Novels, 1930-1935

Between 1930 and 1935, William Faulkner came into full possession of the genius and creativity that made him America's greatest writer of the 20th century. As I Lay Dying is a dark comedy, full of horror and compassion, of a rural Mississippi family bearing the corpse of their matriarch to burial in town. Sanctuary, a violent novel of sex and social class that moves from Mississippi back roads to the fleshpots of Memphis, features a sadistic gangster named Popeye and a debutante with an affinity for evil. Light in August, a near-religious vision of the hopeful stubborness of ordinary life, is perhaps Faulkner's most moving work. Pylon, a tale of barnstorming aviators, examines bonds of loyalty and desire among three men and a woman. All are presented in restored texts as part of The Library of America's new, authoritative edition of Faulkner's complete works.