The 1960s in books

Who ruled the 1960s? Allen Drury was Author of the Decade on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of the 1960s, the biggest books and the top authors.

NYT Hardcover Fiction

Author of the Decade 1960s

Allen Drury

29 crowns · 139 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 1,859

Top authors of the 1960s
#	Author	Era Power	Crowns	Top-five weeks
1	Allen Drury	1,859	29	139
2	Irving Stone	1,256	27	86
3	Helen MacInnes	1,228	18	86
4	James Michener	1,170	41	89
5	Arthur Hailey	1,165	30	94
6	Jacqueline Susann	1,144	41	87
7	Leon Uris	1,125	1	81
8	John O'Hara	1,108	0	67
9	John le Carré	1,064	34	76
10	James A. Michener	1,061	49	75

Author of the Year, 1960s
Year	Author	Crowns
1960	James A. Michener	37
1961	Harper Lee	0
1962	Katherine Anne Porter	26
1963	Morris L. West	14
1964	John le Carré	34
1965	Bel Kaufman	8
1966	Jacqueline Susann	28
1967	Elia Kazan	23
1968	Arthur Hailey	30
1969	Mario Puzo	15

Every #1 bestseller of the 1960s32 books reached #1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list
First week at #1	Title	Author	Weeks at #1
Jan 3, 1960	Advise and Consent	Allen Drury	15
Jan 17, 1960	Hawaii	James A. Michener	49
Mar 26, 1961	The Last of the Just	Andre Schwarz-Bart	4
Apr 23, 1961	The Agony and the Ecstasy	Irving Stone	27
Oct 29, 1961	Franny and Zooey	J.D. Salinger	26
Apr 29, 1962	Ship of Fools	Katherine Anne Porter	26
Oct 28, 1962	A Shade of Difference	Allen Drury	4
Nov 18, 1962	Seven Days in May	Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II	14
Mar 10, 1963	Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters	J.D. Salinger	10
May 19, 1963	The Glass Blowers	Daphne Du Maurier	6
Jun 30, 1963	The Shoes of the Fisherman	Morris L. West	14
Oct 6, 1963	The Group	Mary McCarthy	19
Feb 23, 1964	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	John le Carré	34
Oct 4, 1964	The Rector of Justin	Louis Auchincloss	1
Oct 25, 1964	Herzog	Saul Bellow	29
May 16, 1965	Up the Down Staircase	Bel Kaufman	8
Jul 11, 1965	The Source	James Michener	41
May 8, 1966	Valley of the Dolls	Jacqueline Susann	28
Nov 20, 1966	The Secret of Santa Vittoria	Robert Crichton	18
Mar 26, 1967	The Arrangement	Elia Kazan	23
Jun 4, 1967	The Eighth Day	Thornton Wilder	4
Oct 1, 1967	The Chosen	Chaim Potok	3
Oct 15, 1967	Topaz	Leon Uris	1
Oct 29, 1967	The Gabriel Hounds	Mary Stewart	1
Nov 5, 1967	The Confessions of Nat Turner	William Styron	21
Mar 31, 1968	Vanished	Fletcher Knebel	1
Apr 7, 1968	Airport	Arthur Hailey	30
Jun 30, 1968	Couples	John Updike	1
Nov 10, 1968	The Salzburg Connection	Helen MacInnes	18
Mar 16, 1969	Portnoy's Complaint	Philip Roth	14
Jun 22, 1969	The Love Machine	Jacqueline Susann	13
Sep 21, 1969	The Godfather	Mario Puzo	15

Biggest books of the 1960sTitles that entered the list in the 1960s, by Book Power
#	Title	Author	Peak	Weeks	Book Power
1	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	#2	98	929.2
2	The Agony and the Ecstasy	Irving Stone	#1	83	892.5
3	The Source	James Michener	#1	71	886.1
4	The Godfather	Mario Puzo	#1	67	779.3
5	Valley of the Dolls	Jacqueline Susann	#1	65	764.2
6	Airport	Arthur Hailey	#1	64	761.1
7	The Spy Who Came in from the Cold	John le Carré	#1	56	665.7
8	Up the Down Staircase	Bel Kaufman	#1	61	658.3
9	Franny and Zooey	J.D. Salinger	#1	54	603.8
10	The French Lieutenant's Woman	John Fowles	#1	53	582.6
11	The Group	Mary McCarthy	#1	51	568.4
12	Seven Days in May	Fletcher Knebel & Charles W. Bailey II	#1	48	553.8
13	The Secret of Santa Vittoria	Robert Crichton	#1	47	541.1
14	Herzog	Saul Bellow	#1	42	525.6
15	The Arrangement	Elia Kazan	#1	42	520.9
16	Topaz	Leon Uris	#1	52	508.1
17	Ship of Fools	Katherine Anne Porter	#1	44	505.8
18	The Salzburg Connection	Helen MacInnes	#1	42	503.0
19	The Shoes of the Fisherman	Morris L. West	#1	43	494.7
20	Portnoy's Complaint	Philip Roth	#1	40	462.2

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