The Egyptian is Mika Waltari’s fictional memoir of the life of a physician in the days of the pharaohs. Readers will find a new interesting historical bits in this novel, but it’s entertainment value is nil.
Archive for March, 2009
Egyptian should have kept his story to himself
Posted in 1949 Bestselling Novels, Fictional memoir, Medical, tagged Egypt, history, medicine, Middle East, Mika Waltari on March 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Bestselling novels of 1949
Posted in Lists of bestsellers by year on March 18, 2009 | Comments Off
This next week, I’ll begin looking back 60 years to the novels that topped the bestseller list in 1949. Here’s the list:
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas, which was #1 in 1948. Use the drop down list at the right to locate my review from last year.
Mary by Sholem Asch
A [...]
My picks for 1959
Posted in My Top Pics on March 17, 2009 | Comments Off
Sometimes I have difficulty deciding which novel of a year’s bestsellers remains the best entertainment value, but not this week.
Robert Ruark’s Poor No More is head and shoulders above the rest of the 1959 bestsellers, with Hawaii by James A. Michener getting my vote for second place.
My assessment will upset People Who Love [...]
Engrossing Tale of Financial Fraud
Posted in 1959 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, tagged business, finance, fraud, investments, Robert Ruark on March 11, 2009 | Comments Off
If you wonder how Bernie Madoff and the guys at AIG could have such a cavalier attitude toward other people’s money, Robert Ruark’s 1959 novel Poor No More might supply some answers.
Craig Price grows up in the South in rural, depression-era poverty. He’s a loner living in a fantasy world in which he is “Captain-Admiral [...]
At 100, The Man in Lower Ten is still tip-top
Posted in 1909 Bestselling Novels, Mystery on March 4, 2009 | Comments Off
Mary Roberts Rinehart sets her 1909 mystery The Man in Lower Ten on a Pullman car. From there, she leads an unlikely hero down many wrong tracks, much to his discomfort and the reader’s delight.
Bachelor lawyer Lawrence Blakely hops a train to Pittsburgh to take a statement from John Gilmore proving Andy Bronson forged the [...]
Drop back 100 years tomorrow
Posted in Asides, tagged Mary Roberts Rinehart, Robert Ruark on March 3, 2009 | Comments Off
My plan to review the 1959 bestsellers from 1-10 order ran into a snag. I haven’t gotten to the library to pick up the #10 book on the list.
Tomorrow instead of a review of Robert Ruark’s Poor No More from 50 years ago, I’ll post a review of a 1909 bestseller that I read [...]
