TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of December 27, 1992

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
DOLORES CLAIBORNE
Stephen King
Cover of DOLORES CLAIBORNE

DOLORES CLAIBORNE

by Stephen King · Viking Press

7 wks at #1 · 4 on list

“Among King’s best.”—San Francisco Chronicle When housekeeper Dolores Claiborne is questioned in the death of her wealthy employer, a long-hidden secret from her past is revealed-—as is the strength of her own will to survive...

3
MEXICO
James A. Michener
Cover of MEXICO

MEXICO

by James A. Michener · Random House

8 wks on list

American journalist Norman Clay's assignment in Mexico leads him to uncover his fascinating Mexican ancestry, set against the backdrop of 1,500 years of the country's history

4
THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF
Anne Rice
Cover of THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF

THE TALE OF THE BODY THIEF

by Anne Rice · Knopf

10 wks on list

In 1992 Miami, the immortal vampire Lestat finds himself alone, yearning to regain his soul and to once again experience the joys and anguish of being human.

6
1
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
Robert James Waller
Cover of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

by Robert James Waller · Warner

20 wks on list

Fall in love with one of the bestselling novels of all time -- the legendary love story that became a beloved film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. If you've ever experienced the one true love of your life, a love that for some reason could never be, you will understand why readers all over the world are so moved by this small, unknown first novel that they became a publishing phenomenon and #1 bestseller. The story of Robert Kincaid, the photographer and free spirit searching for the covered bridges of Madison County, and Francesca Johnson, the farm wife waiting for the fulfillment of a girlhood dream, The Bridges of Madison County gives voice to the longings of men and women everywhere -- and shows us what it is to love and be loved so intensely that life is never the same again.

8
THE STARS SHINE DOWN
Sidney Sheldon
Cover of THE STARS SHINE DOWN

THE STARS SHINE DOWN

by Sidney Sheldon · Morrow

11 wks on list

In THE STARS SHINE DOWN, Sidney Sheldon returns to the powerful and classic themes that have made him one of the world's most popular bestselling authors. And in Lara Cameron, he has created his most memorable, richly drawn heroine to date. Lara is America's Princess, the power behind the tallest building on earth, a self-made billionaire who towers over a traditionally male domain, an icon of glamour and accomplishment to men and women everywhere. Beautiful but insecure, ruthless yet vulnerable, Lara has struggled brutally to achieve it all -- yet still wants more. And in a dazzling global setting from London to New York, from Reno to Rome, she will find everything she has ever desired and won -- her fortune, her fame, the man she loves -- swiftly and shockingly imperiled.

11
1
MOSTLY HARMLESS
Douglas Adams
Cover of MOSTLY HARMLESS

MOSTLY HARMLESS

by Douglas Adams · Harmony

9 wks on list

The fifth part of the "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. 20 years on, the Guide falls into the hands of Arthur Dent's daughter, Random, whose mother, unexpectedly to all concerned, is Trillian. Random journeys to an insignificant planet, whose entry in the Guide reads "mostly harmless".

12
SABINE'S NOTEBOOK
Nick Bantock
Cover of SABINE'S NOTEBOOK

SABINE'S NOTEBOOK

by Nick Bantock · Chronicle Books

11 wks on list

Don't miss The Pharos Gate, the final volume in the Griffin & Sabine story. Published simultaneously with the 25th-anniversary edition of Griffin & Sabine, the book finally shares what happened to the lovers. Griffin—Foolish man. You cannot turn me into a phantom because you are frightened. You do not dismiss a muse at a whim. If you will not join me, then I will come to you. —Sabine Sabine was supposed to be imaginary, a friend and lover that Griffin had created to soothe his loneliness. But she threatens to become embodied, to appear on his doorstep, in fact. So he runs. Griffin & Sabine, the most creative and talked-about bestseller of 1991, left readers on the edge of a precipice. With Sabine's Notebook, they begin—along with Griffin—the fall. Once again, the story is told through strangely beautiful postcards and richly decorated letters that must actually be pulled from their envelopes to be read. But this volume is also a sketchbook and diary kept by the possibly unreal Sabine, who is living in Griffin's house in London while he wanders through Europe, North Africa, and Asia, backwards through layers of ancient civilizations—and of himself. Filled with her delicately macabre drawings and notations, the notebook adds a darker element of visual intrigue to their complex and mysterious world. For the thousands who finished Griffin & Sabine and asked, "What happened next?," this second volume in the quartet provides the answers—but raises new and even more haunting questions of its own.

15
NEW
RED SQUARE
Martin Cruz Smith
Cover of RED SQUARE

RED SQUARE

by Martin Cruz Smith · Random House

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “Sharply, evocatively written and elaborately plotted . . . [Red Square] should find as many friends as did Gorky Park.”—The Washington Post Book World Back from exile in the hellish reaches of the Soviet Union, homicide investigator Arkady Renko discovers that his country, his Moscow, even his job, are nearly dead. But his enemies are very much alive, and foremost among them are the powerful black-market crime lords of the Russian mafia. Hounded by this terrifying new underworld, chased by the ruthless minions of the newly rich and powerful, and tempted by his great love, defector Irina Asanova, Arkady can only hope desperately for escape. But fate has something else in store. “Gripping . . . Smith at his best.”—The Wall Street Journal “A crackling suspense thriller.”—The Boston Globe “Fascinating . . . powerful.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “Absorbing.”—The New York Times “Extraordinary.”—Time

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