TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of January 11, 1953

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
1
EAST OF EDEN
John Steinbeck
Cover of EAST OF EDEN

EAST OF EDEN

by John Steinbeck · Viking Press

11 wks at #1 · 15 on list

This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families--the Trasks' and the Hamilton's--whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. The story of two brothers, Aron is a clean-cut model student, engaged to be married, the pride of his hardworking father. Cal is a rebellious loner, sternly rejected by his father.

2
1
THE SILVER CHALICE
Thomas B. Costain
Cover of THE SILVER CHALICE

THE SILVER CHALICE

by Thomas B. Costain · Doubleday and Company, Inc

24 wks on list

"This novel [is] based on legends of the years following Christ's crucifixion. [It] describes the life of Basil, the artisan who fashioned the silver chalice, a frame meant to hold the ... cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper"--Fiction catalog.

3
1
GIANT
Edna Ferber

GIANT

by Edna Ferber · Doubleday

14 wks on list
4
1
STEAMBOAT GOTHIC
Frances Parkinson Keyes
Cover of STEAMBOAT GOTHIC

STEAMBOAT GOTHIC

by Frances Parkinson Keyes · Julian Messner, Inc

7 wks on list

Three generations of a southern family show customs and manners of plantation and river life.

5
THE CAINE MUTINY
Herman Wouk
Cover of THE CAINE MUTINY

THE CAINE MUTINY

by Herman Wouk · Doubleday

91 wks on list

Each decade new readers discover the characters and curious activities aboard the U.S.S. "Caine in this classic tale of pathos, humor, and scope.

7
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Ernest Hemingway
Cover of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

by Ernest Hemingway · Charles Scribner's Sons

18 wks on list

Ernest Hemingway’s most beloved and popular novel ever, with millions of copies sold—now featuring early drafts and supplementary material as well as a personal foreword by the only living son of the author, Patrick Hemingway, and an introduction by the author’s grandson Seán Hemingway. The last novel Ernest Hemingway saw published, The Old Man and the Sea has proved itself to be one of the enduring works of American fiction. It is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal: a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Using the simple, powerful language of a fable, Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novel confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

8
1
SIRONIA, TEXAS
Madison Cooper

SIRONIA, TEXAS

by Madison Cooper · Houghton Mifflin

8 wks on list

Interplay of the people of the town during the first quarter of the 20th century.

13
2
EXECUTIVE SUITE
Cameron Hawley
Cover of EXECUTIVE SUITE

EXECUTIVE SUITE

by Cameron Hawley · Houghton Miffin Company

2 wks on list

Effects on others of a cerebral hemorrhage suffered by captain of industry and finance.

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