Book Ad of the Week: THE COVENANT (1973)

June 22, 1973

The Covenant

by Paige Mitchell

Atheneum, 1973

Novelist-screenwriter (Judith) Paige Mitchell did a lot of writing for television, including the development of John Grisham's The Client as a short-lived series on CBS, but the major motion picture based on her novel The Covenant was never produced.

Book Ad of the Week: THE PAPERBOY (1995)

February 22, 1995

The Paperboy

by Pete Dexter

Random House, 1995

Pete Dexter's novel became the 2012 movie starring Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, David Oyelowo, Scott Glenn, Ned Bellamy, and Macy Gray.

Book Ad of the Week: THE SEVEN MINUTES (1969)

September 29, 1969

October 27, 1969

The Seven Minutes
by Irving Wallace

Simon & Schuster, 1969

Irving Wallace's bestselling novel about an obscenity trial surrounding a book titled The Seven Minutes became independent filmmaker Russ Meyer's second -- and last -- major studio Hollywood production, THE SEVEN MINUTES (1971), starring Wayne Maunder, Marianne McAndrew, Philip Carey, Jay C. Flippen, Yvonne DeCarlo, Edy Williams, Charles Napier, James Iglehart, Charles Drake, Tom Selleck, Harold J. Stone, and John Carradine.

Book Ad of the Week: THE FRANCHISE (1984)

January 25, 1984

The Franchise

by Peter Gent

Villard/Random House, 1983

Peter Gent, a former wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, scored a literary touchdown with his first novel, North Dallas Forty, which was the basis for the hit 1979 movie directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Nick Nolte and Mac Davis. A film adaptation of Gent's second novel, The Franchise, was announced but never produced.

Book Ad of the Week: THE LAST OF THE JUST (1960)

November 10, 1960

The Last of the Just

by André Schwarz-Bart

Atheneum, 1960

Published in France as Le Dernier des Justes in 1959, this epic novel earned its author the Prix Goncourt but was never adapted into a film by Jules Dassin or any other filmmaker.

Book Ad of the Week: THE CHRISTMAS TREE (1969)

September 28, 1969

The Christmas Tree

by Michel Bataille

William Morrow & Co., 1969

Michel Bataille's novel The Christmas Tree, translated from French by Harold J. Salemson, became the 1969 movie THE CHRISTMAS TREE (a.k.a. WHEN WOLVES CRY), directed by Terence Young and starring William Holden, Virna Lisi, and Bourvil.

Book Ad of the Week: THE WILBY CONSPIRACY (1974)

March 27, 1974

The Wilby Conspiracy

by Peter Driscoll

J. B. Lippincott Co., 1972

Peter Driscoll's novel became the film THE WILBY CONSPIRACY (1975), directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Sidney Poitier, Michael Caine, Nicol Williamson, Prunella Gee, Saeed Jaffrey, Persis Khambatta, and Rutger Hauer.