The Sound and the Fury
A defining modernist novel and one of Faulkner's most influential works.
Author guide
William Faulkner Books in Order
William Faulkner (1897–1962) was an American writer whose novels and stories frequently explore memory, history, race, violence, family, and social change in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County of Mississippi. A major modernist, he used shifting viewpoints, stream of consciousness, nonlinear chronology, and experimental narrative structures. His work spans novels, interrelated story cycles, short-story collections, poetry, plays, essays, public letters, children's fiction, and Hollywood screenplays. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and Pulitzer Prizes for A Fable and The Reivers.
modernismSouthern Gothicliterary fictionnovelsshort storiespoetryplaysscreenplaysessays
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
As I Lay Dying
A relatively compact introduction to his shifting viewpoints and experimental narration.
Light in August
A more accessible major novel presenting Faulkner's central concerns with race, identity, religion, and community.
Read in order
Books by series
trilogy · complete
Snopes Trilogy
A trilogy following the rise of the Snopes family and the transformation of the fictional Mississippi town of Jefferson.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (21)
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Soldiers' PayAmazon ↗novel · 1926
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MosquitoesAmazon ↗novel · 1927
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SartorisAmazon ↗novel · 1929
- The Sound and the FuryAmazon ↗
novel · 1929
- As I Lay DyingAmazon ↗
novel · 1930
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SanctuaryAmazon ↗novel · 1931
- Idyll in the DesertAmazon ↗
novella · 1931
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Flags in the DustAmazon ↗novel · 1973
- Miss Zilphia GantAmazon ↗
novella · 1932
- Light in AugustAmazon ↗
novel · 1932
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PylonAmazon ↗novel · 1935
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Absalom, Absalom!Amazon ↗novel · 1936
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The UnvanquishedAmazon ↗novel · 1938
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The Wild PalmsAmazon ↗novel · 1939
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Go Down, MosesAmazon ↗novel · 1942
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Intruder in the DustAmazon ↗novel · 1948
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Requiem for a NunAmazon ↗novel · 1951
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A FableAmazon ↗novel · 1954
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The ReiversAmazon ↗novel · 1962
- ElmerAmazon ↗
novel-fragment · 1983
- Father AbrahamAmazon ↗
novel-fragment · 1983
Short fiction (7)
- These 13Amazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1931
- Doctor Martino and Other StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1934
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Knight's GambitAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1949
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Collected Stories of William FaulknerAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1950
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Big WoodsAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1955
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Uncollected Stories of William FaulknerAmazon ↗short-story-collection · 1979
- A Sorority PledgeAmazon ↗
short-story · 1983
Essays and speeches (1)
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Essays, Speeches & Public LettersAmazon ↗essay-collection · 1966
Children's books (1)
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The Wishing TreeAmazon ↗childrens-book · 1967
Poetry (9)
- The Marble FaunAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1924
- SalmagundiAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1932
- A Green BoughAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1933
- This Earth, a PoemAmazon ↗
poetry · 1932
- Early Prose and PoetryAmazon ↗
prose-and-poetry-collection · 1962
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MaydayAmazon ↗poetry · 1976
- Mississippi PoemsAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1979
- Helen: A CourtshipAmazon ↗
poetry · 1981
- Vision in SpringAmazon ↗
poetry-collection · 1984
Plays (9)
- The Big Sleep: ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1971
- The Marionettes: A Play in One ActAmazon ↗
play · 1975
- To Have and Have Not: ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1980
- The Road to Glory: ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1981
- Faulkner's MGM ScreenplaysAmazon ↗
screenplay-collection · 1982
- The DeGaulle Story: ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1984
- Battle Cry: ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1985
- Country Lawyer and Other Stories for the ScreenAmazon ↗
screenplay-collection · 1987
- Stallion Road: A ScreenplayAmazon ↗
screenplay · 1989