Introduction


William Faulkner
Considered one of America’s greatest and most influential authors, William Faulkner is often credited with inventing the stream of consciousness style of writing, but many other authors had used it before him. He did, however, perfect the art. He was born in Mississippi, and his southern upbringing contributed heavily to his most famous works, including The Sound and the Fury and Absalom! Absalom! In addition to novels, Faulkner wrote a number of short stories (most notably “A Rose for Emily”), and he also dabbled heavily in mysteries and crime fiction. Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.

Essential Facts

  1. Although William Faulkner is one of literature’s best-known alcoholics, he insists he never drank while writing. He used liquor as a way to escape his life, but he did not feel that it aided the creative process in any way.
  2. The author Joan Williams claims to have had a four-year affair with Faulkner. She wrote about it in the novel The Wintering.
  3. Faulkner lived in Hollywood during the 1930s and wrote screenplays, including The Big Sleep and the film adaptation of To Have and Have Not.
  4. The main character in the 1991 film Barton Fink is said to be based on William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
  5. Faulkner used to write notes about his current project on the walls of his home office. Visitors today can still see his notes for A Fable there.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. A Rose for Emily - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  2. A Rose for Emily Study Guide
  3. Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  4. The Bear Study Guide
  5. The Sound and the Fury Study Guide
  6. William Faulkner Author Guide

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. A Fable - Literary Characters
  2. A Fable - Literary Places
  3. A Rose for Emily - Book Review
  4. A Rose for Emily - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  5. A Rose for Emily - Short Story Criticism
  6. A Rose for Emily Study Guide
  7. Absalom, Absalom! - Book Review
  8. Absalom, Absalom! - Identities and Issues in Literature
  9. Absalom, Absalom! - Literary Characters
  10. Absalom, Absalom! - Literary Places
  11. Absalom, Absalom! - Masterplots
  12. Absalom, Absalom! Study Guide
  13. American Decades - 1930's The Arts
  14. American Decades - 1950's The Arts
  15. As I Lay Dying - Book Review
  16. As I Lay Dying - Literary Characters
  17. As I Lay Dying - Literary Places
  18. As I Lay Dying - Masterplots
  19. As I Lay Dying Lesson Plans
  20. As I Lay Dying Study Guide
  21. Barn Burning - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  22. Barn Burning Study Guide
  23. Barn Burning, Red Leaves, That Evening Sun quickNotes
  24. Country Lawyer and Other Stories for the Screen
  25. Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  26. Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction
  27. Cyclopedia of World Authors
  28. Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  29. Faulkner's Short Fiction quickNotes
  30. Go Down, Moses - Literary Characters
  31. Go Down, Moses - Literary Places
  32. Intruder in the Dust (1949)
  33. Intruder in the Dust - Identities and Issues in Literature
  34. Intruder in the Dust - Literary Characters
  35. Intruder in the Dust - Literary Places
  36. Light in August - Book Review
  37. Light in August - Identities and Issues in Literature
  38. Light in August - Literary Characters
  39. Light in August - Literary Places
  40. Light in August - Masterplots
  41. Light in August Study Guide
  42. Mosquitoes - Literary Characters
  43. Mosquitoes - Masterplots II: American Fiction Series
  44. Pylon - Literary Characters
  45. Pylon - Masterplots II: American Fiction Series
  46. Requiem for a Nun - Literary Characters
  47. Requiem for a Nun - Literary Places
  48. Sanctuary - Book Review
  49. Sanctuary - Literary Characters
  50. Sanctuary - Literary Places
  51. Sanctuary - Masterplots
  52. Sanctuary quickNotes
  53. Sartoris - Literary Characters
  54. Sartoris - Literary Places
  55. Soldiers' Pay - Literary Characters
  56. Soldiers' Pay - Masterplots II: American Fiction Series
  57. Tarnished Angels (1957)
  58. That Evening Sun - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  59. That Evening Sun Study Guide
  60. The Bear - Short Story Criticism
  61. The Bear Study Guide
  62. The Hamlet - Literary Characters
  63. The Hamlet - Literary Places
  64. The Long, Hot Summer (1986)
  65. The Mansion - Literary Characters
  66. The Mansion - Literary Places
  67. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on Absalom, Absalom!
  68. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on As I Lay Dying
  69. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on Light in August
  70. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on Sanctuary
  71. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on The Bear
  72. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on The Reivers
  73. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on The Sound and the Fure
  74. The Oxford Companion to American Literature Article on The Unvanquished
  75. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on William Faulkner
  76. The Reivers (1969)
  77. The Reivers - Literary Characters
  78. The Reivers - Literary Places
  79. The Reivers - Masterplots
  80. The Reivers quickNotes
  81. The Sound and the Fury - Book Review
  82. The Sound and the Fury - Identities and Issues in Literature
  83. The Sound and the Fury - Literary Characters
  84. The Sound and the Fury - Literary Places
  85. The Sound and the Fury - Masterplots
  86. The Sound and the Fury Study Guide
  87. The Town - Literary Characters
  88. The Town - Literary Places
  89. The Unvanquished - Literary Characters
  90. The Unvanquished - Literary Places
  91. The Unvanquished - Masterplots
  92. The Unvanquished quickNotes
  93. The Wild Palms - Literary Characters
  94. The Wild Palms - Literary Places
  95. The Wishing Tree quickNotes
  96. William Faulkner
  97. William Faulkner
  98. William Faulkner
  99. William Faulkner
  100. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism
  101. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 1)
  102. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 3)
  103. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 6)
  104. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 8)
  105. William Faulkner - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 9)
  106. William Faulkner - Gothic Literature
  107. William Faulkner - Identities and Issues in Literature
  108. William Faulkner - Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
  109. William Faulkner and the Tangible Past
  110. William Faulkner Author Guide
  111. William Faulkner Censorship
  112. William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
  113. William Faulkner's Old Man (1997)