The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1966 The New York Times Fiction Best Sellers of 1966 This is a list of adult fiction books that topped "The New York Times" Fiction Best Seller list in 1966. Only three novels topped the list that year, which was dominated by Jacqueline Susann's "Valley of the Dolls" which spent 28 weeks at the top of the list and 65 weeks in the top 10. "Valley" was toppled by Robert Crichton's "The Secret of Santa Vittoria", a World War II story based on fact, which sold more than 100,000 copies in the first month of its release. It spent 18 weeks
Jacqueline Susann seller list, and was the third highest-selling novel of its year. Reviews were not favorable; one reviewer in the "New York Times" compared the book to "popcorn... a kernel of an idea... exploded into bite-sized nothingness," while "Time" magazine complained that the book "lacks Valley's primitive vigor. Film rights were sold to Columbia Pictures for a then-record $1.5 million. Directed by Jack Haley, Jr., the film adaptation was released in 1971, starring Dyan Cannon, Robert Ryan, and John Phillip Law. Despite the fact that Irving Mansfield was executive producer, the movie was a critical and commercial flop. Susann, who had