Authors · NYT Hardcover Fiction

John Steinbeck

Charting Mar 8, 1937 → Dec 24, 1961 · 206 weeks with chart power

Peak Power: 13.60%; week of Oct 16, 1939
Career Power: 1,912; share-weeks
Weeks at #1: 47; weeks as the top author

Peak Year: 458; December 1938 – December 1939
Peak Five Years: 699; July 1937 – July 1942
Top-five weeks: 131; weeks ranked 1–5
Longevity: 206; weeks with chart power
Dominance: 14.53%; week of May 1, 1939
Comebacks: 6; May 1939, April 1942, March 1945, April 1947, November 1952, August 1961

Comebacks (thresholds from `config/scoring.json`)
Kind	Trough began	Returned	Trough weeks	Longest absence	Prior peak	Return share
After decline	Oct 11, 1937	May 1, 1939	81	80	5.89%	2.65%
After absence	Feb 26, 1940	Apr 6, 1942	110	107	13.60%	5.23%
After absence	Sep 21, 1942	Mar 11, 1945	129	123	13.60%	4.77%
After decline	Apr 29, 1945	Apr 6, 1947	101	97	13.60%	5.18%
After absence	Aug 17, 1947	Nov 2, 1952	272	243	13.60%	5.26%
After absence	Jan 16, 1955	Aug 27, 1961	343	198	13.60%	4.91%

Ranked by weekly Power Share, part of the ChartReign Power model — not the list's own positions (config version 4, Sep 22, 2026). How it works →

Exponentially smoothed share of the week's total power (the primary metric).

Titles on the NYT Hardcover Fiction

10 books · 1,912 share-weeks of Career Power

Power contributed is what each book earned this author: their weekly Power Share, split across their books (a featured credit takes its reduced share). Book Power is the book's own figure, the same for every author on it. Bar length compares books within this list.

Title	Peak	Weeks	On chart	Power contributedPower	Book Power
The Grapes of Wrath	#1May 1939	35	April 1939 – December 1939	458.1	458.1
East of Eden	#1November 1952	39	October 1952 – July 1953	401.3	401.3
The Moon Is Down	#1March 1942	18	March 1942 – July 1942	233.6	233.6
Sweet Thursday	#3July 1954	25	June 1954 – December 1954	206.5	206.5
The Wayward Bus	#2March 1947	18	March 1947 – July 1947	162.0	162.0
The Winter of Our Discontent	#5July 1961	23	July 1961 – December 1961	144.2	144.2
Of Mice and Men	#4March 1937	16	March 1937 – August 1937	121.3	121.3
The Short Reign of Pippin IV	#7May 1957	17	May 1957 – September 1957	85.0	85.0
Cannery Row	#3February 1945	8	January 1945 – April 1945	79.7	79.7
The Pearl	#11December 1947	7	December 1947 – February 1948	20.0	20.0