1979 in books
Who ruled 1979? Robert Ludlum was Author of the Year on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list. Every #1 bestseller of 1979, the biggest books and the top authors.
NYT Hardcover Fiction
| # | Author | Era Power | Crowns | Top-five weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Ludlum | 402 | 14 | 26 |
| 2 | Herman Wouk | 390 | 3 | 25 |
| 3 | James A. Michener | 322 | 8 | 18 |
| 4 | William Styron | 292 | 6 | 22 |
| 5 | Howard Fast | 233 | 6 | 14 |
| 6 | Mary Stewart | 216 | 4 | 15 |
| 7 | General Sir John Hackett | 209 | 0 | 15 |
| 8 | Joseph Heller | 207 | 2 | 13 |
| 9 | Kurt Vonnegut | 185 | 3 | 14 |
| 10 | Arthur Hailey | 177 | 2 | 12 |
| First week at #1 | Title | Author | Weeks at #1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 1979 | Chesapeake | James A. Michener | 8 |
| Feb 18, 1979 | War and Remembrance | Herman Wouk | 3 |
| Feb 25, 1979 | Overload | Arthur Hailey | 2 |
| Apr 8, 1979 | The Matarese Circle | Robert Ludlum | 14 |
| Apr 15, 1979 | Good as Gold | Joseph Heller | 2 |
| Jul 22, 1979 | Sophie's Choice | William Styron | 6 |
| Sep 9, 1979 | The Last Enchantment | Mary Stewart | 4 |
| Oct 7, 1979 | Jailbird | Kurt Vonnegut | 3 |
| Oct 14, 1979 | The Dead Zone | Stephen King | 2 |
| Oct 28, 1979 | The Establishment | Howard Fast | 6 |
| Dec 9, 1979 | Triple | Ken Follett | 2 |
| # | Title | Author | Peak | Weeks | Book Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Matarese Circle | Robert Ludlum | #1 | 40 | 401.9 |
| 2 | Sophie's Choice | William Styron | #1 | 47 | 383.1 |
| 3 | Jailbird | Kurt Vonnegut | #1 | 31 | 303.6 |
| 4 | Triple | Ken Follett | #1 | 34 | 290.6 |
| 5 | The Last Enchantment | Mary Stewart | #1 | 30 | 258.5 |
| 6 | The Stand | Stephen King | #1 | 38 | 252.3 |
| 7 | Smiley's People | John le Carré | #1 | 28 | 239.2 |
| 8 | THE THIRD WORLD WAR: August 1985 | General Sir John Hackett | #3 | 40 | 235.5 |
| 9 | The Establishment | Howard Fast | #1 | 26 | 215.3 |
| 10 | The Dead Zone | Stephen King | #1 | 32 | 212.9 |
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