Jonathan Livingston Seagull has to be one of them. And, ehrm, Clamato?

I might need a moment on this second one.

The comic book version of the Ervin hearings?

My "Friend" Flicka?

Born Free?

Born Free -- nice guess. Though I kind of suspect that that was earlier, now that I think about it. I think I saw the movie in the gymnasium of my elementary school in Colorado, and we'd moved back east by '74. Plus, was Elsie really the main character, and wasn't it non-fiction? So I'm doubtful. Though it is a nice guess.

Thanks, I'm trying. I was 7 years old at the time, and my main interest in the era has been in titles like Blind Ambition. I'm guessing Misty of Chincoteague was much earlier, but what was the horse story that was made into a movie with Liza Minelli?

Intoxicated Velvet, do you mean?

No right answers yet -- Jonathan Livingston Seagull was a bestseller in 1973 (No. 1 for the year), and didn't appear on the Publisher's Weekly year-end list in 1974 at all, surprisingly.

Born Free is, as has been noted, nonfiction -- and it was published, if you can believe it, in 1960. Oddly, it didn't make the year-end nonfiction bestsellers that year.

Blind Ambition, though it does tell the story of a definitely brutish administration, didn't appear until 1976.

And neither Misty of Chincowhatsit nor National nor International Velvet is right.

I cheated so I won't post the answer. But on titles alone you could say three books feature animals.

True, Kurt, but I Heard the Owl Call My Name doesn't, despite the title's promise, focus on owls as characters (more's the pity).

Nor does Dogs of War actually involve warring dogs which would make a nice allegorical novel.

I was kind of in the Stuart Little/Charlotte's Web mode in those days, but I don't think they were 1974 best sellers, so I'm well on my way to stumped.

Archy the Cockroach and, um, something about dolphins?

Oh, shit, wait, how about "JAWS"?

Um... Cujo?

Cujo was the #3 fiction seller in 1981. King didn't break onto the yearly charts until 1979 with The Dead Zone.

Of the two books, one is perhaps more globally renowned than the other, although both have remained in print ever since. They could not be more different in mood.

Grizzly Adams?

Old Yeller's older than that, right?

Planet of the Apes and Jaws?

No correct combos yet.

Ol' Y was not quite twenty years old in 1974.

Note: One of the two books got loving blurbs from both Bruno Bettleheim and R. Buckminster Fuller!
The other was written by the grandson of one of the Algonquin Round Table wits.

Jaws and Ring of Bright Water

I remember 1974. I was but a 10 year old then, and had snuck my Aunt Dot's copy of Audry Rose from under her bed, as I was forbidden to read pagan devil worshipping literature. It was about a girl, Ivy, who was transported by regressive screaming therapy into the body of another murdered girl. It freaked me so much that I started to act out in little ways, like slicing the tails off of kits, or freezing my cousins in the meat locker. That's when I decided to become a senator.

Benjy, and something about a dolphin?

could Watership Down perhaps be one of them?

Ring of Bright Water hit the nonfiction bestseller lists in 1961. For those of you who haven't read it, it details among other things the author's experiences owning river otters. Warning: there's an otter death that will reduce the most jaded soul to a blubbering sap.

And a reminder -- this is a two-part question, so guess the combination, please...

Jaws and Benjy!

Cute, schmute, my money's on the shark!

well then, i'll guess Watership Down and Jaws.

Jaws and something about Snoopy.

Or maybe Pogo.

We have met the shark, and it is us.

A gold star for stoat, who remembered Richard Adams's huge bestseller. Watership Down actually outsold Peter Benchley's fish story, although James Michener's 20th back-breaker, Centennial, came in ahead of both.

Congrats to our (I believe) first-time victor. You may pick up your winnings at the Members Lounge on sublevel B, next to the vending machines. A rousing "Two legs bad!" to you all -- and now I can finally scurry away from my desk.

Wow -- the first time I de-lurk [after being impressed and stumped by these quizzes for over a year], and I win the Baked Chunk! I must admit -- I couldn't have done it without Scott's fixation on that shark, so your half of the goods are on their way!

Do I get the "baked" or the "chunk"?

Nothing is as worthy of celebration as a triumphant de-lurking. Fresh Tino for all!

Fun fact: I am named after the author of Ring of Bright Water.

You otter be quite proud.