Walker Percy

About Walker Percy The American author Walker Percy was world renowned during his lifetime, with a whole host of books to his name. Speaking on a range of different subjects, he was a gifted writer with a lot to say, becoming one of the most prominent voices of the twentieth century. Often writing upon themes of alienation, and how it affected those living within modern society at the time, he definitely had a lot to say.

The best place to start is the Will Barrett series, the earliest of Walker Percy's multi-book series: it opens with The Last Gentleman (1966) and runs to 2 books across 1966–1980, ending with The Second Coming (1980). Walker Percy's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Walker Percy has 124 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1961 and 2023. 101 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being the Dr. Tom More series with 2 books — and 23 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Walker Percy's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Will Barrett (1966–1980, 2 books) and Dr. Tom More (1971–1987, 2 books).

This guide splits Walker Percy's 124 books into 3 named series and 23 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Dr. Tom More (2 books, 1971–1987); Will Barrett (2 books, 1966–1980); Literary Conversations (97 books, 1969–2023).