Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| On Suicide: Great Writers on the Ultimate Question |
1992 |
Buy |
| Sacred Sorrows: Embracing and Transforming Depression |
1996 |
Buy |
| The Good Parts |
2000 |
Buy |
| Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression |
2001 |
Buy |
| First Words: Earliest Writing from Favorite Contemporary Authors |
2009 |
Buy |
Collections#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| This Quiet Dust: And Other Writings |
1982 |
Buy |
| A Tidewater Morning |
1993 |
Buy |
| The Long March and In the Clap Shack |
1993 |
Buy |
| The Suicide Run: Five Tales of the Marine Corps |
2009 |
Buy |
Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Darkness Visible |
1990 |
Buy |
| Fathers and Daughters |
1994 |
Buy |
| Havanas in Camelot |
2008 |
Buy |
| Letters to My Father |
2009 |
Buy |
| Selected Letters of William Styron |
2012 |
Buy |
| My Generation |
2015 |
Buy |
Plays#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| In the Clap Shack |
1973 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Confessions of Nat Turner |
1951 |
Buy |
| Lie Down in Darkness |
1951 |
Buy |
| The Long March |
1952 |
Buy |
| Set This House On Fire |
1960 |
Buy |
| Sophie’s Choice |
1979 |
Buy |
| Shadrach |
1979 |
Buy |
| Inheritance of Night |
1980 |
Buy |
| Mr Jefferson and our times |
1984 |
Buy |
William Styron was one of the major American novelists of the second half of the 20th century. His debut, Lie Down in Darkness (1951), announced him at age 26 as a writer of serious ambition, drawing comparisons to Faulkner for its Southern setting and complex narrative structure. The book won the Rome Prize and established Styron as a voice to watch.
The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967) was both his greatest success and his greatest controversy. A fictionalized first-person account of the 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia, it won the Pulitzer Prize but was sharply criticized by Black writers and intellectuals who objected to a white author imagining the inner life of an enslaved man. The debate was fierce and has never fully resolved.
Sophie’s Choice (1979) cemented his reputation. The novel tells the story of a Polish Catholic woman living in Brooklyn after surviving Auschwitz, and the impossible choice she was forced to make there. It was adapted into a 1982 film that won Meryl Streep the Academy Award. In 1990, Styron published Darkness Visible, a slim memoir about his experience with severe depression that became one of the definitive accounts of the illness.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has William Styron written?
William Styron has written 132 books across 7 series.
What was William Styron's first book?
William Styron’s first book is Lie Down in Darkness, published in 1951.
What is William Styron best known for?
Styron is best known for Sophie’s Choice (1979), a novel about a Polish woman haunted by a terrible decision she was forced to make at Auschwitz, and The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), a fictionalized account of the 1831 slave rebellion. Both are considered American classics. His memoir Darkness Visible (1990) is one of the most important books ever written about depression.