TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of November 11, 1979

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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4
1
HOW TO PROSPER DURING THE COMING BAD YEARS
Howard J. Ruff
Cover of HOW TO PROSPER DURING THE COMING BAD YEARS

HOW TO PROSPER DURING THE COMING BAD YEARS

by Howard J. Ruff · Times Books

37 wks on list

The author prescribes solid, easily understood, easily managed investment plan as hedges against inflation and details and where to acquire them safely, and even how to profit from the decisions when the economy eventually statilizes.

5
1
CRUEL SHOES
Steve Martin
Cover of CRUEL SHOES

CRUEL SHOES

by Steve Martin · Putnam's

24 wks on list

A collection of short humorous pieces including "Women Without Bones," "The Day the Dopes Came Over," "How to Fold Soup," Dogs in My Nose," "Cruel Shoes," and "What to Say When the Ducks Show up."

11
THE MEDUSA AND THE SNAIL
Lewis Thomas
Cover of THE MEDUSA AND THE SNAIL

THE MEDUSA AND THE SNAIL

by Lewis Thomas · Viking Press

24 wks on list

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist The medusa is a tiny jellyfish that lives on the ventral surface of a sea slug found in the Bay of Naples. Readers will find themselves caught up in the fate of the medusa and the snail as a metaphor for eternal issues of life and death as Lewis Thomas further extends the exploration of man and his world begun in The Lives of a Cell. Among the treasures in this magnificent book are essays on the human genius for making mistakes, on disease and natural death, on cloning, on warts, and on Montaigne, as well as an assessment of medical science and health care. In these essays and others, Thomas once again conveys his observations of the scientific world in prose marked by wonder and wit.

12
1
THE POWERS THAT BE
David Halberstam
Cover of THE POWERS THAT BE

THE POWERS THAT BE

by David Halberstam · Knopf

26 wks on list

A Pulitzer Prize winner's in-depth look at four media-business giants: CBS-TV, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. In this fascinating New York Times bestseller, the author of The Best and the Brightest, The Fifties, and other acclaimed histories turns his investigative eye to the rise of the American media in the twentieth century. Focusing on the successes and failures of CBS Television, Time magazine, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, David Halberstam paints a portrait of the era when large, powerful mainstream media sources emerged as a force, showing how they shifted from simply reporting the news to becoming a part of it. By examining landmark events such as Franklin D. Roosevelt's masterful use of the radio and the unprecedented coverage of the Watergate break-in, Halberstam demonstrates how print and broadcast media as a whole became a player in society and helped shape public policy. Drawn from hundreds of exhaustive interviews with insiders at each company, and hailed by the Seattle Times as "a monumental X-ray study of power," The Powers That Be reveals the tugs-of-war between political ambition and the quest for truth in a page-turning read. This ebook features an extended biography of David Halberstam.

13
2
THE GREAT SHARK HUNT
Hunter S. Thompson
Cover of THE GREAT SHARK HUNT

THE GREAT SHARK HUNT

by Hunter S. Thompson · Summit

11 wks on list

‘Well . . .yes, and here we go again’ Dr Hunter S. Thompson Indeed we do. Here, in one chunky volume, is the best of gonzo. From Private Thompson in trouble with the air force, to the devastating portrait of the ageing Muhammad Ali. Taking in the Kentucky Derby, Freak Power in the Rockies, Nixon in ’68, McGovern in ’72, Fear and Loathing at the Watergate, Jimmy Carter and the Great Leap of Faith – and much more. An indispensable compendium of decadence, depravity and horse-sense. ‘Hunter Thompson elicits the same kind of admiration one would feel for a streaker at Queen Victoria’s funeral’ William F. Buckley ‘No other reporter reveals how much we have to fear and loathe, yet does it so hilariously. Now that the dust of the sixties has settled, his hallucinated vision strikes one as having been the sanest’ Nelson Algren

14
2
BROCA'S BRAIN
Carl Sagan
Cover of BROCA'S BRAIN

BROCA'S BRAIN

by Carl Sagan · Random House

21 wks on list

Dr. Carl Sagan Takes Us on a Great Reading Adventure, Offering his Vivid and Startling Insight Into the Brain of Man and Beast, the Origin of Human Intelligence, the Function of our Most Haunting Legends -- and Their Amazing Links to Recent Discoveries. Book jacket.

15
NEW
SERPENTINE
Thomas Thompson
Cover of SERPENTINE

SERPENTINE

by Thomas Thompson · Doubleday

1 wks on list

Tells the story of the crimes of a handsome young man and his accomplice, whose victims were tourists in Hong Kong, France, Greece, and Italy and whose methods were poisoning, burying, and burning

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