Order of Book Series
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John Barth Books in Order

John Barth has written 21 books, published between 1956 and 2022. The first book is The Floating Opera (1956) and the newest is Postscripts (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
21
Published
1956–2022
Pages on record
5,330 in 13 of 21 books
Reading time
89–133 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,330 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 13 of 21 titles with a page count on record.

See all 21 books in order Printable John Barth checklist
Photo of John Barth, author

John Simmons Barth (1930-2024) was an American writer of postmodern and metafictional fiction. The catalogue holds 21 titles from The Floating Opera (1956) to Postscripts (2022), taking in The End of the Road (1958), Chimera (1972), Letters (1979), Sabbatical: A Romance (1982), The Friday Book (1984) and The Tidewater Tales (1987). Three books from the 1960s drew the most attention: The Sot-Weed Factor (1960), which retells the colonial history of Maryland; Giles Goat-Boy (1966), a satirical fantasy in which a university stands for the Cold War world; and Lost in the Funhouse (1968), an experimental and self-referential story collection. Chimera took a share of the National Book Award in 1973. Subjects recorded against the catalogue include American fiction, novelists, storytelling, college students, married people and Maryland.

How many John Barth books are there?

John Barth has 21 books, released between 1956 and 2022.

John Barth Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 21 John Barth 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 The Floating Opera by John Barth (1956)
  2. Cover of The End of the Road by John Barth (1958)
  3. Cover of Giles Goat-Boy by John Barth (1966)
  4. Cover of Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth (1968)
  5. Cover of Letters by John Barth (1979)
  6. Cover of Sabbatical: A Romance by John Barth (1982)
  7. Cover of The Friday Book by John Barth (1984)
  8. Cover of The Tidewater Tales by John Barth (1987)
  9. Cover of The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor by John Barth (1991)
  10. Cover of Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, and Other Nonfiction, 1984-1994 by John Barth (1995)
  11. Cover of On with the Story by John Barth (1996)
  12. Cover of Coming Soon!!! by John Barth (2002)
  13. Cover of Where Three Roads Meet by John Barth (2005)
  14. Cover of The Book of Ten Nights and a Night by John Barth (2005)
  1. 1
    The Floating Opera1956 · 247 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1956247
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The End of the Road1958 · confirmed 1/4
    1958–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Sot-Weed FactorDalkey Archive Essentials #61960 · confirmed 2/4
    1960–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Giles Goat-Boy1966 · 710 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1966710
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Lost in the Funhouse1968 · 203 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968203
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Chimera1972 · confirmed 1/4
    1972–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Letters1979 · 772 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1979772
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Sabbatical: A Romance1982 · 366 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982366
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Friday Book1984 · 281 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984281
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Tidewater Tales1987 · 655 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987655
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Last Voyage of Somebody the Sailor1991 · 573 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1991573
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, and Other Nonfiction, 1984-19941995 · 377 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995377
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    On with the Story1996 · 272 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1996272
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Coming Soon!!!2002 · 416 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Where Three Roads Meet2005 · 163 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005163
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Book of Ten Nights and a Night2005 · 295 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005295
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    The Development2008 · confirmed 1/4
    2008–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Every Third Thought2011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Final Fridays2012 · confirmed 1/4
    2012–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Collected Stories2015 · confirmed 1/4
    2015–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Postscripts2022 · confirmed 1/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Barth 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.

Dalkey Archive Essentials in order

1 book
  1. 6. The Sot-Weed Factor

Standalone books

20 books

20 John Barth titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read John Barth books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 21 John Barth books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with John Barth

Start with The Floating Opera (1956), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Barth book?

Postscripts (2022) is the newest John Barth book released so far.

Is there a new John Barth book coming?

No next John Barth 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 John Barth has won

Wikidata records 2 awards for John Barth. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • PEN/Malamud Award1998Won
  • National Book Award for Fiction1973Won

John Barth at a glance

Died
John Barth died in 2024, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to John Barth on record dates from 2022.
Release pace
John Barth books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
5,330 pages across the 13 of 21 books with a recorded length, a median of 366 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Barth books, 4 of 21, were published in the 2000s.

What the John Barth books are about

15 of the 21 John Barth books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: short stories is tagged on 4 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.