TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of March 27, 1960

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
HAWAII
James A. Michener
Cover of HAWAII

HAWAII

by James A. Michener · Random House

49 wks at #1 · 19 on list
3
1
THE CONSTANT IMAGE
Marcia Davenport
Cover of THE CONSTANT IMAGE

THE CONSTANT IMAGE

by Marcia Davenport · Charles Scribner's Sons

7 wks on list

Hariet and Carlo saw no harm in their love affair. It was intended to last only as long as Hariet's winter in Milan. Neither of them expected they would mean so much to each other. When an old and sophisticated society enforced the rights of the family against the lawless claims of love, the love was put to a terrible test.

4
1
OURSELVES TO KNOW
John O'Hara

OURSELVES TO KNOW

by John O'Hara · Random House

5 wks on list

In 1908, in a small Pennsylvania town, a highly respected citizen kills his young wife. A full-length portrait of a troubled and talented man of good will.

5
2
TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN
Irwin Shaw
Cover of TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN

TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN

by Irwin Shaw · Random House

8 wks on list

An American, Jack Andrus, is suddenly called to Rome on an errand of friendship. Soon after his arrival he is the victim of a bizarre accident.

10
4
EXODUS
Leon Uris
Cover of EXODUS

EXODUS

by Leon Uris · Doubleday

77 wks on list
11
ALL THE DAY LONG
Howard Spring
Cover of ALL THE DAY LONG

ALL THE DAY LONG

by Howard Spring · Harper and Brothers

2 wks on list

The story is set in Cornwall where the lead character, Maria Legassick, and her sisters Bella and Louisa, and brother, Roger, are the sons and daughters of a Cornish vicar.

14
1
THE UGLY AMERICAN
William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
Cover of THE UGLY AMERICAN

THE UGLY AMERICAN

by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick · W.W. Norton and Company

75 wks on list

The multi-million-copy bestseller that blends truth and fiction in a “devastating indictment of American policy” (New York Times Book Review). A piercing exposé of American incompetence and corruption in Southeast Asia, The Ugly American captivated the nation when it was first published in 1958. The book introduces readers to an unlikely hero in the titular “ugly American”—and to the ignorant politicians and arrogant ambassadors who ignore his empathetic and commonsense advice. In linked stories and vignettes set in the fictional nation of Sarkhan, William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick draw an incisive portrait of American foreign policy gone dangerously wrong—and how it might be fixed. Eerily relevant sixty years after its initial publication, The Ugly American reminds us that “today, as the battle for hearts and minds has shifted to the Middle East, we still can’t speak Sarkhanese” (New York Times).

16
NEW
A SEPARATE PEACE
John Knowles
Cover of A SEPARATE PEACE

A SEPARATE PEACE

by John Knowles · Macmillan

John Knowles' beloved classic has been a bestseller for more than 30 years and is one of the most moving and accurate novels about the trials and confusions of adolescence ever written. Set at an elite boarding school for boys during World War II, A Separate Peace is the story of friendship and treachery, and how a tragic accident involving two young men forever tarnishes their innocence.

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