TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Fiction

Week of November 12, 1989

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
THE DARK HALF
Stephen King
Cover of THE DARK HALF

THE DARK HALF

by Stephen King · Viking Press

6 wks at #1 · 2 on list
2
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
Tom Clancy
Cover of CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

by Tom Clancy · Putnam

11 wks on list

At the end of the prologue to Clear and Present Danger, Clancy writes, "And so began something that had not quite begun and would not soon end, with many people in many places moving off in directions and on missions which they all mistakenly thought they understood. That was just as well. The future was too fearful for contemplation, and beyond the expected, illusory finish lines were things fated by the decisions made this morning--and, once decided, best unseen." In Clear and Present Danger nothing is as clear as it may seem.The president, unsatisfied with the success of his "war on drugs," decides that he wants some immediate success. But after John Clark's covert strike team is deployed to Colombia for Operation Showboat, the drug lords strike back taking several civilian casualties. The chief executive's polls plummet. He orders Ritter to terminate their unofficial plan and leave no traces. Jack Ryan, who has just been named CIA deputy director of intelligence is enraged when he discovers that has been left out of the loop of Colombian operations. Several of America's most highly trained soldiers are stranded in an unfinished mission that, according to all records, never existed. Ryan decides to get the men out.

5
JIMMY STEWART AND HIS POEMS
Jimmy Stewart
Cover of JIMMY STEWART AND HIS POEMS

JIMMY STEWART AND HIS POEMS

by Jimmy Stewart · Crown

8 wks on list

"I'm sure I never said to myself: 'Now, Jim--why don't you sit down and write a poem.' It's still a mystery to me, but I think probably it's something that happened by accident--like a lot of things have happened in my life." So begins this delightful collection of poetry by America's best-loved actor, Jimmy Stewart. Interspersed with vivid recollections and charming illustrations, the poems document a life that isn't too different from yours or mine. Jimmy Stewart won the hearts of generations of movie viewers with a confused innocence and stammering delivery that made his acting seem genuine and effortless. Somehow he managed to make the boy next door into a national hero. Now, in Jimmy Stewart and His Poems, the consummate Everyman shares tales from his everyday life. From fishing trips and dog stories to a hilarious account of a photo safari where the camera was lost to a hungry hyena, the poems are related in Jimmy Stewart's inimitable voice and are enlivened with charming illustrations. The book confirms what we all expected--that the real Jimmy Stewart is every bit as endearing as the film characters he's portrayed. Jimmy Stewart and His Poems is a perfect gift, one that fans will treasure as much as Jimmy Stewart's timeless performances.

6
5
SOME CAN WHISTLE
Larry McMurtry
Cover of SOME CAN WHISTLE

SOME CAN WHISTLE

by Larry McMurtry · Simon & Schuster

3 wks on list

Not since Terms of Endearment has the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove and Anything for Billy touched the heart so deeply as he does in this story of a father learning to love a daughter he's never met.

7
3
THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH
Ken Follett
Cover of THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH

by Ken Follett · Morrow

9 wks on list

Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known. Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes "The Pillars of the Earth" extraordinary is the time--the twelfth century; the place--feudal England; and the subject--the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters--into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life. The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king. At once a sensuous and endearing love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age, "The Pillars of the Earth" is without a doubt Ken Follett's masterpiece.

8
1
CALIFORNIA GOLD
John Jakes
Cover of CALIFORNIA GOLD

CALIFORNIA GOLD

by John Jakes · Random House

9 wks on list

Explores the lure and legends of California from 1886 to 1921 when the area was transformed from a frontier into a modern state.

10
THE MINOTAUR
Stephen Coonts
Cover of THE MINOTAUR
13
THE JOY LUCK CLUB
Amy Tan
Cover of THE JOY LUCK CLUB

THE JOY LUCK CLUB

by Amy Tan · Putnam

32 wks on list
14
2
THE LOST YEARS
J. M. Dillard
Cover of THE LOST YEARS

THE LOST YEARS

by J. M. Dillard · Pocket

6 wks on list

After the end of the EnterpriseTM's five-year mission, Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy struggle to establish new lives apart from each other and the starship. The newly-promoted Admiral Kirk is placed in charge of a specially-created Starfleet division and attempts to defuse a critical hostage situation; Mr. Spock, who, in the midst of a teaching assignment on Vulcan, finds the one thing he least expected; and Dr. McCoy, whose unerring instinct for trouble lands him smack in the middle of an incident that could trigger an interstellar bloodbath.

15
NEW
SURE OF YOU
Armistead Maupin
Cover of SURE OF YOU

SURE OF YOU

by Armistead Maupin · Harper & Row

"A quietly understated masterpiece." —USA Today The sixth novel in the beloved Tales of the City series, Armistead Maupin’s bestselling San Francisco saga. A fiercely ambitious TV talk show host finds she must choose between national stardom in New York and a husband and child in San Francisco. Caught in the middle is their longtime friend, a gay man whose own future is even more uncertain. Wistful and compassionate yet subversively funny, Sure of You is a pitch-perfect novel in Maupin’s legendary series.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.