1956 in books
Who ruled 1956? Edwin O'Connor was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1956, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
Author of the Year 1956
20 crowns · 41 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 548
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edwin O'Connor | 548 | 20 | 41 |
| 2 | MacKinlay Kantor | 452 | 12 | 31 |
| 3 | Patrick Dennis | 422 | 0 | 32 |
| 4 | William Brinkley | 313 | 15 | 22 |
| 5 | John O'Hara | 273 | 0 | 20 |
| 6 | Simone de Beauvoir | 212 | 0 | 17 |
| 7 | Herman Wouk | 196 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | Pearl S. Buck | 186 | 0 | 11 |
| 9 | A. J. Cronin | 173 | 0 | 13 |
| 10 | Francoise Sagan | 166 | 0 | 11 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 1956 | Andersonville | MacKinlay Kantor | 12 |
| Mar 25, 1956 | The Last Hurrah | Edwin O'Connor | 20 |
| Aug 12, 1956 | Don't Go Near the Water | William Brinkley | 15 |
| Nov 25, 1956 | Peyton Place | Grace Metalious | 6 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peyton Place | Grace Metalious | #1 | 76 | 806.8 |
| 2 | The Last Hurrah | Edwin O'Connor | #1 | 53 | 581.1 |
| 3 | Compulsion | Meyer Levin | #2 | 54 | 466.1 |
| 4 | Don't Go Near the Water | William Brinkley | #1 | 39 | 429.4 |
| 5 | The Mandarins | Simone de Beauvoir | #3 | 24 | 211.6 |
| 6 | Imperial Woman | Pearl S. Buck | #2 | 24 | 186.0 |
| 7 | A Thing of Beauty | A. J. Cronin | #2 | 21 | 173.0 |
| 8 | A Certain Smile | Francoise Sagan | #2 | 19 | 165.7 |
| 9 | The Tribe That Lost Its Head | Nicholas Monsarrat | #3 | 20 | 156.0 |
| 10 | The Fountain Overflows | Rebecca West | #2 | 20 | 155.7 |
Author of the Year and the rankings are the ChartReign Power model: the author with the most chart power over the year, not the most #1s. Crowns are weeks crowned Author of the Week. How it works