Order of Book Series
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Jim Harrison Books in Order

Jim Harrison has written 46 books, published between 1965 and 2022. The first book is Plain Song (1965) and the newest is The Search for the Genuine: Nonfiction, 1970-2015 (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
46
Published
1965–2022
Confirmed
1 of 46 titles
Pages on record
9,262 in 39 of 46 books
Reading time
154–232 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 9,262 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 39 of 46 titles with a page count on record.

See all 46 books in order Printable Jim Harrison checklist
Photo of Jim Harrison, author

Jim Harrison (December 11, 1937 - March 26, 2016) was an American poet, novelist and essayist who published across poetry, fiction, nonfiction, children's literature and memoir. Harrison also wrote screenplays, book reviews, literary criticism and essays on food, travel and sport, and said poetry mattered most among the work. Harrison published 24 novellas. The catalogue holds 46 books from Plain Song (1965) to The Search for the Genuine: Nonfiction, 1970-2015 (2022), including Wolf (1971), Farmer (1976) and Legends of the Fall (1979). Dalva and Detective Sunderson are named series.

How many Jim Harrison books are there?

Jim Harrison has 46 books, released between 1965 and 2022. They include 3 series and 39 titles listed outside any series.

Jim Harrison Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 46 Jim Harrison books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Wolf by Jim Harrison (1971)
  2. Cover of Outlyer and Ghazals by Jim Harrison (1971)
  3. Cover of Farmer by Jim Harrison (1976)
  4. Cover of Selected & New Poems, 1961-1981 by Jim Harrison (1982)
  5. Cover of Dalva by Jim Harrison, book 1 of the Dalva series (1988)
  6. Cover of The Woman Lit by Fireflies by Jim Harrison (1990)
  7. Cover of The Theory and Practice of Rivers and New Poems by Jim Harrison (1990)
  8. Cover of Just Before Dark by Jim Harrison (1993)
  9. Cover of The Road Home by Jim Harrison, book 2 of the Dalva series (1998)
  10. Cover of The Shape of the Journey by Jim Harrison (1998)
  11. Cover of The Beast God Forgot to Invent by Jim Harrison (2000)
  12. Cover of The Boy Who Ran to the Woods by Jim Harrison (2000)
  13. Cover of The Raw and the Cooked by Jim Harrison (2001)
  14. Cover of Off to the Side by Jim Harrison (2002)
  15. Cover of Conversations with Jim Harrison by Jim Harrison, book 71 of the Literary Conversations series (2002)
  16. Cover of Braided Creek by Jim Harrison (2003)
  17. Cover of True North by Jim Harrison, book 1 of the True North series (2004)
  18. Cover of The Summer He Didn't Die by Jim Harrison (2005)
  19. Cover of Saving Daylight by Jim Harrison (2006)
  20. Cover of Returning to Earth by Jim Harrison, book 2 of the True North series (2007)
  21. Cover of The Farmer's Daughter by Jim Harrison (2009)
  22. Cover of In Search of Small Gods by Jim Harrison (2009)
  23. Cover of Great Leader by Jim Harrison, book 1 of the Detective Sunderson series (2011)
  24. Cover of The River Swimmer by Jim Harrison (2013)
  1. 1
    Plain Song1965 · confirmed 2/4
    1965–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Locations1968 · confirmed 2/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Wolf1971 · 256 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1971256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Outlyer and Ghazals1971 · 64 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197164
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    A Good Day to Die1973 · confirmed 2/4
    1973–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Letters to Yesenin1973 · 65 pages · confirmed 2/4
    197365
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Farmer1976 · 208 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1976208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Legends of the Fall1979 · 270 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979270
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Natural World1982 · 50 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198250
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Warlock1982 · 262 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982262
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Selected & New Poems, 1961-19811982 · 212 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982212
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Sundog1984 · 241 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984241
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    DalvaDalva #11988 · 324 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988324
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Woman Lit by Fireflies1990 · 247 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1990247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Theory and Practice of Rivers and New Poems1990 · 76 pages · confirmed 2/4
    199076
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Just Before Dark1993 · 336 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Julip1994 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    After Ikkyu and Other Poems1996 · 112 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996112
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Road HomeDalva #21998 · 448 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Shape of the Journey1998 · 484 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1998484
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    The Beast God Forgot to Invent2000 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2000288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Boy Who Ran to the Woods2000 · confirmed 2/4
    2000–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Raw and the Cooked2001 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Off to the Side2002 · 320 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2002320
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Conversations with Jim HarrisonLiterary Conversations #712002 · 243 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2002243
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Braided Creek2003 · 85 pages · confirmed 2/4
    200385
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    True NorthTrue North #12004 · 388 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004388
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Summer He Didn't Die2005 · 277 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2005277
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Saving Daylight2006 · 123 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006123
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Returning to EarthTrue North #22007 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2007288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Jim Harrison books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Dalva in order

2 books
  1. 1. Dalva
  2. 2. The Road Home

True North in order

2 books
  1. 1. True North
  2. 2. Returning to Earth

Detective Sunderson in order

2 books
  1. 1. Great Leader
  2. 2. The Big Seven

Literary Conversations in order

1 book
  1. 71. Conversations with Jim Harrison

Standalone books

39 books

39 Jim Harrison titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Jim Harrison books in order?

You only need to read Jim Harrison books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Jim Harrison

Start with Plain Song (1965), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Jim Harrison book?

The Search for the Genuine: Nonfiction, 1970-2015 (2022) is the newest Jim Harrison book released so far.

Is there a new Jim Harrison book coming?

No next Jim Harrison book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Jim Harrison has won

Wikidata records 3 awards for Jim Harrison. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Michigan Author Award2014Won
  • PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award2011Won
  • Lucien Barrière Literary Award2004Won

Jim Harrison at a glance

Paused
No new Jim Harrison title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
Release pace
Jim Harrison books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
9,262 pages across the 39 of 46 books with a recorded length, a median of 255 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Jim Harrison books, 13 of 46, were published in the 2000s.

What the Jim Harrison books are about

39 of the 46 Jim Harrison books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: poetry is tagged on 7 of 39. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Poetry 7 of 39 books
  • Michigan 6 of 39 books
  • Short stories 5 of 39 books
  • Social life and customs 4 of 39 books
  • American literature 3 of 39 books
  • Authors 3 of 39 books
  • Man-woman relationships 3 of 39 books
  • Men 3 of 39 books