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Wally Lamb Books In Order

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Publication Order of Standalone Novels

She's Come Undone (1992)Description / Buy at Amazon
I Know This Much Is True (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon
The Hour I First Believed (2007)Description / Buy at Amazon
Wishin' and Hopin' (2009)Description / Buy at Amazon
We Are Water (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon
I'll Take You There (2016)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Collections

You Don’t Know Me (2019)Description / Buy at Amazon

Publication Order of Anthologies

Couldn't Keep it to Myself(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon
I'll Fly Away(2007)Description / Buy at Amazon

A multi-award winning courtesy of his bestselling literary works, Wally Lamb is a celebrated American penman. He was born in October 1950 in Norwich upon Connecticut, in the US. Lamb, who is a sexagenarian, attended Norwich Free Academy, a school which he would later on return to teach English in the early 1970s; generally, Lamb, who juggles teaching and writing, taught high school in a career spanning over two decades. For his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, wherein he received teaching degrees, Lamb went to the University of Connecticut. Similarly, he has also taught at this university whereby he was an Associate Professor in the English Department. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts from Vermont College.

Wally Lamb, who is a notable speaker in institutions and during literary events, has also facilitated writing workshops targeting jailed women. Lamb opines that his childhood hobby, wherein he crafted comic books, stood him in good stead when he kick started his bountiful writing career. Another thing that gave him an upper hand in his quest for writing is the demographics of his hometown; he hails from a family wherein he grew up alongside older sisters and, generally, the number of girls exceeded that of boys in yonder neighborhood. His extensive interaction with females augurs well for him when writing using a female point of view.

Wall Lamb sums up his aims for teaching and, contextually, writing thus: one, as a way of transcending what he has so far experienced in his life, and, two, to have a better grasp of other people’s lives.

Description of Two Early Books
Wally Lamb, who has also edited anthologies, has been writing fiction since 1981. But his work was not published until the early 1990s. And thus Lamb debuted in 1992. Lamb’s debut book is titled She’s Come Undone. There are approximately sixty editions of this book. The first edition was hot off the press in August 1992, and this book is shelved under coming-of-age, inspirational, contemporary fiction, and chick literature genres.

Wally Lamb’s second book; there are approximately fifty editions of this book but the first one was initially published in January 1998, and this book is shelved under the realistic fiction, literary fiction, contemporary, inspirational, and mental illness genres.

On the one hand, the featured protagonist in the 1992 book She’s Come Undone is Dolores Price. Protagonist Price is a teenager who is grappling with obesity–she weighs way over 250 pounds. She hails from a broken home; her father and mother separated. She has also been a rape victim of a neighbor. Disdained by her kith and kin, she is in a self-imposed cage wherein she her daily routine revolves around watching television and eating junk food all the while. The introvert’s cocoon only complicates her mental and physical problems.

The death of her mother metes out a mighty blow on her life but prompts Dolores Price to go to college. More problems, such as bullying and a damnable marriage plus a divorce later on in her life, come in her train. Worse still, a lesbian who is several years her junior seduces Price at the college. After a botched suicide, Dolores Price wounds up in a mental health facility. Despite the plethora of problems which have visited the vulnerable Dolores Price in quick succession, she has resolved to make up for it. She picks the pieces of her problematic life, and after ultimately realizing that life has given her the idiomatic lemons, makes the idiomatic lemonade.

On the other hand, Dominick Birdsey is the featured protagonist in the 1998 book, the second one. Dominick has a schizophrenic and paranoiac twin brother called Thomas Birdsey, prompting Dominick to assume the care-giving role. Dominick is lobbying for his brother’s release from a mental institution and trying to come to terms with the death of his child and runaway wife. The apple that upsets the cart is Thomas’ suicide in a public library for atonement.

Wally Lamb Awards
Wally Lamb has clinched various literary awards courtesy of his acclaimed books. In 2000, his 1998 book clinched the Audie Award, in the Unabridged Fiction category. The said book also clinched the Kenneth Johnson Memorial Book Award. In1992, the book called She’s Come Undone clinched the Los Angeles Times Book Award (Best First Novel category). In 2014, his 2013 book We Are Water was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award.

Lamb clinched the Connecticut Book Award (specifically, Lifetime Achievement); the Distinguished Public Service Award courtesy of Connecticut Bar Association; a Governor’s Arts Award; Writers for Writers Award proffered by Barnes & Noble; William Peden Prize; in 1999, New England Book Award (Fiction category); and 2010 Arts and Letters Award courtesy of YMCA of New York City.

Wally Lamb Movies
There is a film adaptation of Wally Lamb’s 2009 book titled Wishing’ and Hopin’. The 2014 film is also titled Wishin’ and Hopin’, and starred Molly Ringwald as Madame Frechette, Chevy Chase as Adult Felix, and Annabella Sciorra as Ma.

Best Wally Lamb Books
The debut book, the second one, and third, chronologically, are the best books authored by Wally Lamb. The first two have been discussed in a previous section. The third was originally published in 2007; the featured protagonist, albeit a narrator, is called Caelum Quirk who teaches a high school wherein his partner is the school nurse. Quirk is absent from the school when two murderous students attack the institution, leaving her wife an emotional wreck. As the nurse grapples with her sanity, her husband chances upon a cache of newspaper cuttings, diary entries, and mails tracing his ancestry.

Other Book Series You May Like
Readers who enjoyed reading books penned by Wally Lamb also liked reading the following series of books. The first one is called Idlewild series authored by Pearl Cleage. The series is set in the backdrop of Idlewind, Michigan and Atlanta and talks about integration in the wake of the racial segregation in America. The second one is called the Katie Nash series penned by Elizabeth Berg. It revolves around protagonist Katie Nash, a child character who is eagerly waiting to mature.

The third one is called Cappadora Family series penned by Jacquelyn Mitchard. It chronicles the lives of a certain Cappadora Family in the wake of their kidnapped child Ben Cappadora.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Wally Lamb

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