The Best Southern Novels of All Time

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Oxford American, 32 Books

A list of the best southern novels of all time by Oxford American Magazine judged by 130 experts as well as authors.

This list was originally published in 2009 and was added to this site over 12 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
43 Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner 1936 American English
149 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 1946 American English
9 The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner 1929 American English
22 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 1884 American English
16 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 1960 American English
182 The Moviegoer Walker Percy 1961 American English
79 As I Lay Dying William Faulkner 1930 American English
36 Invisible Man Ralph Ellison 1952 American English
362 Wise Blood Flannery O'Connor 1952 American English
68 Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston 1937 American English
118 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter Carson McCullers 1940 American English
203 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
181 Light in August William Faulkner 1932 American English
466 A Death in the Family James Agee 1957 American English
253 Look Homeward, Angel Thomas Wolfe 1929 American English
49 Beloved Toni Morrison 1987 American English
271 The Awakening Kate Chopin 1899 American English
157 The Color Purple Alice Walker 1982 American English
107 Native Son Richard Wright 1940 American English
1313 The Optimist's Daughter Eudora Welty 1972 American English
1089 Suttree Cormac McCarthy 1979 American English
1714 Go Down, Moses William Faulkner 1942 American English
58 Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell 1936 American English
2813 The Golden Apples Eudora Welty 1949 American English
854 Cane Jean Toomer 1923 American English
574 The Known World Edward P. Jones 2003 American English
198 Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy 1985 American English
925 Deliverance James Dickey 1970 American English
1251 The Last Gentleman Walker Percy 1966 American English
2491 A Lesson Before Dying Ernest J. Gaines 1993 American English
722 Bastard Out of Carolina Dorothy Allison 1992 American English
1541 The Confessions of Nat Turner William Styron 1967 American English