Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | This Quiet Dust: And Other Writings | 1982 | William Styron | Buy |
| 2 | A Tidewater Morning | 1993 | William Styron | Buy |
| 3 | The Long March and In the Clap Shack | 1993 | William Styron | Buy |
| 4 | The Suicide Run: Five Tales of the Marine Corps | 2009 | William Styron | Buy |
William Styron’s collections span essays and short fiction. This Quiet Dust (1982) gathers his non-fiction writing on subjects from Nat Turner to the American South. A Tidewater Morning (1993) collects three autobiographical novellas set in the Virginia tidewater country where Styron grew up. The Suicide Run (2009), published after his death, brings together five stories about Marine Corps life.
The collections reveal Styron’s range beyond the novels. His essays are elegant and forceful, and the short fiction has the same density of language that characterizes his longer work. For readers who find the novels daunting, the collections offer a more accessible way into Styron’s prose.