Charles Baxter Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Charles Baxter is a published American author.

He was born in Minneapolis on May 13, 1947. Charles attended Macalester College in Saint Paul and graduated. Charles went to the State University of New York at Buffalo and completed his graduate work in English there. He would then go on to teach for a few years at Wayne State University in Detroit.

In 1989, Charles moved to the Department of English at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and its MFA program. He is currently a teacher employed at the University of Minnesota.

Baxter has written four novels, four collections of shorts stories, three collections featuring poems, a collection of essays on fiction, and has edited other different works. He has written works of fiction that include Believers, The Feast of Love, Saul and Patsy, and Through the Safety Net. The Feast of Love would end up being nominated for the National Book Award.

The Sun Collective is a 2020 book by Charles Baxter. This is a book from a National Book Award finalist and someone who has been called ‘one of our most gifted writers’ according to the Chicago Tribune.

The book is unsettling but also timely, and is about the type of people who are drawn to a local activist group and get unmoored by the group, which is much more dangerous than it presents itself to be at first.

Tim Brettigan used to be an actor with a ton of promise but now things have been turned upside down since he has now gone missing. His father believes that he may have glimpsed him as being among some homeless people but there’s no way to know for sure. His mother knows deep down that he left intentionally, but despite this, she’s been looking for him all over the city.

His mother looks at all of the usual places for him, checking at storefronts, churches, benches and more. She ends up finding a local community group that claims to have some lofty goals and they follow a mysterious leader who is going to change all of their lives.

Christina is a young woman who is starting to get addicted to a boutique drug that is able to give her the feeling of being blessed. She finds herself being drawn to the collective by a man who thinks that he can start a revolution. The lives of these four characters come together as a story of anxiety, guilt and hope starts unfolding in Minneapolis.

This is a view of American society and the ghosts of fanaticism, consumerism, and fear that haunt it. As a result, this book is able to provide a picture of the mystery and violence that are so often part of our lives.

Blood Test is a 2024 comedy by Charles Baxter. This is a book from the winner of the PEN/Malamud Award that brings readers the humorous story that focuses on a divorced Midwestern dad who takes a medical test and finds out that apparently he has a predisposition to murder.

In this take on trouble and love in America, Brock Hobson discovers that the balance in his world has been disrupted completely by a predictive blood test. He’s an insurance salesman and also a Sunday School teacher but a cutting edge type of test has just disturbed his entire equilibrium.

Baxter has always been a great storyteller and brings readers a roller coaster narrative that is gradually getting bigger as well as a protagonist who is searching but also very relatable. He has a gentle girlfriend who is good as gold and he also has an ex-wife who left him for a macho subcontractor guy, as well as teen kids who are now exploring sex and sexuality themselves.

All together, the characters in Brock’s life are all a part of the drama, and he’s going to have to deal with things as the different challenges to his sense of who he is and his sense of purpose end up affecting him. The result is a delightful final battle as this story tells readers to select the best people to love, accept the ones that we love despite not choosing them, and love everyone well. Check out this book to follow along with every word and read this book that is compelling from start to finish!