Walker Percy Books in Order
14 books are credited to Walker Percy, published between 1961 and 2019; 3 of them appeared after Walker Percy's death in 1990. The first book is The Moviegoer (1961) and the newest is Symbol and Existence (2019). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 14
- Published
- 1961–2019
- Confirmed
- 2 of 14 titles
- Total pages
- 3,962 across 14 books
- Reading time
- 66–99 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 3,962 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute.
Walker Percy (May 28, 1916 to May 10, 1990) was an American novelist and a Southern Catholic literary figure. Alienation, existentialism, faith and the limits of science run through the Percy novels, several of them set in New Orleans. The Moviegoer (1961), the first, won the National Book Award for Fiction. Will Barrett and Dr. Tom More are the two series, and The Last Gentleman, Love in the Ruins, Lancelot and The Second Coming are among the novels. Percy earned an M.D. from Columbia University in 1941 after studying chemistry at Chapel Hill.
How many Walker Percy books are there?
Walker Percy has 14 books, released between 1961 and 2019. 3 of them were published after Walker Percy's death in 1990. They include 2 series and 8 titles listed outside any series.
Walker Percy Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 14 Walker Percy 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.
- 1The Moviegoer1961 · 241 pages · confirmed 1/419612411/4
- 219664091/4
- 319714031/4
- 4The Message in the Bottle1975 · 345 pages · confirmed 1/419753451/4
- 5Lancelot1977 · 257 pages · confirmed 1/419772571/4
- 619803591/4
- 7Lost in the Cosmos1983 · 262 pages · confirmed 1/419832621/4
- 8Diagnosing the Modern Malaise1985 · 22 pages · confirmed 1/41985221/4
- 919853253/4
- 1019873721/4
- 11State of the Novel1987 · 20 pages · confirmed 1/41987201/4
- 12Signposts in a Strange Land1991 · 428 pages · confirmed 1/419914281/4
- 1319932483/4
- 14Symbol and Existence2019 · 271 pages · confirmed 1/420192711/4
Walker Percy 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.
Will Barrett in order
2 booksDr. Tom More in order
2 booksLiterary Conversations in order
2 booksStandalone books
8 books8 Walker Percy titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Walker Percy books in order?
You only need to read Walker Percy books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Walker Percy
Start with The Moviegoer (1961), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Walker Percy book?
Symbol and Existence (2019) is the newest Walker Percy book released so far.
Is there a new Walker Percy book coming?
No next Walker Percy 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 Walker Percy has won
Wikidata records 2 awards and 4 nominations for Walker Percy. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.
- St. Louis Literary Award1985Won
- National Book Award1962Won
- PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction1981Shortlistedfor The Second Coming
- National Book Award for Fiction1972Shortlistedfor Love in the Ruins
- National Book Award for Fiction1967Shortlistedfor The Last Gentleman
- National Book Award for Fiction1962Shortlistedfor The Moviegoer
Walker Percy at a glance
- Died
- Walker Percy died in 1990, according to Wikidata.
- After death
- Books credited to Walker Percy are still being published after Walker Percy's death in 1990; the newest appeared in 2019.
- Release pace
- Walker Percy books have appeared about one every 5 years on average.
- Length
- 3,962 pages across all 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 298 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Walker Percy books, 6 of 14, were published in the 1980s.
What the Walker Percy books are about
12 of the 14 Walker Percy books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: novelists is tagged on 3 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Novelists 3 of 12 books
- Authorship 3 of 12 books
- Fiction in English 3 of 12 books
- Interviews 3 of 12 books
- Men 2 of 12 books
- Percy, walker, 1916-1990 2 of 12 books
- Psychology 2 of 12 books
- Young men 2 of 12 books