List of The New York Times number-one books of 1948

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This is a list of books that topped The New York Times best-seller list in 1948.

Contents

Fiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling fiction books.

The American publisher Bennett Cerf noted that there had been "only three novels published [in 1948] that were worth reading ... Cry, The Beloved Country , The Ides of March , and The Naked and the Dead ." [1] Only Cry did not top the list that year. A total of ten other novels did, however, with most titles spending only a few weeks at the top. The strongest performing title was The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer's first best seller, published when he was just 25 years old, which spent 19 weeks at Number 1 and more than 6 months in the top 10. It was the first "big" novel about World War II, based on his own experiences. The Ides of March was by Thornton Wilder and it spent 2 weeks at Number 1 but only 13 weeks in the top 15. The year ended with The Big Fisherman heading the list, Lloyd C. Douglas's follow-up to his huge 1942 best seller, The Robe. [2]

DateBookAuthor
January 3House Divided Ben Ames Williams
January 10
January 17
January 24
January 31
February 7East Side, West Side Marcia Davenport
February 14
February 21House DividedBen Ames Williams
February 28
March 7Eagle in the Sky Van Wyck Mason
March 14
March 21
March 28
April 4 The Ides of March Thornton Wilder
April 11Eagle in the SkyVan Wyck Mason
April 18The Ides of MarchThornton Wilder
April 25 Raintree County Ross Lockridge Jr.
May 2
May 9unknown; not clear from source
May 16Raintree CountyRoss Lockridge
May 23Pilgrim's Inn Elizabeth Goudge
May 30Raintree CountyRoss Lockridge
June 6Pilgrim's InnElizabeth Goudge
June 13
June 20 The Naked and the Dead Norman Mailer
June 27
July 4
July 11
July 18
July 25
August 1
August 8
August 15
August 22
August 29
September 5 Shannon's Way A. J. Cronin
September 12
September 19The Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer
September 26Shannon's WayA. J. Cronin
October 3The Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer
October 10
October 17
October 24
October 31
November 7 The Young Lions Irwin Shaw
November 14The Naked and the DeadNorman Mailer
November 21
November 28The Young LionsIrwin Shaw
December 5
December 12
December 19 The Big Fisherman Lloyd C. Douglas
December 26

Nonfiction

The following list ranks the number-one best-selling nonfiction books.

See also

Related Research Articles

The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. Since October 12, 1931, The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly. In the 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic.

References

  1. (No author.) "Reader's digest: Gossip, news: J. F. Albright reports on A.B.A. meeting," The Dallas Morning News, 30 May 1948, page 6.
  2. John Bear, The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers since the first list, 50 years ago, Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1992, pp. 31-39