William Faulkner
Biographies, Memoirs, and Life Studies

Principal Works

Faulkner: A Biography By Joseph Blotner New York: Vintage Books, 1991 xx, 778 pages ISBN: 0-679-73053-2 (Vintage pbk) Includes Bibliographical References and Index 48 Pages of photographs Originally published in two-volumes in 1974; revised one-volume edition published in 1984. Written by Faulkner’s friend and colleague when he served as Writer in Residence at the University of Virginia, Blotner's biography remains the quintessential resource on Faulkner’s life. In revising the two-volume edition, Blotner not only condensed the earlier work, he also updated it to reflect the enormous amount of new information that had been published since the original work's publication. Included are a chronology of events in Faulkner’s life, a genealogical chart, and 48 pages of photographs of key persons and events in Faulkner’s life. An added bonus are the quotations from Faulkner’s works which open each chapter.

William Faulkner: His Life and Work By David Minter Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980. Johns Hopkins Paperbacks edition, 1982 Softshell Books edition, 1991 xvi, 325 pages ISBN: 0-8018-2347-1 ISBN: 0-8018-2463-X (Softshell Books pbk) Minter deals with Faulkner’s life more circumspectly than does Blotner, with less detail, but included in this book are more extensive critical commentary on the literary works by Faulkner. Also included are a chronology, genealogical chart, and bibliographical notes.

William Faulkner and Southern History By Joel Williamson New York: Oxford University Press, 1993 544 pages. ISBN: 0-19-510129-4 Includes Bibliographical References and Index 16 pages of photographs. Go to web page for this book. Williamson approaches Faulkner’s life as a historian, focusing in much greater detail on Faulkner’s ancestors, who figure prominently as source material for characters in Faulkner’s fiction. He includes also a historian's approach to Faulkner’s literary works.

By Richard J. Gray
Oxford; Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1994
xvi, 448 pages
ISBN: 0-631-16415-4
Includes Bibliographical References and Index
16 pages of photographs

By Judith Bryant Wittenberg
Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1979
viii, 264 pages
ISBN: 0-803-24707-9
Includes Bibliographical References and Index

Titles Available for Purchase at Amazon.com

More recent titles are listed first.

Conversations with William Faulkner

Edited by M. Thomas Inge
(Literary Conversations Series)
Paperback
University Press of Mississippi, 1999

A William Faulkner Encyclopedia

Edited by Robert W. Hamblin and Charles A. Peek
Hardcover
Greenwood Press, 1999

William Faulkner: The Making of a Modernist

By Daniel Joseph Singal
(Fred W. Morrison
Series in Southern Studies)
Paperback
(Also available in hardcover)
University of North Carolina Press, 1999

My Brother Bill

By John Faulkner
(Reprint)
Paperback
Hill Street Press, 1998

Faulkner’s World: The Photographs of Martin J. Dain

Edited by Tom Rankin,
Photographs by Martin J. Dain
(Faulkner Centennial Edition)
Hardcover
University Press of Mississippi, 1997

William Faulkner: His Life and Work

By David Minter
(Reprint Edition)
Paperback
Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997

The Life of William Faulkner: A Critical Biography

By Richard Gray
Paperback
Blackwell Publishers, 1996

William Faulkner and Southern History

By Joel Williamson
Paperback
(Also available in Hardcover)
Oxford University Press, 1996

Phil Stone of Oxford: A Vicarious Life

By Susan Snell
(Reprint Edition)
Paperback
University of Georgia Press, 1992

Faulkner: A Biography

By Joseph Blotner
(Reprint Edition)
Paperback
Vintage Books, 1991

For additional biographical works about William Faulkner for sale at Amazon.com, try Faulkner Biographies.

Other Biographical Works

By Stephen B. Oates
New York: Harper & Row, 1987
xiv, 363 pages
ISBN: 0-060-15771-2
Includes Index

By Frederick Robert Karl
First Edition
New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989
xvi, 1131 pages
ISBN: 1-444-84088-4
Includes Index, Bibliography
16 pages of photographs

By Louis Daniel Brodsky
First Edition
Austin: University of Texas Press, 1990
xvi, 222 pages.
ISBN: 0-292-79048-1
Includes Bibliographical references

William Faulkner: A Life on Paper

BOOK:
Script by A. I. Bezzerides; Introduction by Carvel Collins
Adapted and Edited by Ann Abadie
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1980
127 pages
ISBN: 0-87805-098-1

 

FILM:
Producer: Walter Lowe
Director: Robert Squier
Narrator: Raymond Burr
Mississippi Center for Educational Television
Wilmette, Ill.: Films Incorporated, 1979
Originally Broadcast on PBS-TV on December 17, 1979
120 minutes

William Faulkner, Biographical and Reference Guide: A Guide to His Life and Career, with a Checklist of His Works, a Concise Biography, and a Critical Introduction to Each of His Novels

Edited by Leland Cox
Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Co., 1982
x, 308 pp.

The Private World of William Faulkner

By Robert Coughlan
New York: Harper, 1954
151 pages

Memoirs and Reminiscences

My Brother Bill: An Affectionate Reminiscence

By John Faulkner
New York: Trident, 1963.
277 pages.

The Falkners of Mississippi: A Memoir

By Murry C. Falkner
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1967
xxv, 205 pages.

Bitterweeds: Life with William Faulkner at Rowan Oak

By Malcolm A. Franklin
Irving, Texas: The Society for the Study of Traditional Culture, 1977
129, x pages

Across the Creek: Faulkner Family Stories

By Jim Faulkner
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1986
xiv, 103 pages
ISBN: 0-87805-302-6

Talking About William Faulkner: Interviews With Jimmy Faulkner and Others

By Jim Faulkner, Floyd Watkins, and Sally Woolf
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996

ISBN: 0807120308

Faulkner’s Oxford: Recollections and Reflections

By Herman E. Taylor
Nashville, Tenn.: Rutledge Hill Press, 1990
205 pages
ISBN: 1-558-53086-X

Count No 'Count: Flashbacks to Faulkner

By Ben Wasson; Introduction by Carvel Collins
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1983
x, 206 pages
ISBN: 0-87805-162-7

A Loving Gentleman: The Love Story of William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter

By Meta Carpenter Wilde and Orin Borsten
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976. 336 pages
ISBN: 0-515-04421-0

The Faulkner-Cowley File: Letters and Memories, 1944-1962

By Malcolm Cowley
London: Chatto & Windus, 1966
184 pages

William Faulkner of Oxford

Edited by James W. Webb and A. Wigfall Green
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1965
xiv, 136 pages

Faulkner’s Mississippi

By Willie Morris; Photographs by William Eggleston
Birmingham, Ala.: Oxmoor House, 1990
154 pages
ISBN: 0-848-71052-5

Phil Stone of Oxford: A Vicarious Life

By Susan Snell
Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1991
xi, 399 pages
ISBN: 0-820-31296-7