Mary McCarthy books in order
American writer
- Lived
- 1912–1989
- Country
- United States
- Books
- 25
Mary McCarthy published 6 novels, 1 novella, 4 short story collections, 9 non-fiction books, 1 play and 4 other books, beginning with The Group (1963).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Mary McCarthy
Start here
The Group
Mary McCarthy's most-read book.
Standalone novels in order
The Oasis (1949)
The New Yorker, Feb. 3, 1951 "The Groves of Academe" (1951)
A Charmed Life (1955)
The Group (1963)
Birds of America (1971)
How I Grew (1987)
Novellas in order
Ideas and the Novel (1980)
Short story collections in order
The Company She Keeps (1939)
Cast a Cold Eye (1950)
The Writing on the Wall (1970)
The Hounds of Summer and Other Stories (1981)
Non-fiction in order
Venice Observed (1956)
The Stones of Florence (1959)
On the Contrary (1961)
Hanoi (1968)
Occasional Prose (1985)
The Stones Of Florence And Venice Observed (1985)
Conversations with Mary McCarthy (1991)
Intellectual Memoirs (1992)
A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays (2002)
Plays in order
Sights and Spectacles (1956)
Other books in order
Vietnam (1967)
Medina (1972)
The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits (1974)
The Seventeenth Degree (1974)
About Mary McCarthy
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American novelist, critic and political activist, best known for her novel The Group, her marriage to critic Edmund Wilson, her intimate friendship with her colleague Hannah Arendt and her storied feud with playwright Lillian Hellman. McCarthy was the winner of the Horizon Prize in 1949 and was awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, in 1949 and 1959. She was a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy in Rome. In 1973, she delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden, the Netherlands, under the title Can There Be a Gothic Literature? The same year she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She won the National Medal for Literature and the Edward MacDowell Medal in 1984. McCarthy held honorary degrees from Bard, Bowdoin, Colby, Smith College, Syracuse University, the University of Maine at Orono, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Hull.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Mary McCarthy FAQ
- How many books has Mary McCarthy written?
- Mary McCarthy published 6 novels, 1 novella, 4 short story collections, 9 non-fiction books, 1 play and 4 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Mary McCarthy's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Group.
- What is Mary McCarthy's last book?
- Conversations with Mary McCarthy (1991).
- What is Mary McCarthy's most famous book?
- The Group (1963) is Mary McCarthy's most widely read book.
Authors like Mary McCarthy
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.