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The following editions of If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem are available for purchase online:

The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem]

Vintage International

Paperback

ISBN: 0679741933

Published 1995

Novels, 1936-1940: Absalom, Absalom!, The Unvanquished, If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, The Hamlet

Library of America

Hardcover

ISBN: 0940450550

Published 1990

Published January 19, 1939, by Random House, under the title The Wild Palms. Faulkner’s preferred title, If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, was restored to Noel Polk’s “corrected text” first published in 1990. Because of confusion over the book’s title, the historically first published title, with Faulkner’s preference in brackets, was reinstituted in 2003.

If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, Faulkner’s original title for the book, consists of two novellas: “The Wild Palms,” telling the ill-fated love story between Harry Wilbourne and Charlotte Rittenmeyer; and “Old Man,” which relates a different kind of man-woman relationship in which a “tall convict” (his name is never revealed) battles the great Mississippi River flood of 1927 to save a pregnant woman from the raging floodwaters. The two completely separate tales - Harry and Charlotte’s doomed love affair and the convict’s stoic perseverance against devastating natural forces - subtly complement each other in their various attitudes toward relationships, hardships, and how people respond to heartbreak and loss.

The Unvanquished

The Hamlet

How to cite this page (MLA style):

Padgett, John B. “The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee Jerusalem]: Commentary.” William Faulkner on the Web.