Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fever | 1989 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 2 | Stories of John Edgar Wideman | 1992 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 3 | All Stories Are True | 1993 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 4 | God’s Gym | 2005 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 5 | Briefs | 2010 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 6 | American Histories | 2018 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 7 | You Made Me Love You | 2021 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 8 | Look For Me and I’ll Be Gone | 2021 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
| 9 | Languages of Home | 2025 | John Edgar Wideman | Buy |
John Edgar Wideman’s short fiction covers nearly four decades. His first collection, Fever (1989), established him as a major short story writer. The title piece reimagines the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia in 1793, and the rest of the collection moves between past and present with the same fluidity that marks his novels. Stories of John Edgar Wideman (1992) brought together earlier work, while All Stories Are True (1993) continued his exploration of family, memory, and race.
Later collections pushed in new directions. Briefs (2010) is a book of flash fiction, some pieces only a paragraph long, that was later adapted into a theatrical production in Los Angeles. American Histories (2018) pairs real historical figures with invented ones across linked stories. You Made Me Love You (2021) is a selected stories volume with an introduction by scholar Walton Muyumba, drawing from six previous collections. Languages of Home (2025) is his most recent collection.