As I Lay Dying, by William FaulknerRead about another book on the list.
Written in: A power plant
Faulkner was your classic author in many ways, largely incompetent off of the written page, overfond of whiskey, and seemingly incapable of holding a straight job. After being forced to resign from a gig as postmaster at his alma mater, the University of Mississippi, he worked the night shift at a power plant in order to make ends meet—and largely ignored the workings of the plant, instead spending his time much more profitably writing his classic novel As I Lay Dying. Since the power plant didn’t burn down, we can assume Faulkner at least pursued the minimum effort in his job, but next time you’re reading this novel, imagine its author toiling at 3 a.m. while the sparks literally flew.
As I Lay Dying is on Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick's list of eight of the most badass ladies in all of banned literature, Nicole Hill's lists of nine of the biggest martyrs in fiction and five books that, like country and western songs, tell "stories of agony and ecstasy, soaring highs and mighty powerful lows, heartache and hard living," Laura Frost's list of the ten best modernist books (in English), Helen Humphreys's top ten list of books on grieving, John Mullan's list of ten of the best teeth in literature, Jon McGregor's list of the top ten dead bodies in literature, Roy Blount Jr.'s list of five favorite books of Southern humor, and James Franco's six best books list.
The “My mother is a fish.” chapter in As I Lay Dying is among the ten most notorious parts of famous books according to Gabe Habash.
--Marshal Zeringue
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