Order of Book Series
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Thornton Wilder Books in Order

41 books are credited to Thornton Wilder, published between 1926 and 2020; 22 of them appeared after Thornton Wilder's death in 1975. The first book is The Cabala (1926) and the newest is Three Plays: Our Town, The Matchmaker, and The Skin of Our Teeth (2020). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
41
Published
1926–2020
Pages on record
6,021 in 27 of 41 books
Reading time
100–151 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 6,021 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 27 of 41 titles with a page count on record.

See all 41 books in order Printable Thornton Wilder checklist
Photo of Thornton Wilder, author

Thornton Wilder wrote plays and novels and took three Pulitzer Prizes: one for the novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927), two for the plays Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth. A U.S. National Book Award followed for the novel The Eighth Day. The catalogue begins with The Cabala (1926) and holds 41 entries, one-act collections such as The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act among them, with reissues carrying the listing to 2020. Wilder lived from 1897 to 1975.

How many Thornton Wilder books are there?

Thornton Wilder has 41 books, released between 1926 and 2020. 22 of them were published after Thornton Wilder's death in 1975.

Thornton Wilder Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 41 Thornton Wilder 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 Cabala by Thornton Wilder (1926)
  2. Cover of The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (1927)
  3. Cover of The Happy Journey by Thornton Wilder (1930)
  4. Cover of The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act by Thornton Wilder (1931)
  5. Cover of Heaven's My Destination by Thornton Wilder (1935)
  6. Cover of Our Town by Thornton Wilder (1938)
  7. Cover of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder (1942)
  8. Cover of The Ides of March by Thornton Wilder (1948)
  9. Cover of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder (1954)
  10. Cover of Infancy by Thornton Wilder (1961)
  11. Cover of Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder (1973)
  12. Cover of The Alcestiad: Or, a Life in the Sun by Thornton Wilder (1977)
  13. Cover of American Characteristics and Other Essays by Thornton Wilder (1979)
  14. Cover of The Journals of Thornton Wilder, 1939-1961 by Thornton Wilder (1985)
  15. Cover of The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Thornton Wilder by Thornton Wilder (1996)
  16. Cover of The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder, Volume I by Thornton Wilder (1997)
  17. Cover of The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder, Volume II by Thornton Wilder (1997)
  18. Cover of A Tour of the Darkling Plain by Thornton Wilder (2001)
  19. Cover of The Selected Letters by Thornton Wilder (2008)
  20. Cover of Adaptation of The Beaux' Stratagem by Thornton Wilder (2010)
  21. Cover of Childhood by Thornton Wilder (2011)
  22. Cover of The Seven Deadly Sins by Thornton Wilder (2012)
  23. Cover of Youth by Thornton Wilder (2014)
  1. 1
    The Cabala1926 · 200 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1926200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Bridge of San Luis Rey1927 · 138 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1927138
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays1928 · confirmed 1/4
    1928–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Happy Journey1930 · 28 pages · confirmed 1/4
    193028
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Woman of Andros1930 · confirmed 1/4
    1930–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Long Christmas Dinner and Other Plays in One Act1931 · 107 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1931107
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Heaven's My Destination1935 · 215 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1935215
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Our Town1938 · 181 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1938181
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Merchant of Yonkers1939 · confirmed 1/4
    1939–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Love And How To Cure It1941 · 22 pages · confirmed 1/4
    194122
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Skin of Our Teeth1942 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1942160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    James Joyce, 1882-19411944 · confirmed 1/4
    1944–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Rare Our Century a Play in Three Scenes1947 · confirmed 1/4
    1947–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Ides of March1948 · 281 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1948281
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The Matchmaker1954 · 120 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1954120
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Drunken Sisters1957 · confirmed 1/4
    1957–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Infancy1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Eighth Day1967 · 481 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1967481
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Theophilus North1973 · 405 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973405
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    The Alcestiad: Or, a Life in the Sun1977 · 129 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1977129
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    American Characteristics and Other Essays1979 · 298 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1979298
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Journals of Thornton Wilder, 1939-19611985 · 354 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985354
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    The Letters of Gertrude Stein and Thornton Wilder1996 · 452 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1996452
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder, Volume I1997 · 280 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    The Collected Short Plays of Thornton Wilder, Volume II1997 · 280 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1997280
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    A Thornton Wilder Reader1997 · confirmed 1/4
    1997–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Collected Translations and Adaptations of Thornton2000 · confirmed 1/4
    2000–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    A Tour of the Darkling Plain2001 · 732 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2001732
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    The Selected Letters2008 · 729 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2008729
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Adaptation of The Beaux' Stratagem2010 · 97 pages · confirmed 1/4
    201097
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Thornton Wilder 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.

Standalone books

41 books

41 Thornton Wilder titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Thornton Wilder books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 41 Thornton Wilder books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Thornton Wilder

Start with The Cabala (1926), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Thornton Wilder book?

Three Plays: Our Town, The Matchmaker, and The Skin of Our Teeth (2020) is the newest Thornton Wilder book released so far.

Is there a new Thornton Wilder book coming?

No next Thornton Wilder 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 Thornton Wilder has won

Wikidata records 3 awards and 9 nominations for Thornton Wilder. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • National Book Award1968Won
  • Pulitzer Prize for Drama1943Wonfor The Skin of Our Teeth
  • Pulitzer Prize for Drama1938Wonfor Our Town
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1966Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1965Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1964Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1963Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1962Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1959Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1958Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1949Shortlisted
  • Nobel Prize in Literature1929Shortlisted

Thornton Wilder at a glance

Died
Thornton Wilder died in 1975, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Thornton Wilder are still being published after Thornton Wilder's death in 1975; the newest appeared in 2020.
Release pace
Thornton Wilder books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
6,021 pages across the 27 of 41 books with a recorded length, a median of 160 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Thornton Wilder books, 11 of 41, were published in the 2010s.

What the Thornton Wilder books are about

29 of the 41 Thornton Wilder books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: drama is tagged on 11 of 29. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

  • Drama 11 of 29 books
  • Authors 4 of 29 books
  • American drama 4 of 29 books
  • American literature 4 of 29 books
  • One-act plays 4 of 29 books
  • Collections 3 of 29 books
  • Correspondence 3 of 29 books
  • Play 3 of 29 books
  • Adaptations 2 of 29 books
  • City and town life 2 of 29 books
  • History 2 of 29 books