Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a fable in novella form about a seagull (gull) learning about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection. First published in 1970 (1970 in literature) as "Jonathan Livingston Seagull ? a story", it became a favorite throughout the United States. By the end of 1972, over a million copies were in print, Readers Digest had published a condensed version, and the book reached the top of the New York Times Best Seller list (New York Times Best Seller list) where it remained for 38 weeks. In 1972 and 1973 the book topped the Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States (Publishers Weekly list of bestselling novels in the United States in the 1970s). It is still in print as of 2010.