Order of Book Series
0

Richard Ford Books in Order

Richard Ford has written 20 books, published between 1976 and 2023. The first book is A Piece of My Heart (1976) and the newest is Be Mine (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
1976–2023
Pages on record
4,546 in 15 of 20 books
Reading time
76–114 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,546 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 15 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable Richard Ford checklist

Richard Ford's 20 catalogued books open with A Piece of My Heart (1976) and close with Be Mine (2023). Frank Bascombe is the one series catalogued, and sportswriters, divorced men and the relations between men and women are the recurring subjects. The Sportswriter (1986), Wildlife (1990) and Independence Day (1995) sit among the novels, alongside the story collections Rock Springs (1987), Women with Men: Three Stories (1997) and A Multitude of Sins (2001). Wyoming and Mexico appear among the settings, and nothing new has been catalogued since 2023.

How many Richard Ford books are there?

Richard Ford has 20 books, released between 1976 and 2023. 5 of them belong to the Frank Bascombe series.

Richard Ford Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 Richard Ford 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 A Piece of My Heart by Richard Ford (1976)
  2. Cover of The Ultimate Good Luck by Richard Ford (1981)
  3. Cover of The Sportswriter by Richard Ford, book 1 of the Frank Bascombe series (1986)
  4. Cover of Rock Springs by Richard Ford (1987)
  5. Cover of Wildlife by Richard Ford (1990)
  6. Cover of Independence Day by Richard Ford, book 2 of the Frank Bascombe series (1995)
  7. Cover of Women with Men: Three Stories by Richard Ford (1997)
  8. Cover of A Multitude of Sins by Richard Ford (2001)
  9. Cover of Vintage Ford by Richard Ford (2004)
  10. Cover of The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford, book 3 of the Frank Bascombe series (2006)
  11. Cover of Canada by Richard Ford (2012)
  12. Cover of Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford, book 4 of the Frank Bascombe series (2014)
  13. Cover of Between Them by Richard Ford (2017)
  1. 1
    A Piece of My Heart1976 · 297 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976297
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Ultimate Good Luck1981 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The SportswriterFrank Bascombe #11986 · 375 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986375
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Rock Springs1987 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Pushcart Prize 131989 · 512 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1989512
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Wildlife1990 · 177 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990177
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Independence DayFrank Bascombe #21995 · 464 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995464
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Women with Men: Three Stories1997 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    A Multitude of Sins2001 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Vintage Ford2004 · 200 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2004200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Lay of the LandFrank Bascombe #32006 · 485 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006485
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Canada2012 · 420 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2012420
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Let Me Be Frank With YouFrank Bascombe #42014 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2014240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Poems Written by a Government Prisoner in Georgia, USA2016 · confirmed 1/4
    2016–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Between Them2017 · 192 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2017192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Handbook for Travellers in Spain, Vol. 12018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    A Handbook for Travellers in Spain, Vol. 22018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Letters of Richard Ford, 1797-18582018 · confirmed 1/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Sorry For Your Trouble2020 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2020176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Be MineFrank Bascombe #52023 · confirmed 1/4
    2023–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Richard Ford 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.

Frank Bascombe in order

5 books
  1. 1. The Sportswriter
  2. 2. Independence Day
  3. 3. The Lay of the Land
  4. 4. Let Me Be Frank With You
  5. 5. Be Mine

Standalone books

15 books

15 Richard Ford titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Richard Ford books in order?

You only need to read Richard Ford books in order within the Frank Bascombe series, which holds 5 of the 20 Richard Ford books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Richard Ford

Start with A Piece of My Heart (1976), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Richard Ford book?

Be Mine (2023) is the newest Richard Ford book released so far.

Is there a new Richard Ford book coming?

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

Richard Ford at a glance

Paused
No new Richard Ford title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
Release pace
Richard Ford books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
4,546 pages across the 15 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 256 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Richard Ford books, 7 of 20, were published in the 2010s.

What the Richard Ford books are about

15 of the 20 Richard Ford books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: divorced men is tagged on 3 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Divorced men 3 of 15 books
  • Man-woman relationships 2 of 15 books
  • Short stories 2 of 15 books