suicides, and the unemployed selling apples on the streets of New York,
with people turning to the inexpensive diversion of miniature golf to
take their minds off money troubles. France started to build the
Maginot Line that was designed to protect her forever from military
aggression. Edna Ferber led fiction sales for the second time in six
years. Her _Cimarron_ was a story of pioneer Oklahoma. The fame of his
first novel carried Thornton Wilder’s story of ancient Greece high on
the list, though interest in it quickly flagged. _Years of Grace_ was
the first novel by a new writer from Chicago; it won the Pulitzer Prize
and made its author one of the established favorites in the fiction
scene. _The Good Companions_, published in 1929, had made a great
audience for the English novelist, playwright, and essayist, J. B.
Priestley, an audience that eagerly bought his new book, _Angel
Pavement_. Mrs. Rinehart scored with another mystery novel twenty-one
years after her _Man in Lower Ten_ had become one of the first American
best sellers in the detective fiction field. Hers was the first best
seller on these lists to be published by the new firm of Farrar &
Rinehart--established by John Farrar, formerly editor of _The Bookman_,
and two of Mrs. Rinehart’s sons. The first book of the _Herries
Chronicle_ by Hugh Walpole was an immediate favorite and founded a
fictional dynasty that rivaled Galsworthy’s Forsytes in popularity. A
young American writer scored a big success with _Young Man of Manhattan_
(also a Farrar & Rinehart publication), combining realism and romance in
a story of the uproarious 1920’s. In non-fiction, leader of the year was
Dr. Axel Munthe’s _Story of San Michele_, one of those freak best
sellers that start out in a modest way, catch on through recommendation
by one reader to another until sales begin to pile up and advertising
takes over. This, the first of the best-selling “doctor” books, has sold
181,000 copies. The vogue for autobiographies by notables or unusual
figures in the professions began, but neither lawyers nor preachers have
proved as magnetic in the literary field as doctors. The sensational
_Strange Death of President Harding_ (300,000 sold) had been preceded in
1927 by another book of the same caliber, _The President’s Daughter_,
revealing unsavory Washington scandal in an era of corruption. _Byron_
was Maurois’ third consecutive success, and Ludwig again offered a
biography to an assured public. James Truslow Adams and the Beards made
their first appearances as best-selling historians. Will James rose to
popularity with his cowboy reminiscences and drawings. The Durant and
Wells books both returned to the lists in new dollar editions.
1931
Fiction
1. THE GOOD EARTH, by Pearl S. Buck. John Day
2. SHADOWS ON THE ROCK, by Willa Cather. Knopf
3. A WHITE BIRD FLYING, by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Appleton
4. GRAND HOTEL, by Vicki Baum. Doubleday, Doran
5. YEARS OF GRACE, by Margaret Ryer Barnes. Houghton Mifflin
6. THE ROAD BACK, by Erich Maria Remarque. Little, Brown
7. THE BRIDGE OF DESIRE, by Warwick Deeping. McBride
8. BACK STREET, by Fannie Hurst. Cosmopolitan Book Co.
9. FINCH’S FORTUNE, by Mazo de la Roche. Little, Brown
10. MAID IN WAITING, by John Galsworthy. Scribner
Non-Fiction
1. EDUCATION OF A PRINCESS, by Grand Duchess Marie. Viking Press
2. THE STORY OF SAN MICHELE, by Axel Munthe. Dutton
3. WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND, Anonymous (Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen). Liveright
4. BONERS. Viking Press
5. CULBERTSON’S SUMMARY, by Ely Culbertson. Bridge World
6. CONTRACT BRIDGE BLUE BOOK, by Ely Culbertson. Bridge World
7. FATAL INTERVIEW, by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Harper
8. THE EPIC OF AMERICA, by James Truslow Adams. Little, Brown
9. MEXICO, by Stuart Chase. Macmillan
10. NEW RUSSIA’S PRIMER, by M. Ilin. Houghton Mifflin
* * * * *
Contract bridge hit the nation with full force in this year of continued
depression. Katharine Cornell was appearing on Broadway in _The Barretts
of Wimpole Street_ (one of the most popular plays presented for American
soldiers overseas in World War II) and “De Lawd” made his appearance in
_The Green Pastures_. _Of Thee I Sing_, with George Gershwin’s music,
was the first musical play ever to win the Pulitzer Prize. _The Good
Earth_, by Pearl S. Buck, topped all novels of the year, making a
permanent place in our literature for itself and her other novels of
China. Mrs. Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. Her
book marked the first appearance on these lists of a publication of the
John Day Company. There were five novelists new among best sellers in
1931, all of them women, all American but one. Willa Cather’s books had
been highly esteemed and widely read for years, but not until
publication of _Shadows on the Rock_ did one of them become a leading
best seller. Bess Streeter Aldrich’s preceding book, _A Lantern in Her
Hand_, had won many readers by word-of-mouth publicity, gaining an
audience for her next, _A White Bird Flying_. _Grand Hotel_, by the only
one of the five not an American, is the most famous of them all. Fannie
Hurst, fifth new name on the list, already had a great following among
magazine and book readers, but it was _Back Street_ that put her among
the top-ranking best sellers. A new woman writer topped non-fiction,
too, a member of the Russian royal family, the sale of whose
autobiography reflected the widespread interest in Russia. Through all
these years many memoirs of imperial and revolutionary times in that
country were published; interest was awakened also in the Soviet
experiment, with other writers like M. Ilin, whose _New Russia’s Primer_
was tenth on the list, exploring postwar Russia. _Washington
Merry-Go-Round_ was a natural successor to _Mirrors of Washington_ of
nearly a decade before, but it packed more dynamite. Published
anonymously, it proved to have been written by columnists Drew Pearson
and Robert Allen. _Boners_ was another fad book in the _Cross Word
Puzzle_, _Ask Me Another_ and _Believe It or Not_ line. With several
succeeding volumes it sold into the hundreds of thousands. As the new
contract bridge replaced auction, there was demand for new guides to the
game; Ely Culbertson was the one who cashed in on the opportunity in a
big way, taking the place held by Milton Work five years before, later
to be succeeded himself by Charles Goren with his “point count” system.
Edna St. Vincent Millay reached the list for the first time with _Fatal
Interview_, and thus became the first new best-selling writer of serious
poetry besides Stephen Vincent Benét since World War I days.
1932
Fiction
1. THE GOOD EARTH, by Pearl S. Buck. John Day
2. THE FOUNTAIN, by Charles Morgan. Knopf
3. SONS, by Pearl S. Buck. John Day
4. MAGNOLIA STREET, by Louis Golding. Farrar & Rinehart
5. THE SHELTERED LIFE, by Ellen Glasgow. Doubleday, Doran
6. OLD WINE AND NEW, by Warwick Deeping. Knopf
7. MARY’S NECK, by Booth Tarkington. Doubleday, Doran
8. MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Willett, Clark
9. INHERITANCE, by Phyllis Bentley. Macmillan
10. THREE LOVES, by A. J. Cronin. Little, Brown
Non-Fiction
1. THE EPIC OF AMERICA, by James Truslow Adams. Little, Brown
2. ONLY YESTERDAY, by Frederick Lewis Allen. Harper
3. A FORTUNE TO SHARE, by Vash Young. Bobbs-Merrill
4. CULBERTSON’S SUMMARY, by Ely Culbertson. Bridge World
5. VAN LOON’S GEOGRAPHY, by Hendrik Willem Van Loon. Simon & Schuster
6. WHAT WE LIVE BY, by Ernest Dimnet. Simon & Schuster
7. THE MARCH OF DEMOCRACY, by James Truslow Adams. Scribner
8. WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND, Anonymous (Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen). Liveright; Blue Ribbon Books
9. THE STORY OF MY LIFE, by Clarence Darrow. Scribner
10. MORE MERRY-GO-ROUND, Anonymous (Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen). Liveright
* * * * *
In the worst year of the depression came the bonus march on Washington
and the ensuing battle of Anacostia Flats. James J. Walker resigned
under a cloud as Mayor of New York City. Radio was in full swing, with
Rudy Vallee its topnotch artist. Father Coughlin’s radio talks were
gaining listeners. Technocracy was the newest theory on how to cure the
depression. Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh’s small son was kidnaped from his
crib in Hopewell, N. J. Over in China, Japan seized Shanghai in her
undeclared war on that country. _The Good Earth_ headed fiction for a
second year, with Pearl Buck’s second novel, continuing the story of the
same Chinese family, taking third place. _The Fountain_, in second
place, received unusual critical attention. From England too came
_Magnolia Street_, _Inheritance_, with which Macmillan vigorously
reentered the field of best-selling fiction, and _Three Loves_, A. J.
Cronin’s first best seller. Ellen Glasgow and Booth Tarkington both
continued their many years’ popularity. Lloyd Douglas came rather
quietly into the list in eighth place. He was a retired minister, over
fifty, when his first novel was published. It was a book that caught on
throughout the country, chiefly in the Midwest, by word-of-mouth
personal recommendation, the first of many novels that were to put him
in the highest ranks of best-selling novelists. James Truslow Adams, who
had been developing a reputation as an American historian, found a
popular audience with two books, one of which, first in non-fiction in
1932, had also appeared on the previous year’s list. Frederick Lewis
Allen of _Harper’s Magazine_, as Mark Sullivan had done, found a waiting
audience of people who enjoyed reading about things they remembered,
events of the not-too-far-distant past. Vash Young, businessman like
Bruce Barton before him, combined inspirational writing with practical
advice in a little volume timed for that period of financial depression
when salesmen particularly needed a lift. Hendrik Van Loon, going under
Simon & Schuster’s sponsorship, added another volume to his illustrated
surveys of human knowledge. Ernest Dimnet followed his _Art of Thinking_
with a new book, as did Pearson and Allen with _More Merry-Go-Round_.
Their first book was still selling merrily, switching during the course
of the year into a reprint edition. The trade policy regarding reprints
was changing and non-fiction titles were now released much more quickly
in popular-priced editions. Clarence Darrow, who seven years before had
shared the spotlight in the Scopes trial, wrote a best-selling
autobiography.
1933
Fiction
1. ANTHONY ADVERSE, by Hervey Allen. Farrar & Rinehart
2. AS THE EARTH TURNS, by Gladys Hasty Carroll. Macmillan
3. ANN VICKERS, by Sinclair Lewis. Doubleday, Doran
4. MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Willett, Clark
5. ONE MORE RIVER, by John Galsworthy. Scribner
6. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton Mifflin
7. THE MASTER OF JALNA, by Mazo de la Roche. Little, Brown
8. MISS BISHOP, by Bess Streeter Aldrich. Appleton-Century
9. THE FARM, by Louis Bromfield. Harper
10. LITTLE MAN, WHAT NOW? by Hans Fallada. Simon & Schuster
Non-Fiction
1. LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY, by Walter B. Pitkin. Whittlesey House
2. MARIE ANTOINETTE, by Stefan Zweig. Viking Press
3. BRITISH AGENT, by R. H. Bruce Lockhart. Putnam
4. 100,000,000 GUINEA PIGS, by Arthur Kallet and F. J. Schlink. Vanguard Press
5. THE HOUSE OF EXILE, by Nora Waln. Little, Brown
6. VAN LOON’S GEOGRAPHY, by Hendrik Willem Van Loon. Simon & Schuster
7. LOOKING FORWARD, by Franklin D. Roosevelt, John Day
8. CONTRACT BRIDGE BLUE BOOK OF 1933, by Ely Culbertson. Bridge World
9. THE ARCHES OF THE YEARS, by Halliday Sutherland. Morrow
10. THE MARCH OF DEMOCRACY, Vol. II, by James Truslow Adams. Scribner
* * * * *
“Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” was the theme song of 1933 as
Franklin D. Roosevelt, taking office as chief executive of the nation,
quickly declared a bank holiday. The NRA and the AAA were created. The
World’s Fair opened in Chicago. _Tobacco Road_, which by 1939 was to
break the record for successive Broadway performances, was produced. The
United States abandoned the gold standard, liquor made a legitimate
reappearance with the repeal of the 18th Amendment, the speakeasy era
passed out of existence, and the public took up jigsaw puzzles in a big
way. In Berlin the Reichstag was burned. _Anthony Adverse_, selling
300,000 copies in its first six months, captured readers of many levels
of taste and turned public interest definitely toward the historical
novel for the first time since the early decades of the century.
_Anthony Adverse_, too, began a trend toward the novel of unusual
length, a feature which hit the fancy of the public again in _Gone with
the Wind_. Continuing its big-time fiction drive begun with Phyllis
Bentley’s _Inheritance_ in 1932, Macmillan found in Gladys Hasty Carroll
a new writer from Maine. Lewis, Aldrich, and Bromfield repeated
best-seller performances, as did Galsworthy with his third book in the
new saga and Mrs. Aldrich with a predecessor of _Mr. Chips_ and _Miss
Dove_. Lloyd Douglas’ _Magnificent Obsession_ climbed steadily. In tenth
place appeared a new writer from Germany, Hans Fallada, author of the
first fiction success for the firm that had up till now been outstanding
in non-fiction. A new self-help book hit the non-fiction top for a long
run, selling 88,897 copies in 1933, of a total 164,000 sale. Biography,
with characters from France, Russia, China, and a doctor’s story, _The
Arches of the Years_, took four of the places on the list. Kallet and
Schlink issued their interpretation of the claims of modern advertising
in _100,000,000 Guinea Pigs_, a volume that led the way for many other
books of the “exposure” type and drew increased attention to consumer
movements. Culbertson continued to sell year after year. As Woodrow
Wilson had done twenty years before, Franklin Roosevelt began his
administration with a best-selling book on his policies. For the first
time the firms of Whittlesey House, Morrow, and the Vanguard Press made
their appearance on these lists. 1933 also saw a best seller from
Appleton-Century, a combination of two publishing houses which had been
individually responsible for many best-selling titles since the
beginning of these records.
1934
Fiction
1. ANTHONY ADVERSE, by Hervey Allen. Farrar & Rinehart
2. LAMB IN HIS BOSOM, by Caroline Miller. Harper
3. SO RED THE ROSE, by Stark Young. Scribner
4. GOOD-BYE, MR. CHIPS, by James Hilton. Little, Brown
5. WITHIN THIS PRESENT, by Margaret Ayer Barnes. Houghton Mifflin
6. WORK OF ART, by Sinclair Lewis. Doubleday, Doran
7. PRIVATE WORLDS, by Phyllis Bottome. Houghton Mifflin
8. MARY PETERS, by Mary Ellen Chase. Macmillan
9. OIL FOR THE LAMPS OF CHINA, by Alice Tisdale Hobart. Bobbs-Merrill
10. SEVEN GOTHIC TALES, by Isak Dinesen. Smith & Haas
Non-Fiction
1. WHILE ROME BURNS, by Alexander Woollcott. Viking Press
2. LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY, by Walter B. Pitkin. Whittlesey House
3. NIJINSKY, by Romola Nijinsky. Simon & Schuster
4. 100,000,000 GUINEA PIGS, by Arthur Kallet and F. J. Schlink. Vanguard Press
5. THE NATIVE’S RETURN, by Louis Adamic. Harper
6. STARS FELL ON ALABAMA, by Carl Carmer. Farrar & Rinehart
7. BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE, by Peter Fleming. Scribner
8. FORTY-TWO YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE, by Ike Hoover. Houghton Mifflin
9. YOU MUST RELAX, by Edmund Jacobson. Whittlesey House
10. THE LIFE OF OUR LORD, by Charles Dickens. Simon & Schuster
* * * * *
The Townsend plan and Upton Sinclair’s EPIC party followed on the heels
of Technocracy as economic cure-alls. Dillinger, greatest American
bandit of the era, was killed, and the Dionne quintuplets were born.
Parisians rioted over evidence of government corruption, and F.D.R.
signed the Philippine Independence Act. Dust storms devastated Kansas
and Oklahoma. _Anthony Adverse_ sold 176,100 more copies in 1934,
bringing it to the top of the fiction list again, but this was only the
beginning! The South contributed two new novelists, Caroline Miller with
the Pulitzer Prize novel, _Lamb in His Bosom_, and Stark Young with _So
Red the Rose_, both books laid in the old South. Another two-year period
of best-sellerdom began with James Hilton’s first success, _Good-Bye,
Mr. Chips_, the first book, too, to achieve country-wide fame through
radio commendation--the book about which Alexander Woollcott went
“quietly mad.” There were seven new names on the list in all. The
English writer, Phyllis Bottome, scored a hit with her story of
insanity, marking a trend toward novels studying abnormal psychological
situations. Mary Ellen Chase, who had taught English to two decades of
Smith College girls, proved that she herself could write vigorously.
_Mary Peters_ was another Maine story and subject of another big
Macmillan promotion campaign. Alice Tisdale Hobart wrote a telling story
of China; and _Seven Gothic Tales_ introduced an author from Denmark
whose unique tales created a devoted audience for her work in this
country. Alexander Woollcott had become radio’s favorite voice and
expert story-teller as well as book promoter. People bought his own
book, _While Rome Burns_, as well as those he recommended. In 1934
_While Rome Burns_ sold 83,545 copies. Eventually it reached a sale of
over 500,000. _Life Begins at Forty_ was second in 1934, and another
self-help book, _You Must Relax_, was in ninth place. Louis Adamic’s
extremely interesting account of his native Yugoslavia found many
readers, as did Carl Carmer’s picturesque interpretation of the State of
Alabama, a book that inspired a popular song and laid the foundations
for the author’s reputation in the field of American folklore. A
century-old book by the prince of best sellers, Charles Dickens, was
rescued for a time from obscurity.
1935
Fiction
1. GREEN LIGHT, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton Mifflin
2. VEIN OF IRON, by Ellen Glasgow. Harcourt, Brace
3. OF TIME AND THE RIVER, by Thomas Wolfe. Scribner
4. TIME OUT OF MIND, by Rachel Field. Macmillan
5. GOOD-BYE, MR. CHIPS, by James Hilton. Little, Brown
6. THE FORTY DAYS OF MUSA DAGH, by Franz Werfel. Viking Press
7. HEAVEN’S MY DESTINATION, by Thornton Wilder. Harper
8. LOST HORIZON, by James Hilton. Morrow
9. COME AND GET IT, by Edna Ferber. Doubleday, Doran
10. EUROPA, by Robert Briffault. Scribner
Non-Fiction
1. NORTH TO THE ORIENT, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Harcourt, Brace
2. WHILE ROME BURNS, by Alexander Woollcott. Viking Press
3. LIFE WITH FATHER, by Clarence Day. Knopf
4. PERSONAL HISTORY, by Vincent Sheean. Doubleday, Doran
5. SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM, by T. E. Lawrence. Doubleday, Doran
6. FRANCIS THE FIRST, by Francis Hackett. Doubleday, Doran
7. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES, by Stefan Zweig. Viking Press
8. RATS, LICE AND HISTORY, by Hans Zinsser. Little, Brown
9. R. E. LEE, by Douglas Southall Freeman. Scribner
10. SKIN DEEP, by M. C. Phillips. Vanguard Press
* * * * *
The Nazis, in full power in Germany, began their anti-Jewish campaign.
Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. In the United States the social security
laws were passed and the WPA was inaugurated. Will Rogers was killed in
an airplane crash. Boondoggling, Huey Long, and cafe society were
conversational topics. Swing music hit the country, with Benny Goodman
its leading exponent. _Porgy and Bess_, originating in DuBose Heyward’s
novel, _Porgy_, was the first musical produced by the Theatre Guild.
With his third book, which sold 103,286 copies in 1935, Lloyd Douglas
became the most popular novelist in the country. Ellen Glasgow, who had
been a best seller for nearly four decades, achieved a high place with
her latest novel. Six years previously, Thomas Wolfe’s _Look Homeward,
Angel_ had brought him into literary prominence. His second novel, _Of
Time and the River_, found a popular audience. Rachel Field, widely
known as a writer of books for children and as their illustrator as
well, made a national reputation with an adult novel. James Hilton’s
_Mr. Chips_ went into its second year. One of his earlier novels, now
reissued and also praised by Mr. Woollcott, was close behind it on the
list. Both books were to repeat their fame as movies. By now book club
printings had reached about 75,000 copies. Although no yearly records
were kept of juvenile best sellers, it is interesting to note that a
famous juvenile, _The Little Colonel_, brought out in reprint edition,
sold 100,000 copies in 1935. The name of Lindbergh reappeared on the
non-fiction list after eight years. This time it was Anne Morrow
Lindbergh who wrote of air adventure. It was her literary skill as well
as her name, with all its associations from the first Paris flight
through the tragic events of kidnaping and trial, that made her book
non-fiction top seller of the year, reaching 185,000 copies. _While Rome
Burns_, first in 1934, was second in 1935. _Life with Father_, as a
book, laid the groundwork for the famous play’s record run on Broadway.
Vincent Sheean’s _Personal History_ forecast the important part that
newspapermen were to play in the field of books during the coming war
years. The foundations for the success of _Seven Pillars of Wisdom_ had
been laid eight years previously by Lawrence’s _Revolt in the Desert_.
The legend of the man had grown and this, with a notable publicity
campaign, accounted for the fact that an expensive book, one that was
not “written down” for the sake of appeal to a wide public, was a best
seller of the year. _Revolt in the Desert_ had been in fact a
popularization of part of the original _Seven Pillars of Wisdom_.
Notable biographies by Hackett, Zweig, and Freeman had many readers.
Hans Zinsser popularized some interesting aspects of medical lore; and
_Skin Deep_ became still another best-selling “consumer” book, following
_100,000,000 Guinea Pigs_.
1936
Fiction
1. GONE WITH THE WIND, by Margaret Mitchell. Macmillan
2. THE LAST PURITAN, by George Santayana. Scribner
3. SPARKENBROKE, by Charles Morgan. Macmillan
4. DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, by Walter D. Edmonds. Little, Brown
5. IT CAN’T HAPPEN HERE, by Sinclair Lewis. Doubleday, Doran
6. WHITE BANNERS, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton Mifflin
7. THE HURRICANE, by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Little, Brown
8. THE THINKING REED, by Rebecca West. Viking Press.
9. THE DOCTOR, by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Farrar & Rinehart
10. EYELESS IN GAZA, by Aldous Huxley. Harper
Non-Fiction
1. MAN THE UNKNOWN, by Alexis Carrel. Harper
2. WAKE UP AND LIVE! by Dorothea Brande. Simon & Schuster
3. THE WAY OF A TRANSGRESSOR, by Negley Farson. Harcourt, Brace
4. AROUND THE WORLD IN ELEVEN YEARS, by Patience, Richard, and Johnny Abbe. Stokes
5. NORTH TO THE ORIENT, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Harcourt, Brace
6. AN AMERICAN DOCTOR’S ODYSSEY, by Victor Heiser. Norton
7. INSIDE EUROPE, by John Gunther. Harper
8. LIVE ALONE AND LIKE IT, by Marjorie Hillis. Bobbs-Merrill
9. LIFE WITH FATHER, by Clarence Day. Knopf
10. I WRITE AS I PLEASE, by Walter Duranty. Simon & Schuster
* * * * *
The Rome-Berlin Axis was announced and Germany entered the Rhineland.
Edward VIII of England renounced his throne to marry the woman he loved.
Revolution against the established government in Spain broke out in
bloody civil war. American inventiveness turned to air conditioning and
streamlining. Destructive floods rolled through the East and Midwest.
Published in June, _Gone with the Wind_ was to dominate all fiction
sales for two years, creating publishing history with sales never before
reached by fiction in so short a time. One million copies were sold in
its first six months, and the book and its author, whose first novel it
was and who never wrote another, established themselves firmly in
American literary legend. George Santayana, Spanish by birth and long a
professor of philosophy at Harvard, wrote a best-selling novel, _The
Last Puritan_, first of a number of novels by various authors on
patrician and intellectual Boston. Walter Edmonds was a new name in
historical fiction, adding to the period’s growing trend toward long
historical novels which was started by _Anthony Adverse_ and pointed up
again by _Gone with the Wind_. Nordhoff and Hall were a writing team
from the South Seas who had first written after World War I of their
experiences in France and who had previously made a big hit with _Mutiny
on the Bounty_, a sea chronicle based on old records. Rebecca West and
Aldous Huxley, notable English writers, appeared for the first time on
an American annual best seller list. The non-fiction list was typical of
the variety of authorship and subject matter which often comes to the
fore in public approval. A surgeon writing for the layman headed the
list, followed by a self-improvement book and a newspaperman’s story.
Fourth came the travel experiences of three smart youngsters,
delightedly read by adults. Travel of all kinds predominated the list in
this year when the rumblings of coming war were growing louder. Mrs.
Lindbergh’s book was still a best seller, followed by the narrative of
the experiences in out-of-the-way countries of a doctor with a notable
career throughout the world in medical research, which also marked the
first appearance of the W. W. Norton imprint on these lists. _Inside
Europe_ was the first book in an excellent series on political
interpretation the world over by reporter John Gunther. _Live Alone and
Like It_, which sold 100,000 copies in 1936, was another self-help book
written in humorous and entertaining fashion. Tenth was one of the first
and one of the most notable books on Russia that foreign correspondents
were to write.
1937
Fiction
1. GONE WITH THE WIND, by Margaret Mitchell. Macmillan
2. NORTHWEST PASSAGE, by Kenneth Roberts. Doubleday, Doran
3. THE CITADEL, by A. J. Cronin. Little, Brown
4. AND SO--VICTORIA, by Vaughan Wilkins. Macmillan
5. DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, by Walter D. Edmonds. Little, Brown