Tennessee Williams books in order
American playwright
- Lived
- 1911–1983
- Country
- United States
- Books
- 49
Tennessee Williams published 3 novels, 1 novella, 4 short story collections, 3 non-fiction books, 29 plays and 9 other books, beginning with The Glass Menagerie (1945).
Updated September 2026
Where to start with Tennessee Williams
Start here
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams's most-read book, rated by 72 Open Library readers.
Standalone novels in order
The Knightly Quest; a Novella and Four Short Stories (1966)
Moise and the World of Reason (1975)
Plays 1937 - 1955 (2000)
Novellas in order
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1950)
Short story collections in order
One Arm, and Other Stories (1948)
Hard Candy (1954)
Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed (1974)
Collected Stories (1985)
Non-fiction in order
Where I Live (1978)
The Selected Letters of Tennessee Williams (2000)
Notebooks (2006)
Plays in order
27 Wagons Full of Cotton (1945)
The Glass Menagerie (1945)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
Summer and Smoke (1948)
The Rose Tattoo (1950)
Camino Real (1953)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955)
Baby Doll (1956)
Orpheus Descending (1958)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1958)
Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)
The Night of the Iguana (1961)
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1963)
In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969)
The Theatre of Tennessee Williams (1971)
Small Craft Warnings (1972)
Out Cry (1973)
The Two-character Play (1979)
Vieux Carré (1979)
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1980)
Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1981)
Stopped Rocking and Other Screenplays (1984)
The Notebook of Trigorin (1997)
Not About Nightingales (1998)
Stairs to the Roof (2000)
Fugitive Kind (2001)
Candles to the Sun (2004)
A House Not Meant to Stand (2008)
The Magic Tower and Other One-act Plays (2011)
Other books in order
You Touched Me! (1942)
Battle of Angels (1945)
In the Winter of Cities (1956)
A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot (1958)
Period of Adjustment (1960)
Kingdom of Earth (1968)
Dragon Country (1970)
Tennessee Williams' Letters to Donald Windham, 1940-1965 (1976)
The Red Devil Battery Sign (1988)
Film and TV adaptations
- Here Without Me (2011)Film · from The Glass Menagerie
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)Film · from A Streetcar Named Desire
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)Film · from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1984)TV · from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
- The Piper (1985)Film · from Orpheus Descending
- Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)Film · from Suddenly, Last Summer
- Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)Film · from Sweet Bird of Youth
- The Night of the Iguana (1964)Film · from The Night of the Iguana
About Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III, known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three foremost playwrights of 20th-century American drama.
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Tennessee Williams FAQ
- How many books has Tennessee Williams written?
- Tennessee Williams published 3 novels, 1 novella, 4 short story collections, 3 non-fiction books, 29 plays and 9 other books that we list, as of September 2026.
- What order should I read Tennessee Williams's books in?
- Publication order is a safe choice; the full list is above. Most readers start with The Glass Menagerie.
- What is Tennessee Williams's last book?
- Collected Stories (1985).
- What is Tennessee Williams's most famous book?
- The Glass Menagerie (1945) is Tennessee Williams's most widely read book.
- Which Tennessee Williams books have been adapted?
- 7 books have been adapted for film or TV, including The Glass Menagerie (as Here Without Me, film, 2011), A Streetcar Named Desire (film, 1951), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (film, 1958) and Orpheus Descending (as The Piper, film, 1985).
Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.