As I Lay Dying

Originally published in 1930, ‘As I Lay Dying’ is one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama by William Faulkner, one of the most celebrated writers of American literature, who is widely considered one of the best writers of Southern literature. Narrated in turn by each of the family members, including Addie herself as well as others, the novel ranges in mood from dark comedy to the deepest pathos.
This novel brims with many narrative voices that chart the progress of the Bundren family as they journey to a nearby town in rural Mississippi in order to lay their late mother to rest. Each member of the family has their own priorities and ulterior motives, and the novel explores the conflicts between them as they travel, with the dysfunctional unit they form eventually being broken apart when they reach their destination. This is one of the best-known novels by William Faulkner, and is considered an important work within the Modernist movement, as well as a classic example of the Southern Gothic novel.
“I set out deliberately to write a tour-de-force. Before I ever put pen to paper and set down the first word I knew what the last word would be and almost where the last period would fall.” —William Faulkner on As I Lay Dying.