Order of Book Series
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John Edgar Wideman Books in Order

John Edgar Wideman has written 28 books, published between 1973 and 2025. The first book is The Lynchers (1973) and the newest is Languages of Home (2025). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
28
Published
1973–2025
Pages on record
5,721 in 22 of 28 books
Reading time
95–143 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,721 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 22 of 28 titles with a page count on record.

See all 28 books in order Printable John Edgar Wideman checklist
Photo of John Edgar Wideman, author of the Homewood series

John Edgar Wideman is an American novelist, short story writer, memoirist and essayist, and the first writer to take the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction twice. The Homewood books take their name from the Pittsburgh neighbourhood where Wideman was raised, and Hiding Place (1981), Sent for You Yesterday (1981) and Damballah (1984) belong to them; Brothers and Keepers (1984) and Philadelphia Fire (1990) follow. In 1963 Wideman became the second African American to win a Rhodes Scholarship, and he has taught literature and creative writing at public and Ivy League universities. The catalogue holds 28 titles through Languages of Home (2025).

How many John Edgar Wideman books are there?

John Edgar Wideman has 28 books, released between 1973 and 2025. 3 of them belong to the Homewood series.

John Edgar Wideman Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 28 John Edgar Wideman 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 Lynchers by John Edgar Wideman (1973)
  2. Cover of Sent for You Yesterday by John Edgar Wideman, book 1 of the Homewood series (1981)
  3. Cover of Hiding Place by John Edgar Wideman, book 2 of the Homewood series (1981)
  4. Cover of Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman (1984)
  5. Cover of Damballah by John Edgar Wideman, book 3 of the Homewood series (1984)
  6. Cover of Hurry Home by John Edgar Wideman (1986)
  7. Cover of Fever by John Edgar Wideman (1989)
  8. Cover of Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman (1990)
  9. Cover of Stories of John Edgar Wideman by John Edgar Wideman (1992)
  10. Cover of All Stories Are True by John Edgar Wideman (1993)
  11. Cover of Fatheralong by John Edgar Wideman (1994)
  12. Cover of Two Cities by John Edgar Wideman (1997)
  13. Cover of Chronicles of the Civil War by John Edgar Wideman (1999)
  14. Cover of The Island Martinique by John Edgar Wideman (2003)
  15. Cover of God's Gym by John Edgar Wideman (2005)
  16. Cover of Fanon by John Edgar Wideman (2008)
  17. Cover of Briefs by John Edgar Wideman (2010)
  18. Cover of American Histories by John Edgar Wideman (2018)
  19. Cover of Look For Me and I'll Be Gone by John Edgar Wideman (2021)
  1. 1
    The Lynchers1973 · 264 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973264
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    A Glance Away1975 · confirmed 1/4
    1975–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Sent for You YesterdayHomewood #11981 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Hiding PlaceHomewood #21981 · 158 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Brothers and Keepers1984 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    DamballahHomewood #31984 · 205 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984205
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Hurry Home1986 · confirmed 1/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Reuben1987 · 215 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987215
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Fever1989 · 161 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989161
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Philadelphia Fire1990 · 199 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990199
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Stories of John Edgar Wideman1992 · 432 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1992432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    All Stories Are True1993 · 448 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1993448
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Fatheralong1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Cattle Killing1996 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1996224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Two Cities1997 · 242 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Conversations with John Edgar Wideman1998 · 248 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1998248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Chronicles of the Civil War1999 · 372 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999372
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Hoop Roots2001 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Island Martinique2003 · 167 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2003167
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    God's Gym2005 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2005192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Fanon2008 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Briefs2010 · confirmed 1/4
    2010–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Writing to Save a Life2016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    American Histories2018 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2018240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    You Made Me Love You2021 · 416 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2021416
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Look For Me and I'll Be Gone2021 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2021336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Slaveroad2024 · confirmed 1/4
    2024–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Languages of Home2025 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2025256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

John Edgar Wideman 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.

Homewood in order

3 books
  1. 1. Sent for You Yesterday
  2. 2. Hiding Place
  3. 3. Damballah

Standalone books

25 books

25 John Edgar Wideman titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read John Edgar Wideman books in order?

You only need to read John Edgar Wideman books in order within the Homewood series, which holds 3 of the 28 John Edgar Wideman books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with John Edgar Wideman

Start with The Lynchers (1973), the earliest published title.

What is the newest John Edgar Wideman book?

Languages of Home (2025) is the newest John Edgar Wideman book released so far.

Is there a new John Edgar Wideman book coming?

No next John Edgar Wideman 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 Edgar Wideman has won

Wikidata records 6 awards for John Edgar Wideman. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards2011Won
  • O. Henry Award2000Won
  • Society of American Historians Prize for Historical Fiction1997Won
  • American Book Awards1991Won
  • Dos Passos Prize1986Won
  • PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction1984Won

John Edgar Wideman at a glance

Still publishing
John Edgar Wideman published a book as recently as 2025.
Release pace
John Edgar Wideman books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,721 pages across the 22 of 28 books with a recorded length, a median of 241 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most John Edgar Wideman books, 8 of 28, were published in the 1990s.

What the John Edgar Wideman books are about

23 of the 28 John Edgar Wideman books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: african americans is tagged on 11 of 23. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.