Richard Ford Popular Books
Richard Ford Biography & Facts
Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, Rock Springs, was published in 1987. In the United States, Ford received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Independence Day. In Spain, he won the Princess of Asturias Award for 2016. In 2018, Ford received the Park Kyong-ni Prize, an international literary award from South Korea. His novel Wildlife was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name, and in 2023 Ford published Be Mine, his fifth work of fiction chronicling the life of Frank Bascombe. Early life Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi, the only son of Parker Carrol and Edna Ford. Parker was a traveling salesman for Faultless Starch, a Kansas City company. Of his mother, Ford said, "Her ambition was to be, first, in love with my father and, second, to be a full-time mother." When Ford was eight years old, his father had a severe heart failure, and thereafter Ford spent as much time with his grandfather, a former prizefighter and hotel owner in Little Rock, Arkansas, as he did with his parents in Mississippi. Ford's father died of a second heart attack in 1960. In Jackson, Ford lived across the street from the home of author Eudora Welty. Ford's grandfather had worked for a railroad. At the age of 19, before deciding to attend college, Ford began work on the Missouri Pacific train line as a locomotive engineer's assistant, learning the work while doing the job. Ford received a B.A. degree from Michigan State University. Having enrolled to study hotel management, he switched to English. After graduating, he taught junior high school in Flint, Michigan, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps but was discharged after contracting hepatitis. At university he met Kristina Hensley, his future wife; they married in 1968. Despite mild dyslexia, Ford developed a serious interest in literature. He has stated in interviews that his dyslexia may have helped him as a reader, as it forced him to read books slowly and thoughtfully. Ford briefly attended law school but quit and participated with the creative writing program at the University of California, Irvine, to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree, which he received in 1970. Ford chose this course simply because "they admitted me. I remember getting the application for Iowa, and thinking they'd never have let me in. I'm sure I was right about that, too. But, typical of me, I didn't know who was teaching at Irvine. I didn't know it was important to know such things. I wasn't the most curious of young men, even though I give myself credit for not letting that deter me." Actually, Oakley Hall and E. L. Doctorow were teaching there, and Ford has acknowledged that they influenced him. In 1971, he was selected for a three-year appointment in the University of Michigan Society of Fellows. Early career Ford published his first novel, A Piece of My Heart, the story of two unlikely drifters whose paths cross on an island in the Mississippi River, during 1976, and followed it with The Ultimate Good Luck during 1981. During the interim he briefly taught at Williams College and Princeton University. Despite good notices, the books sold little, and Ford retired from fiction writing to become a writer for the New York magazine Inside Sports. "I realized," Ford said, "there was probably a wide gulf between what I could do and what would succeed with readers. I felt that I'd had a chance to write two novels, and neither of them had really created much stir, so maybe I should find real employment, and earn my keep." During 1982, the magazine was terminated, and when Sports Illustrated did not hire Ford, he resumed writing fiction, composing The Sportswriter, about a failed novelist turned sportswriter who undergoes an emotional crisis after the death of his son. It was named one of Time magazine's five best books of 1986 and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Ford followed up that success with Rock Springs (1987), a story collection —set mostly in Montana —that includes what remain some of his most anthologized short stories. Mid-career and acclaim Ford's 1990 novel Wildlife, a story of a Montana golf professional turned firefighter, met with mixed reviews and middling sales, but by the end of the 1990s Ford was increasingly sought after as an editor and contributor to various projects. Ford edited the 1990 Best American Short Stories, the 1992 Granta Book of the American Short Story, the Fall 1996 "fiction issue" of Ploughshares, and the 1998 Granta Book of the American Long Story. In the latter volume's "Introduction," Ford stipulated that he preferred the designation "long story" instead of the term "novella." For the publishing project Library of America, Ford edited a two-volume edition of the selected works of the Mississippi writer Eudora Welty, which was published during 1998. During 1995, Ford published the novel Independence Day, a sequel to The Sportswriter, featuring the continued story of its protagonist, Frank Bascombe. Reviews were positive, and the novel became the first to win both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. During the same year, Ford was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story, for outstanding achievement for that genre. He ended the 1990s with a well-received collection of short stories, Women With Men, published during 1997. The Paris Review termed him a "master" of the short story genre. Later life and writings Ford lived for many years in New Orleans in the French Quarter, on lower Bourbon Street, and then in the Garden District of the same city, where his wife, Kristina, was the executive director of the city planning commission. For a while Ford and his wife resided in East Boothbay, Maine. As of 2023, Ford lives in Billings, Montana where he bought a house. During the intervening years, Ford lived in other locations, usually in the United States, as he pursued a peripatetic teaching career. He obtained a teaching appointment at Bowdoin College during 2005 but kept the job for only one semester. During 2008 Ford was an adjunct professor of the Oscar Wilde Centre with the School of English at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, teaching in the Masters programme in creative writing. Starting December 29, 2010, Ford assumed the job of senior fiction professor at the University of Mississippi during the autumn of 2011, replacing Barry Hannah, who died during March 2010. During the autumn of 2012, he became the Emmanuel Roman and Barrie Sardoff Roman Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Writing at the Columbia University School of the Arts. As the new century commenced, he published another story collection, A Multitude of Sins (2002), followed by the novels The Lay Of The Land, —the third in his Bascombe series— in 2006, and Canada, published during May 2012. According to Ford, The La.... Discover the Richard Ford popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Richard Ford books.
Best Seller Richard Ford Books of 2024
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The Lay of the Land
Richard FordNATIONAL BESTSELLER NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST The Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Independence Day and The Sportswriter brings back the unforgettable Frank Basc...
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Naked City
Ellen DatlowFeaturing original stories from 20 authors, this dark, captivating, fabulous and fantastical collection, Naked City, is not to be missed! Edited by awardwinning editor Ellen Datlow...
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Nixon Volume III
Stephen E. AmbroseIn Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 19731990, Stephen E. Ambrose completes his acclaimed biography of the man many historians call the most fascinating politician in American history: Ric...
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A Weekend in New York
Benjamin Markovits'What are you feeling so anxious about? I'm the guy who has to go out there and lose.''That's what I don't like. That's what you don't realise. It's harder on the rest of us.''I'm ...
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The Accidental Life
Terry McDonellAn Amazon Best Book of 2016A celebration of the writing and editing life, as well as a look behind the scenes at some of the most influential magazines in America (and the writers ...
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Christmas at The New Yorker
The New Yorker, E. B. White, Sally Benson & S.J. PerelmanFrom the pages of America’s most influential magazine come eight decades of holiday cheerplus the occasional comical coal in the stockingin one incomparable collection. Sublime an...
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The Director
Paul LeterskyThe first book ever written about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover by a member of his personal staffhis former assistant, Paul Leterskyoffers unprecedented, “cleareyed and compelling” ...
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Independence Day
Richard FordPULITZER PRIZE WINNER PEN/FAULKNER AWARD WINNER INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER From one of his generation’s greatest writers comes the sequel to The Sportswriter, starring Frank Basco...
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Walking with the Muses
Pat ClevelandAn exciting account of the international adventures of fashion model Pat Clevelandone of the first black supermodels during the wild sixties and seventies.“Taking her reader throug...
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The Dragon Waiting
John M. Ford“The best mingling of history with historical magic that I have ever seen.”Gene Wolfe In a snowbound inn high in the Alps, four people meet who will alter fate.A noble Byzantine me...
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Gerald R. Ford
Douglas Brinkley & Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.The "accidental" president whose innate decency and steady hand restored the presidency after its greatest crisisWhen Gerald R. Ford entered the White House in August 1974, he inhe...
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A Piece of My Heart
Richard FordThe “extraordinary” debut novel (Newsweek) from the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Independence Day tells the story of two godless pilgrims who converge on an uncharted island in ...
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Be Fearless
Jean CaseBe Fearless is researchedbased call to action for those seeking to live extraordinary lives and bring about transformational change.LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLE...
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Energy
Richard RhodesA “meticulously researched” (The New York Times Book Review) examination of energy transitions over time and an exploration of the current challenges presented by global warming, a...
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The First Family Detail
Ronald KesslerNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Ron Kessler appears to get everything first.”Slate As in a play, presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates perform onstage for...
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One Eye Open
Paul FinchIf the lies don't kill you, the truth will An electrifying, highoctane thrill ride; the new mustread standalone from a Sunday Times bestseller. Dark, gritty and always at the edge...
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The End of the Novel of Love
Vivian GornickA finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, Vivian Gornick's The End of the Novel of Love explores the meaning of love and marriage as literary themes in t...
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Tricky Dick
Roger Stone & Mike ColapietroFinally, there is a "warts and all" biography of the most enduring American politician of the 20th century Richard Milhous Nixon written by an author with unprecedented access and ...
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Women with Men
Richard FordThe "Babe Ruth of novelists" (The Washington Post Book World)and the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Independence Dayreaffirms his mastery of the short story as he takes us from th...
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The Invisible Bridge
Rick PerlsteinThe New York Times bestselling dazzling portrait of America on the verge of a nervous breakdown in the tumultuous political and economic times of the 1970s.In January of 1973 Richa...
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Watergate
Garrett M. GraffFinalist for the Pulitzer Prize in HistoryNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Do we need still another Watergate book? The answer turns out to be yesthis one.” The Washington Post “Dazzli...
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Rawhide Down
Del Quentin WilberA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book for 2011A Richmond Times Dispatch Top Book for 2011A minutebyminute account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, to coincide w...
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Five Days in November
Clint HillSecret Service agent Clint Hill reveals the stories behind the iconic images of the five tragic days surrounding President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in this 60th anniversary ...
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The Man Who Knew
Sebastian Mallaby“Exceptional . . . Deeply researched and elegantly written . . . As a description of the politics and pressures under which modern independent central banking has to operate, the b...
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The Ultimate Good Luck
Richard FordFrom the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Independence Day and The Sportswriter comes a novel of menace and eroticism set in Oaxaca, Mexico. "His prose has a taut, cinematic qualit...
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The Year I Met My Brain
Matilda BoseleyMatilda Boseley’s adult ADHD diagnosis was a massive, earthshattering event. She was given a prescription but had no idea what ADHD meant for her identity, her relationships or her...
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Echoes
Ellen DatlowThe essential collection of beloved ghost stories, compiled by the editor who helped define the genreincluding stories from awardwinning, bestselling authors such as Joyce Carol Oa...
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Ibn Saud
Barbara Bray & Michael DarlowIbn Saud grew to manhood living the harsh traditional life of the desert nomad, a life that had changed little since the days of Abraham. Equipped with immense physical courage, he...
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A Multitude of Sins
Richard FordNATIONAL BESTSELLER PEN/MALAMUD AWARD WINNER A masterful collection of short stories that explores intimacy and love and their failuresfrom the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of In...
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Be Mine
Richard FordFrom Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford: the final novel in the world of Frank Bascombe, one of the most indelible characters in American literatureOver the course of four celebrat...
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Cactus Jack
Brad SmithA delight from paddock to finish line." Booklist (STARRED REVIEW) Brad Smith “rivals Elmore Leonard at his best” (Publishers Weekly). His latest novel, for fans of Richard Russo ...
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Five Presidents
Clint Hill & Lisa McCubbin HillThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November reflects on his seventeen years on the Secret Service for presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, ...
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Flat Out and Half Turned Over
Buddy Baker & David PooleIn Flat Out and Half Turned Over, driving phenomenon Buddy Baker details the most hilarious collection of racing stories, memories, and anecdotes ever published. Read about the bum...
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A Visit from the Goon Squad
Jennifer EganNATIONAL BESTSELLER NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER With music pulsing on every page, this startling, exhilarating novel of selfdestruction and redemption "fea...
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Lourdes
Ruth HarrisLourdes was at the very centre of nineteenth century debates on religion, science and medicine. Both the Church and secularists championed the 'miracle' town as crucial in shapin...
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The Sportswriter
Richard FordIn this “powerful” blockbuster of a novel (The New York Times), the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Independence Day introduces his most beloved character, failed novelist turned s...
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Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents
Cormac O'Brien & Monika SuteskiMurder, Adultery, Gambling, UFOs And the White House?!? Your high school history teachers never gave you a book like this one! Secret Lives of the U.S. Presidents features ...
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Nixonland
Rick Perlstein“Perlstein...aims here at nothing less than weaving a tapestry of social upheaval. His success is dazzling.” Los Angeles Times“Both brilliant and fun, a consuming journey back into...
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My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy
Clint Hill & Lisa McCubbin HillNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Mrs. Kennedy and Me reveal neverbeforetold stories of Secret Service Agent Clint Hill’s travels with Jacquelin...
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The Presidents Club
Nancy Gibbs & Michael DuffyThe New York Times bestselling history of the private relationships among the last thirteen presidentsthe partnerships, private deals, rescue missions, and rivalries of those selec...
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Diplomacy
Henry KissingerA brilliant, sweeping history of diplomacy that includes personal stories from the noted former Secretary of State, including his stunning reopening of relations with China.The sem...
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Presidents in Crisis
Michael K BohnEvery American president, when faced with a crisis, longs to take bold and decisive action. When American lives or vital interests are at stake, the publicand especially the news m...
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Trumpet
Jackie Kay"Supremely humane.... Kay leaves us with a broad landscape of sweet tolerance and familial love." The New York Times Book ReviewIn her starkly beautiful and wholly unexpected tale,...