TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of July 21, 1968

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
AIRPORT
Arthur Hailey
Cover of AIRPORT

AIRPORT

by Arthur Hailey · Doubleday

30 wks at #1 · 17 on list

Set in Lincoln International Airpot, this novel portrays several airport hours during a midwinter snowstorm and the men and women who share them.

2
COUPLES
John Updike
3
TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN
Taylor Caldwell
Cover of TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN

TESTIMONY OF TWO MEN

by Taylor Caldwell · Doubleday

10 wks on list

Someday the town of Hambledon might forget the lies they told about their brilliant young doctor. But they could never forgive the truths he told about them. From this compelling story of a doctor at war with the world he has been taught to heal, Taylor Caldwell has fashioned a novel of an unforgettable, angry idealist -- a novel in which the drama of new medical frontiers becomes part of a sweeping chronicle of love, death, desire, and redemption.

5
2
VANISHED
Fletcher Knebel
Cover of VANISHED

VANISHED

by Fletcher Knebel · Doubleday

26 wks on list

"The baffling Greer case hit the front pages of the national press and stayed there, as rumors, speculations, accusations, and bizarre plots were paraded before a puzzled and avid public. How could a prominent Washington attorney and top aide to the President of the United States during a contentious re-election campaign simply vanish?"--Goodreads

6
1
TOPAZ
Leon Uris
Cover of TOPAZ

TOPAZ

by Leon Uris · McGraw-Hill

43 wks on list
7
3
TUNC
Lawrence Durrell
Cover of TUNC

TUNC

by Lawrence Durrell · E.P. Dutton

10 wks on list
9
NEW
TRUE GRIT
Charles Portis
Cover of TRUE GRIT

TRUE GRIT

by Charles Portis · Simon & Schuster

1 wks on list

#1 New York Times bestseller “An epic and a legend” —Washington Post “Quite simply, an American masterpiece.” —Boston Globe “The dialogue in True Grit is exquisite.” —David Mamet “Charles Portis had a wonderful talent—original, quirky, exciting.” —Larry McMurtry Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America’s most enduring and incomparable literary voices, and his novels have left an indelible mark on the American canon. True Grit, his most famous novel, was first published in 1968, and has garnered critical acclaim as well as enthusiastic praise from countless passionate fans for more than fifty years. This story of danger and adventure in the old west became the basis for two award-winning films, the first starring John Wayne, in his only Oscar-winning role, as Marshall Rooster Cogburn, and the widely praised remake by the Coen brothers, starring Jeff Bridges. True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father’s blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available US Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer. True Grit is essential reading. Not just a classic Western, but an undeniable classic of American literature as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself. For fans of either the John Wayne classic or the more recent Coen brothers’ movie, it’s a chance to relive the story of Mattie and Rooster and experience their story as it was originally told. For fans of taut, funny storytelling, it will be a joy to experience in its original form. This edition includes an afterword by bestselling author Donna Tartt (The Secret History and The Goldfinch) and a reading group guide.

10
NEW
CHRISTY
Catherine Marshall
Cover of CHRISTY

CHRISTY

by Catherine Marshall · McGraw-Hill

Christy is the book that inspired the CBS television series by the same name. It is the story of a young girl who came to teach in the impoverished Smokies and how her faith conquered her primitive surroundings. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

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