Alice Adams books

Alice Adams (1926-1999) was an American novelist and short story writer known for her sharp portrayals of women's lives in the American South and California.

Alice Adams Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Mexico 1990 Buy

Anthologies

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Prize Stories 1973: The O. Henry Awards 1973 Buy
Prize Stories 1974: The O’Henry Awards 1974 Buy
The Best American Short Stories 1991 1991 Buy
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall 1998 Buy
The Best American Short Stories of the Century 2000 Buy

Non-Fiction

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Mexico 1990 Buy

Short Story Collections

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Beautiful Girl 1979 Buy
To See You Again 1982 Buy
Return Trips 1985 Buy
After You’ve Gone 1989 Buy
The Last Lovely City 1999 Buy
The Stories of Alice Adams 2002 Buy
Poolside 2007 Buy

Standalone Novels

Title Published Buy on Amazon
Careless Love 1966 Buy
Families and Survivors 1974 Buy
Rich Rewards 1980 Buy
Superior Women 1984 Buy
Roses, Rhododendron 1987 Buy
Second Chances 1988 Buy
Almost Perfect 1993 Buy
A Southern Exposure 1995 Buy
Medicine Men 1997 Buy
After the War 2000 Buy
Listening to Billie 2011 Buy
Caroline’s Daughters 2011 Buy

Alice Adams wrote novels and short stories over a career that spanned more than three decades. Born in Virginia and later based in San Francisco, she drew on both settings in her fiction. Her stories often follow women at crossroads, dealing with love, class, aging, and the particular pressures of life in the American South or on the West Coast.

Adams published twelve novels and seven short story collections. She was a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and won multiple O. Henry Awards. Her work has a clean, observant style that avoids sentimentality, and her characters tend to be educated women navigating complicated emotional territory. The Stories of Alice Adams, published posthumously in 2002, collects the best of her shorter work.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books has Alice Adams written?

Alice Adams has written 26 books across five series.

What was Alice Adams's first book?

Alice Adams’s first book is Careless Love, published in 1966.

What is Alice Adams best known for?

Alice Adams is best known for her short stories, many of which appeared in The New Yorker. She won the O. Henry Award multiple times and was a regular presence in Best American Short Stories collections.

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