 · 14 on list

Set in Egypt, more than a thousand years before Christ, it encompasses all of the then-known world. It is told by Sinhue, physician to the Pharaoh Akhenaton, and is the story of his life. Through his eyes are seen innumerable characters, fully drawn and covering the whole panorama of the ancient world.

2
MARY
Sholem Asch
Cover of MARY

MARY

by Sholem Asch · Putnam

8 wks on list
3
A RAGE TO LIVE
John O'Hara
Cover of A RAGE TO LIVE

A RAGE TO LIVE

by John O'Hara · Random House

15 wks on list

'O'Hara is the only American writer to whom America presents itself as a social scene in the way it once presented itself to Henry James, or France to Proust' The New York Times When the beautiful, imperious and moneyed Grace Caldwell Tate wants something she goes after it, men included. Her affair scandalises Pennsylvania's elite and she must face the costs to her marriage and the man she really loves. A bestseller on publication in 1949, A Rage to Live is a candid tale of idealists and libertines, tradesmen and crusaders, men of violence and goodwill, and women of fierce strength and tenderness.

4
THE WAY WEST
A.B. Guthrie, Jr
Cover of THE WAY WEST
6
LOVING
Henry Green
Cover of LOVING

LOVING

by Henry Green · Hogarth Press

6 wks on list
9
2
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
Nelson Algren
Cover of THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM

THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM

by Nelson Algren · Doubleday

11 wks on list

A novel about a young drug addict and his daily encounters as he pursues his eternal quest for means to support his habit.

10
1
THE MUDLARK
Theodore Bonnet
Cover of THE MUDLARK
12
NEW
ONE ON THE HOUSE
Mary Lasswell
Cover of ONE ON THE HOUSE

ONE ON THE HOUSE

by Mary Lasswell · Houghton Mifflin

1 wks on list

Flat broke at the end of their stay in New York City, Mrs. Feeley, Mrs. Rasmussen, and Miss Tinkham can only make it as far as New Jersey on their voyage back home. When they stop by a local bar for something to lift their spirits, they find it in disrepair and the owner in none too better shape himself. As desperate as they are to make it back to San Diego, it's just not in their nature to leave the poor guy there. And if they're going to lend a helping hand, they might as well tidy up, serve a few beers, and see about breathing a little life into the joint—not that it does any harm to have a place to stay until they can find a way to get to the West Coast. Pull up a stool, crack open a cold one, and crack a smile with the third, uplifting and uproarious title from Mary Lasswell to feature her quick-witted altruists.

14
1
THE EYE OF GOD
Ludwig Bemelmans

THE EYE OF GOD

by Ludwig Bemelmans · Viking Press

2 wks on list

Story about villagers, under Nazi rule, who live in proximity to the mountain called "The Eye of God" and an innkeeper who exemplifies the spiritual ruggedness of the Tyrolean Mountains.

15
NEW
PRINCE OF EGYPT
Dorothy Clarke Wilson
Cover of PRINCE OF EGYPT

PRINCE OF EGYPT

by Dorothy Clarke Wilson · Westminster Press

1 wks on list

A brilliant work of biblical fiction by Dorothy Clarke Wilson, Moses, The Prince of Egypt was immediately embraced by the public when first published in 1949 (as Prince of Egypt). The novel became an inspiration for the 1956 film, The Ten Commandments -- now a classic in its own right. It is a wonderfully entertaining and well-researched story of Moses from his teenage years through early manhood when he rejects his royal lifestyle upon learning of his Hebrew birth and becomes a shepherd among his own people. After centuries of slavery and bondage, with God's help, Moses eventually leads the Jewish people to freedom. Moses, the Prince of Egypt became a favorite of reader's, selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide and has truly achieved the status of a modern classic.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.