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DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER
William Brinkley
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Historical Note
The I, Libertine Hoax
In 1956, radio personality Jean Shepherd orchestrated one of the most audacious cons in publishing history. He instructed his late-night listeners to walk into bookshops and libraries and ask for a nonexistent book: I, Libertine by the equally nonexistent "Frederick R. Ewing." Demand reports from booksellers were enough to land it on regional bestseller lists — and eventually get it noticed by the NYT. Publisher Ian Ballantine called Shepherd's bluff and commissioned the book for real, hiring science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon to write it in a weekend. It was published later that year, making the hoax self-fulfilling.
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THE LAST HURRAH
Edwin O'Connor
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THE MANDARINS
Simone de Beauvoir
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ANDERSONVILLE
MacKinlay Kantor
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THE ROSEMARY TREE
Elizabeth Goudge
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THE NINTH WAVE
Eugene Burdick
THE NINTH WAVE
by Eugene Burdick · Houghton Mifflin
9 wks on list
The rise and near-success of Mike Freesmith, who tries to gain control of California politics by exploiting the fears and hatreds of voting groups.
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THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH
Honor Tracy
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A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Nelson Algren
A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
by Nelson Algren · Farrar, Straus and Cudahy
11 wks on list
Characters include a lesbian madam at a New Orleans bordello. Book was made into a mainstream movie. -- dm.
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A CERTAIN SMILE
Francoise Sagan
Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.