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PEYTON PLACE
Grace Metalious
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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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DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER
William Brinkley
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THE TRIBE THAT LOST ITS HEAD
Nicholas Monsarrat
THE TRIBE THAT LOST ITS HEAD
by Nicholas Monsarrat · William Sloane Associates
4 wks on list
Five hundred miles off southwest Africa lies the island of Pharamaul. In dense jungle live the notorious Maula tribe, kept under surveillance by a solitary District Officer and his young wife. When Chief-designate, Dinamaula, returns England with a spirited desire to speed the development of his people, political crisis erupts.
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THE LAST HURRAH
Edwin O'Connor
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A CERTAIN SMILE
Francoise Sagan
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COMPULSION
Meyer Levin
COMPULSION
by Meyer Levin · Simon & Schuster
3 wks on list
Ambassador Theatre, Michael Myerberg presents "Compulsion," dramatization by (producer's version) Meyer Levin, production staged by Alex Segal, with Roddy McDowall, Dean Stockwell, Howard Da Silva, Michael Constantine, settings by Peter Larkin, costumes by John Boxer, lighting by Charles Elson, co-producer Len S. Gruenberg
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THE LOVING COUPLE
Virginia Rowans
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MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. BAXTER
Edward Streeter
MERRY CHRISTMAS, MR. BAXTER
by Edward Streeter · Harper and Brothers
1 wks on list
Gently humorous tale about the problems raised in the Baxter family by the custom of giving presents at Christmas.
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OUR VALIANT FEW
F Van Wyck Mason
Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.