Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Note on Literary Criticism | 1936 | James T. Farrell | Buy |
| 2 | Literature and Morality | 1947 | James T. Farrell | N/A |
| 3 | The Name is Fogarty: Private Papers on Public Matters | 1950 | James T. Farrell | Buy |
| 4 | Reflections at Fifty | 1954 | James T. Farrell | Buy |
| 5 | Hearing Out James T. Farrell: Selected Lectures | 1985 | James T. Farrell | Buy |
James T. Farrell wrote five works of non-fiction across nearly fifty years, ranging from literary criticism to memoir. A Note on Literary Criticism (1936), his first, was published at the height of debates over proletarian literature and Marxist aesthetics in American writing. Farrell argued for a naturalist approach grounded in lived experience rather than political doctrine, a position that reflected his own method as a novelist. Literature and Morality (1947) continued these arguments, pushing back against critics who he felt judged fiction by its political usefulness rather than its honesty.
The later non-fiction is more personal. The Name is Fogarty: Private Papers on Public Matters (1950) collects essays on a range of topics, while Reflections at Fifty (1954) is a brief memoir written at the midpoint of his career. Hearing Out James T. Farrell: Selected Lectures (1985) was published posthumously and gathers talks he gave over the years. These books offer a window into Farrell’s thinking about writing, politics, and the relationship between fiction and the world it describes.