TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of May 18, 1980

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
2
PRINCESS DAISY
Judith Krantz
Cover of PRINCESS DAISY
5
9
RANDOM WINDS
Belva Plain
Cover of RANDOM WINDS

RANDOM WINDS

by Belva Plain · Delacorte Press

2 wks on list

From a quiet turn-of-the-century village in upstate New York to war-torn London, from the bedsides of the rural poor to the life-and-death urgency of a New York hospital, comes a powerful epic of three generations of doctors in one family. The Farrell family are dedicated, brilliant... and driven to the edge of destruction by a love no force can suppress.

7
3
THE BLEEDING HEART
Marilyn French
Cover of THE BLEEDING HEART

THE BLEEDING HEART

by Marilyn French · Summit

8 wks on list

A love story for and about adults, it speaks to the hearts and minds of women and men everywhere. Dolores and Victor are both both successful, both Americans living alone in England. They meet and fall instantly in love, only to discover they agree on nothing. From the start they know they have only one year together. Their affair is sometimes bitter, always passionate, and, in the end, an extraordinary revelation for them both. "A monumental achievement." -- Cosmopolitan

8
1
PORTRAITS
Cynthia Freeman
Cover of PORTRAITS
9
1
SMILEY'S PEOPLE
John le Carré
Cover of SMILEY'S PEOPLE

SMILEY'S PEOPLE

by John le Carré · Knopf

22 wks on list

Its an emergency, George. You remember Vladimir? George, are you awake? You remember the old General? The phone call that dragged George Smiley, acting Chief of the Circus, from his bed was a plea to return to active service. But only to bury the case, not to solve it. An old acquaintance shot dead on Hampstead Heath, an old woman in Paris promised the return of a daughter shell never see, a photograph taken in a Hamburg brothel - and George Smiley is called out of retirement ... SMILEYS PEOPLE has all the le Carr touches Sunday Telegraph

12
3
WHO'S ON FIRST
William F. Buckley Jr
Cover of WHO'S ON FIRST

WHO'S ON FIRST

by William F. Buckley Jr · Doubleday

9 wks on list

Suspense: Blackford Oakes' new assignment is to delay a Soviet space shot.

13
2
BACK BAY
William Martin
Cover of BACK BAY

BACK BAY

by William Martin · Crown

4 wks on list

The powerful Pratts have searched for generations for a lost family possession--a breathtaking Paul Revere treasure. A centuries-spanning tale of romance, greed, lust, and murder reissued to tie-in with the paperback release of Martin's latest bestseller Cape Cod, featured above.

15
NEW
THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG
Norman Mailler
Cover of THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG

THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG

by Norman Mailler · Little, Brown

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a convicted killer becomes the first prisoner to be executed in the United States. The Executioner's Song follows the true story of cold-blooded murderer Gary Gilmore, who, after being tried and convicted, insisted on being executed for his crimes. To do so, he fought a system intent on keeping him alive long after it sentenced him to death. Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story with impressive authority and compassion. The Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks, right into the heart of American loneliness and violence–it is impossible to put down and difficult to forget.

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