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The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures Books in Order
Below you'll find the complete list of The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures books in publication order. This is generally the recommended reading order for the series.
Reading order verified: March 2026
Quick Answer
What order should I read the The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures series? Start with "The American Newness (By: Irving Howe)" (1986) and follow publication order through all 18 books.
The complete The William E. Massey Sr. Lectures reading order is listed below in publication sequence.
Publication Order

The American Newness (By: Irving Howe)
1986

Highbrow/Lowbrow (By: Lawrence W. Levine)
1988

Revolutions (By: David Brion Davis)
1990

Playing in the Dark (By: Toni Morrison)
1992

The Southern Tradition (By: Eugene D. Genovese)
1994

Writing Was Everything (By: Alfred Kazin)
1998

The Dissent of the Governed
1998

Achieving Our Country (By: Richard M. Rorty)
1999

The Real American Dream (By: Andrew Delbanco)
1999

To Be the Poet (By: Maxine Hong Kingston)
2002

Reporting the Universe (By: E.L. Doctorow)
2003

Circles and Lines (By: John Putnam Demos)
2004

Architecture as Signs and Systems (By: Robert Venturi)
2004

Reshaping the Work-Family Debate (By: Joan C. Williams)
2010

Tiger Writing (By: Gish Jen)
2013

Three Songs, Three Singers, Three Nations (By: Greil Marcus)
2015

Just a Journalist (By: Linda Greenhouse)
2017

Inherit the Dead
2013
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