William Gay Books in Order

Young Tennessee carpenter Nathan Winer lives in the shadow of the evil that took his father. His attachment to Amber Rose and the silence of an elderly witness draw him toward a painful family truth.

Banjo player E.F. Bloodworth returns to Tennessee after thirty years away, confronting the family he abandoned. His grandson Fleming welcomes him, but old resentments and Fleming's attraction to Raven Lee complicate the homecoming.

Thirteen stories follow troubled people in rural Tennessee confronting abandonment, family conflict, and violence. An elderly man returns to his occupied homestead, while other characters face broken marriages and unsettling discoveries that expose the consequences of their choices.

Kenneth Tyler and his sister uncover disturbing evidence about an undertaker after investigating their father's burial. When a violent enforcer is sent after them, Kenneth must flee through an isolated backwoods landscape with the incriminating photographs.

Two stories examine love alongside the fear of death, following people whose longing reaches beyond ordinary relationships. Desires for connection and continuity take disturbing turns, exposing the tension between attachment to life and the darkness surrounding its end.

Guest editor Stephen King and series editor Heidi Pitlor select twenty short stories first published in U.S. and Canadian magazines. The annual anthology includes Richard Russo’s “Horseman” alongside work by Alice Munro, Lauren Groff, Karen Russell, and others.

A collection brings together William Gay's short fiction, personal recollections, essays, and an interview. Alongside stories, it includes nonfiction prose about music and his own experiences, extending the range of his previously collected work.

Struggling with writer's block, David Binder takes his family to Tennessee to investigate a ghost story remembered from childhood. His search through the Beale farm's violent history becomes an obsession with the forces haunting it.

Retired sheriff Cap Holder hires private investigator Stoneburner after a drug deal collapses and his girlfriend disappears. The search leads across several Southern states, where a fugitive veteran, stolen money, and competing pursuers complicate the case.

Discharged from the Navy and estranged from his family, Billy Edgewater hitchhikes toward his dying father in East Tennessee. Encounters with con artists and dangerous strangers turn the journey home into a succession of unsettling detours.

Teenage orphan Marion Yates finds shelter with former schoolteacher Black Crowe in a harsh rural world. When a dynamite explosion leaves Crowe temporarily disabled, Marion becomes his caretaker, reversing the responsibilities of their unusual relationship.

Previously unpublished stories and fragments from unfinished novels emerge from William Gay’s posthumous archive. These pieces extend his examination of Southern lives, revealing characters confronting the troubling pressures and contradictions familiar from his rural fictional worlds.