• Here are the Biggest Nonfiction Bestsellers of the Last 100 Years

    (And the Books We Remember Instead)

    1980

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Douglas R. Casey, Crisis Investing: Opportunities and Profits in the Coming Great Depression
    2. Carl Sagan, Cosmos
    3. Milton and Rose Friedman, Free to Choose: A Personal Statement
    4. Norman Cousins, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient
    5. Gay Talese, Thy Neighbor’s Wife
    6. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, The Sky’s the Limit
    7. Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave
    8. Craig Claiborne with Pierre Franey, Craig Claiborne’s Gourmet Diet
    9. Robert Allen, Nothing Down
    10. Shelley Winters, Shelley: Also Known as Shirley

    Also published that year:

    Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States

    1981

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Judy Mazel, The Beverly Hills Diet
    2. James Herriot, The Lord God Made Them All
    3. Richard Simmons, Richard Simmons’ Never-Say-Diet Book
    4. Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic
    5. Carl Sagan, Cosmos
    6. Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
    7. Miss Piggy as told to Henry Beard, Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life
    8. Weight Watchers 365-Day Menu Cookbook
    9. Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything
    10. Andrew A. Rooney, A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney

    Also published that year:

    Angela Davis, Women, Race, and Class
    George W. S. Trow, Within the Context of No Context

    1982

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Jane Fonda, Jane Fonda’s Workout Book
    2. Leo Buscaglia, Living, Loving and Learning
    3. Andrew A. Rooney, And More by Andy Rooney
    4. Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
    5. Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, Life Extension: Adding Years to Your Life And Life to Your Years—A Practical Scientific Approach
    6. Harold S. Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People
    7. Andrew A. Rooney, A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney
    8. Jean Nidetch, The Weight Watchers Food Plan Diet Cookbook
    9. Richard Simmons, Richard Simmons’ Never-Say-Diet Cookbook
    10. Barbara Woodhouse, No Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way

    Also published that year:

    Audre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name

    1983

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies
    2. John Naisbitt, Megatrends: Ten New Directions Transforming Our Lives
    3. Erma Bombeck, Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession
    4. Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, The One Minute Manager
    5. Jane Fonda, Jane Fonda’s Workout Book
    6. James Herriot, The Best of James Herriot
    7. The Mary Kay Guide to Beauty: Discovering Your Special Look
    8. Ken Follett, On Wings of Eagles
    9. Robert G. Allen, Creating Wealth
    10. Victoria Principal, The Body Principal: The Exercise Program for Life

    Also published that year:

    Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
    William Manchester, The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory, 1874-1932
    John Updike, Hugging the Shore

    1984

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Lee Iacocca with William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography
    2. Leo Buscaglia, Loving Each Other
    3. Robert Haas, Eat to Win: The Sports Nutrition Bible
    4. Andrew A. Rooney, Pieces of My Mind
    5. Weight Watchers Fast and Fabulous Cookbook
    6. Mark H. McCormack, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-Smart Executive
    7. Jane Fonda with Mignon McCarthy, Women Coming of Age
    8. James Herriot, Moses the Kitten
    9. Spencer Johnson and Larry Wilson, The One Minute Salesperson
    10. Jean Nidetch, Weight Watchers Quick Start Program Cookbook

    Also published that year:

    Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider

    1985

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Lee Iacocca with William Novak, Iacocca: An Autobiography
    2. Gen. Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos, Yeager: An Autobiography
    3. Priscilla Beaulieu Presley with Sandra Harmon, Elvis and Me
    4. Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, Fit for Life
    5. Robert Schuller, The Be-Happy Attitudes
    6. Shirley MacLaine, Dancing in the Light
    7. Thomas J. Peters and Nancy K. Austin, A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference
    8. Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet
    9. Howard Cosell with Peter Bonventre, I Never Played the Game
    10. Stuart M. Berger, Dr. Berger’s Immune Power Diet

    Also published that year:

    David Lowenthal, The Past is a Foreign Country

    1986

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Bill Cosby, Fatherhood
    2. Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, Fit for Life
    3. Kitty Kelley, His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra
    4. Martin Katahn, The Rotation Diet
    5. Dr. Seuss, You’re Only Old Once
    6. Callan Pinckney, Callanetics: Ten Years Younger in Ten Hours
    7. Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine
    8. Robert H. Schuller, Be Happy—You Are Loved!
    9. Andrew A. Rooney, Word for Word
    10. James Herriot, James Herriot’s Dog Stories

    Also published that year:

    Art Spiegelman, Maus I

    1987

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Bill Cosby, Time Flies
    2. Peter Wright with Paul Greengrass, Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer
    3. Erma Bombeck, Family: The Ties That Bind . . . and Gag!
    4. Bob Woodward, Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981-1987
    5. Rick Smolan and David Cohen, A Day in the Life of America
    6. Ravi Batra, The Great Depression of 1990
    7. Shirley MacLaine, It’s All in the Playing
    8. Thomas P. O’Neill Jr. with William Novak, Man of the House: The Life and Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O’Neill
    9. Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American
    10. Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

    Also published that year:

    Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore
    Randy Shilts, And the Band Played On

    1988

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Robert E. Kowalski, The 8-Week Cholesterol Cure
    2. Lee Iacocca with Sonny Kleinfield, Talking Straight
    3. Steven W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time
    4. Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz, Trump: The Art of the Deal
    5. George Burns, Gracie: A Love Story
    6. Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Takes Off
    7. Harvey MacKay, Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive
    8. David Cohen, ed., Christmas in America
    9. Jean Nidetch, Weight Watchers Quick Success Program Book
    10. Michael Jackson, Moonwalk

    Also published that year:

    Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
    Joe Simpson, Touching the Void

    1989

    The best-selling nonfiction of the year:

    1. Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things
    2. Charles J. Givens, Wealth Without Risk: How To Develop a Personal Fortune Without Going Out on a Limb
    3. C. David Heymann, A Woman Named Jackie
    4. Robert Fulghum, It Was on Fire When I Lay Down on It
    5. Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book
    6. David Macaulay, The Way Things Work
    7. Gilda Radner, It’s Always Something
    8. Roseanne Barr, Roseanne: My Life as a Woman
    9. Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines: China, Greece, and Rome
    10. Nancy Reagan with William Novak, My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan

    Also published that year:

    Tobias Wolff, This Boy’s Life
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    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple
    Emily Temple is the managing editor at Lit Hub. Her first novel, The Lightness, was published by William Morrow/HarperCollins in June 2020. You can buy it here.
    https://www.emilytemple.net/





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