WComa is Robin Cook's first commercially successful novel, published by Signet Book in 1977. Coma was preceded in 1973 by Cook's lesser known novel, Year of the Intern.
WDetour is Michael Brodsky's first novel. It is the first person partly autobiographical account of an often bored film devotee going to Cleveland for medical school, making observations on everything in his daily life, either in a philosophical manner, or by comparing any given incident with some classic film scene, or both. Halfway through, the narration is interrupted by Steve's story, also told in first person. The novel eventually resumes with the original first person narrator, who finally decides medical school is not for him.
WDying of the Light is a science fiction novel by American writer George R. R. Martin, published in 1977 by Simon & Schuster. Martin's original title was After the Festival; its title was changed before its first hardcover publication. The novel was nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1978, and the British Fantasy Award in 1979.
WGirl on a Bicycle is a 1977 novel by Leland Bardwell. The novel is set in 1940s Ireland, and deals with the reality of being Protestant and what it means to be an individual caught up in the momentum of historical change. It is a coming-of-age story for Julie Da Vraire as she makes her way on her own after being socially outcast.
WThe Golden Child is a 1977 mystery novel by the British author Penelope Fitzgerald, her first published work of fiction. Written while her husband was terminally ill, and partly for his benefit, the novel offers a satirical version of the 1972 Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition at the British Museum, and pokes fun at museum politics, academic scholars, and Cold War spying.
WHigh Couch of Silistra is a science fiction novel, the first book in the Silistra quartet by American writer Janet Morris. Published in 1977 by Bantam Books, High Couch of Silistra was the debut title of her writing career. The series went on to have more than four million copies in print and was also published in French, Italian and German.
WThe Lover is the debut novel by A. B. Yehoshua, originally published in Hebrew in 1977. The book has been translated into 23 languages, and has been adapted for the screen twice. Written from the point of view of each of the six main characters, the book explores themes of adultery, war, Israeli national identity, and diaspora.
WMonkey Grip is a 1977 novel by Australian writer Helen Garner, her first published book. It initially received a mixed critical reception, but has now become accepted as a classic of modern Australian literature. The novel deals with the life of single-mother Nora, as she narrates her increasingly tumultuous relationship with a flaky heroin addict, juxtaposed with her raising a daughter while living in share houses in Melbourne during the late 1970s. A film based on the novel, also titled Monkey Grip, was released in 1982. In the 1990s, when critics identified the Australian literary genre of grunge lit, the book was retrospectively categorized as one of the first examples of this genre.
WOur Sister Killjoy: or Reflections from a Black-eyed Squint is the debut novel of Ghanaian author Ama Ata Aidoo, first published by Longman in 1977. It has been called "a witty, experimental work whose main point is a stylish dismissal of characteristic attitudes of both the white world and the black middle class." It was described by one reviewer as "a strikingly unusual and pertinent commentary on the African encounter with the West, on European soil.... Without being a conventional narrative or biography, it is a text that uses the framework of an account of a state-sponsored visit to Germany by a young Ghanaian woman to analyse what Europe is and does to those Africans whom it 'sponsors' and educates."
WSuffer the Children is the debut novel by author John Saul, first published by Dell Publishing in 1977. The novel follows the story of a child abductor, who after murdering a young girl one hundred years earlier, returns and begins taking out more children one by one. Suffer the Children was initially published in paperback and has sold over a million copies since its release.
WA Summer to Die was Lois Lowry's first novel.
WThe Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book of the Original Shannara Trilogy, followed by The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. Brooks was heavily influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and began writing The Sword of Shannara in 1967. It took him seven years to complete, as he was writing the novel while attending law school. Ballantine Books used it to launch the company's new subsidiary Del Rey Books. Its success boosted the commercial expansion of the fantasy genre.
WThe Women's Room is the debut novel by American feminist author Marilyn French, published in 1977. It launched French as a major participant in the feminist movement and, while French states it is not autobiographical, the book reflects many autobiographical elements. For example, French, like the main character, Mira, was married and divorced, and then attended Harvard where she obtained a Ph.D. in English Literature. Despite the connection of The Women's Room to the feminist movement, French stated in a 1977 interview with The New York Times: "The Women's Room" is not about the women's movement... but about women's lives today."