The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1961

This is a list of adult fiction books that topped The New York Times Fiction Best Seller list in 1961.

The most popular titles of the year were Hawaii by James Michener, The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone and Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger with respectively 12, 27 and 10 weeks at the top. Hawaii had previously dominated the 1960 list, and Franney and Zooey continued into 1962 at the top of the list for a total run of 26 weeks.

The only other book to top the list in 1961 was The Last of the Just by André Schwarz-Bart. That book, a multi-generational saga translated from the French, spent 18 weeks slowly rising to the top, and spent 4 weeks there before being toppled by The Agony and the Ecstasy. It continued among the top 15 best sellers for another 20 weeks.[1]

Franney and Zooey was a huge No. 1 bestseller for J.D. Salinger. His best known book, Catcher in the Rye, first published ten years earlier, never reached the No. 1 spot

Date	Book	Author
January 2	Hawaii	James Michener
January 9
January 16
January 23
January 30
February 6
February 13
February 20
February 27
March 5
March 12
March 19
March 26	The Last of the Just	André Schwarz-Bart
April 2
April 9
April 16
April 23	The Agony and the Ecstasy	Irving Stone
April 30
May 7
May 14
May 21
May 28
June 4
June 11
June 18
June 25
July 2
July 9
July 16
July 23
July 30
August 6
August 13
August 20
August 27
September 3
September 10
September 17
September 24
October 1
October 8
October 15
October 22
October 29	Franny and Zooey	J.D. Salinger
November 5
November 12
November 19
November 26
December 3
December 10
December 17
December 24
December 31

References

1. 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. 79-83