TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of May 14, 1961

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
Jump to
3
RING OF BRIGHT WATER
Gavin Maxwell
Cover of RING OF BRIGHT WATER

RING OF BRIGHT WATER

by Gavin Maxwell · E.P. Dutton

10 wks on list

A personal narrative of life with two pet otters on the isolated Western Highlands of Scotland.

10
3
SKYLINE
Gene Fowler

SKYLINE

by Gene Fowler · Viking Press

13 wks on list

Memories of the newsrooms of the "New York American" and the "Morning Telegraph" of the 1920s, recalling some of the personalities the author encountered.

12
2
REALITY IN ADVERTISING
Rosser Reeves
Cover of REALITY IN ADVERTISING

REALITY IN ADVERTISING

by Rosser Reeves · Alfred A. Knopf

2 wks on list

Rarely has a book about advertising created such a commotion as this brilliant account of the principles of successful advertising. Published in 1961, Reality in Advertising was listed for weeks on the general best-seller lists, and is today acknowledged to be advertising's greatest classic. It has been translated into twelve languages and has been published in twenty-one separate editions in fifteen countries. Leading business executives, and the advertising cognoscenti, hail it as "the best book for professionals that has ever come out of Madison Avenue." Rosser Reeves says: "The book attempts to formulate certain theories of advertising, many quite new, and all based on 30 years of intensive research." These theories, whose value has been proved in the marketplace, all revolve around the central concept that success in selling a product is the key criterion of advertising. Get Your Copy Now

13
4
THE FROG POND
Joyce MacIver

THE FROG POND

by Joyce MacIver · George Braziller

6 wks on list

Psychosexual autobiography of a young woman troubled by a strange compulsion and how she sought help from six psychoanalysts

14
1
PROFILES IN COURAGE
John F. Kennedy
Cover of PROFILES IN COURAGE

PROFILES IN COURAGE

by John F. Kennedy · Harper and Brothers

103 wks on list

The Pulitzer Prize winning classic by President John F. Kennedy, with an introduction by Caroline Kennedy and a foreword by Robert F. Kennedy. Written in 1955 by the then junior senator from the state of Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage serves as a clarion call to every American. In this book Kennedy chose eight of his historical colleagues to profile for their acts of astounding integrity in the face of overwhelming opposition. These heroes, coming from different junctures in our nation’s history, include John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, and Robert A. Taft. Now, a half-century later, the book remains a moving, powerful, and relevant testament to the indomitable national spirit and an unparalleled celebration of that most noble of human virtues. It resounds with timeless lessons on the most cherished of virtues and is a powerful reminder of the strength of the human spirit. Profiles in Courage is as Robert Kennedy states in the foreword: “not just stories of the past but a book of hope and confidence for the future. What happens to the country, to the world, depends on what we do with what others have left us." Along with vintage photographs and an extensive author biography, this book features Kennedy's correspondence about the writing project, contemporary reviews, a letter from Ernest Hemingway, and two rousing speeches from recipients of the Profile in Courage Award. Introduction by John F. Kennedy’s daughter Caroline Kennedy, forward by John F. Kennedy’s brother Robert F. Kennedy.

16
5
THE SIXTH MAN
Jess Stearn

THE SIXTH MAN

by Jess Stearn · Doubleday

3 wks on list

Author is a straight journalist.--Misha Schutt.

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