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Eras · The 1970s

1971 in books

Who ruled 1971? Leon Uris was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1971, the biggest books and the top authors.

NYT Hardcover Fiction

Author of the Year 1971

Leon Uris

9 crowns · 30 weeks among the top five authors · Era Power 406

Top authors of 1971
#AuthorEra PowerCrownsTop-five weeks
1Leon Uris406930
2Irving Stone3511323
3William Peter Blatty3471227
4Joseph Wambaugh261018
5Thomas Tryon225015
6Frederick Forsyth218716
7Erich Segal199713
8Sylvia Plath16507
9Victoria Holt164012
10Agatha Christie16209
Every #1 bestseller of 19716 books reached #1 on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list
First week at #1TitleAuthorWeeks at #1
Jan 3, 1971Love StoryErich Segal7
Feb 21, 1971QB VIILeon Uris9
Apr 25, 1971The Passions of the MindIrving Stone13
Jul 25, 1971The ExorcistWilliam Peter Blatty12
Oct 17, 1971The Day of the JackalFrederick Forsyth7
Nov 7, 1971WheelsArthur Hailey4
Biggest books of 1971Titles that entered the list in 1971, by Book Power
#TitleAuthorPeakWeeksBook Power
1The Winds of WarHerman Wouk#165727.8
2The ExorcistWilliam Peter Blatty#155582.1
3The Day of the JackalFrederick Forsyth#136409.4
4WheelsArthur Hailey#133391.9
5The Passions of the MindIrving Stone#131351.4
6The New CenturionsJoseph Wambaugh#232260.7
7The OtherThomas Tryon#224224.9
8Message from MalagaHelen MacInnes#428218.7
9The Bell JarSylvia Plath#424164.8
10The DriftersJames A. Michener#422157.1

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