Book Series Guide

Author guide

Lynne Sharon Schwartz Books in Order

Lynne Sharon Schwartz is an American writer whose career spans novels, short fiction, essays, memoir, poetry, children's literature, and editorial work. Her fiction is noted for psychologically acute portraits of urban and family life. Her books include Rough Strife, Disturbances in the Field, Leaving Brooklyn, The Writing on the Wall, Two-Part Inventions, Truthtelling, My Life at the Wheel, and A Stranger Comes to Town.

novelsshort fictionessaysmemoirpoetrychildrens literatureliterary translation

Catalog record updated .

Lynne Sharon Schwartz's Newest Book

A Stranger Comes to Town

novel · First published 2025

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Rough Strife

Her first novel and a National Book Award nominee; the natural chronological entry point.

Leaving Brooklyn

An acclaimed coming-of-age novel and one of her best-known works.

Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books

An accessible memoir about reading, books, and the formation of a literary life.

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (10)
  1. Rough Strife

    novel · 1980

  2. Balancing Acts

    novel · 1981

  3. Disturbances in the Field

    novel · 1983

    As powerful now as when first published in 1983, Lynne Sharon Schwartz's third novel established her as one of her generation's most assured writers. In this long–awaited reissue, readers can again warm to this acutely absorbing…

  4. We Are Talking About Homes: A Great University Against Its Neighbors

    nonfiction · 1985

  5. Leaving Brooklyn

    novel · 1989

  6. The Fatigue Artist

    novel · 1995

  7. In the Family Way: An Urban Comedy

    novel · 1999

  8. The Writing on the Wall

    novel · 2005

    In a tale of emotional survival in post-9/11 New York City, thirty-four-year-old Renata deals with the effects of the bombings on her personal life, in light of the trauma she has already experienced.

  9. Two-Part Inventions

    novel · 2012

    When his concert pianist wife dies suddenly, producer Philip fears the discovery of their fraudulent music recordings and descends into paranoia while reflecting on their lives together, his wife's remarkable career, and his views about…

  10. A Stranger Comes to Town

    novel · 2025

Nonfiction (2)
  1. Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books

    memoir · 1996

  2. Not Now, Voyager

    memoir · 2007

Short fiction (4)
  1. Acquainted with the Night and Other Stories

    short-story-collection · 1984

  2. The Melting Pot and Other Subversive Stories

    short-story-collection · 1987

  3. Referred Pain and Other Stories

    short-story-collection · 2004

  4. Truthtelling: Stories, Fables, Glimpses

    short-story-collection · 2020

Essays and speeches (3)
  1. Face to Face: A Reader in the World

    essay-collection · 2000

  2. This Is Where We Came In: Intimate Glimpses

    essay-collection · 2014

  3. My Life at the Wheel: Toward a Memoir

    essay-collection · 2024

Children's books (1)
  1. The Four Questions

    childrens-book · 1989

    Discover the meaning of Passover by finding the answers to The Four Questions, while observing richly colored scenes and delicate Hebrew calligraphy that joyfully extend the meaning of this venerable tradition. "A striking picture…

Poetry (3)
  1. In Solitary

    poetry-collection · 2002

  2. See You in the Dark

    poetry-collection · 2011

  3. No Way Out But Through

    poetry-collection · 2017

Edited works (2)
  1. The Emergence of Memory: Conversations with W.G. Sebald

    edited-anthology · 2007

  2. Crossing Borders: Stories and Essays About Translation

    edited-anthology · 2017