1966 in literature

See also: 1965 in literature, other events of 1966, 1967 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• In a landmark obscenity case, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the banned novel John Cleland's Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure by John Cleland did not meet the Roth standard for obscenity.
• Author Jacqueline Susann has her first novel, Valley of the Dolls published. From a friend, she obtained a list of the bookstores upon which the New York Times relied for sales figures to determine its bestseller list. Ms. Susann then used her own money to buy large quantities of her own book at these selected stores resulting in her novel going to #1 on the "Times" bestseller list. Valley of the Dolls is the second best selling novel of all time.
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys is published.