The 1950s in books
Who ruled the 1950s? Herman Wouk was Author of the Decade on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of the 1950s, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
Author of the Decade 1950s
61 crowns · 122 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 1,747
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herman Wouk | 1,747 | 61 | 122 |
| 2 | Daphne Du Maurier | 1,417 | 38 | 93 |
| 3 | Thomas B. Costain | 1,287 | 15 | 86 |
| 4 | Frances Parkinson Keyes | 1,182 | 8 | 80 |
| 5 | Patrick Dennis | 1,178 | 5 | 81 |
| 6 | Leon Uris | 1,103 | 20 | 73 |
| 7 | Taylor Caldwell | 884 | 0 | 53 |
| 8 | Grace Metalious | 807 | 29 | 55 |
| 9 | Mika Waltari | 798 | 7 | 50 |
| 10 | Morton Thompson | 756 | 24 | 43 |
| Year | Author | Crowns |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Henry Morton Robinson | 24 |
| 1951 | James Jones | 20 |
| 1952 | Herman Wouk | 27 |
| 1953 | Annemarie Selinko | 32 |
| 1954 | Morton Thompson | 24 |
| 1955 | Francoise Sagan | 12 |
| 1956 | Edwin O'Connor | 20 |
| 1957 | Grace Metalious | 23 |
| 1958 | Robert Traver | 29 |
| 1959 | Leon Uris | 20 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Caine Mutiny | Herman Wouk | #1 | 123 | 1,342.3 |
| 2 | Advise and Consent | Allen Drury | #1 | 102 | 1,181.1 |
| 3 | Hawaii | James A. Michener | #1 | 94 | 1,112.3 |
| 4 | Auntie Mame | Patrick Dennis | #1 | 112 | 890.6 |
| 5 | Peyton Place | Grace Metalious | #1 | 76 | 806.8 |
| 6 | Exodus | Leon Uris | #1 | 78 | 800.6 |
| 7 | Not as a Stranger | Morton Thompson | #1 | 79 | 748.7 |
| 8 | The Silver Chalice | Thomas B. Costain | #1 | 68 | 702.7 |
| 9 | Doctor Zhivago | Boris Pasternak | #1 | 57 | 642.0 |
| 10 | Anatomy of a Murder | Robert Traver | #1 | 59 | 640.8 |
| 11 | The Cardinal | Henry Morton Robinson | #1 | 56 | 631.9 |
| 12 | Desiree | Annemarie Selinko | #1 | 54 | 625.4 |
| 13 | The Ugly American | William J. Lederer & Eugene Burdick | #2 | 76 | 609.8 |
| 14 | From Here to Eternity | James Jones | #1 | 66 | 599.4 |
| 15 | The Last Hurrah | Edwin O'Connor | #1 | 53 | 581.1 |
| 16 | The Cruel Sea | Nicholas Monsarrat | #2 | 61 | 578.9 |
| 17 | Andersonville | MacKinlay Kantor | #1 | 52 | 528.4 |
| 18 | Dear and Glorious Physician | Taylor Caldwell | #3 | 64 | 509.9 |
| 19 | Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov | #1 | 54 | 507.9 |
| 20 | By Love Possessed | James Gould Cozzens | #1 | 41 | 481.1 |
Author of the Decade and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the author with the most chart power over the decade, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Author of the Week. How it works