This one is in honor of my father-in-law, who has spent most of his life in North Carolina but runs Missouri blood in his veins.
Missouri is a fascinating state…like Arkansas, its right in the middle, between the north and the south, the east and the west. If you remember your history, you know that the southerners and the northerners fought over the terms by which Missouri would be admitted to the United States lest the “balance” be tipped between the free and slave states.
I knew about Missouri’s past, but what I see in its present is the wide variety of voices that have come from there, including Laura Ingalls Wilder, who lived in Missouri most of her life, Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams (Who knew?), and Naomi Shihab Nye.
Also check out T.J. Stiles book on Jesse James…he wasn’t the folk hero you might think he was. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Books Written by Missourians and Set in Missouri
Fiction
Mark Twain
Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was born in Florida, Missouri.
Twain’s work is in the public domain. For free access to digital books at Project Gutenberg, click here. For free audio books at Librivox, click here.
Frances W. Rummell
Rummell, born in Brookfield, is apparently the author of the book, Diana, The Story of a Strange Love, that was possibly the first lesbian autobiography.
Because Rummell wrote under a pseudonym and was known to have changed some details of her life, it isn’t clear whether it is a pure autobiography or a novel based on her life.
Usually, we don’t run books that are out of print and difficult to find, but usually they go out of print because they are outdated, but this book seems worthy of a mention.
The image is from Wikipedia because Amazon doesn’t have one.
Harold Bell Wright
Wright lived in Pierce City and other places in Missouri. The Shepherd of the Hills was made into a film starring John Wayne.
Jonathan Franzen
Franzen grew up in Webster Grove and set his debut novel in Missouri. He later became famous for novels such as The Corrections.
Daniel Woodrell
Woodrell is from Springfield. He invented the term “country noir” to describe his books, mostly set in the Ozarks.
Vance Randolph
Randolph lived in Pineville.
Jetta Carleton
Carleton was born in Nevada, Missouri.
Paulette Jiles
Jiles was born in Salem. In addition to novels, she also writes poetry and memoir.
Evan S. Connell
Connell was from Kansas City.
Gillian Flynn
Flynn is from Kansas City.
Laura McHugh
Jean Carnahan
Carnahan was the First Lady of Missouri and also briefly represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate after being appointed to serve after the posthumous election of her husband.
Julie Mulhern
Mulhern is from Kansas City.
Elaine Viets
Viets is from St. Louis. Her “Francesca Vierling” mysteries may have some real life details from Viets’ time as a newspaperwoman for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
J.D. Trafford
Trafford lives in St. Louis.
Samuel Major Gardenhire
Gardenhire was born in Fayette.
Laurell K. Hamilton
Hamilton lives in St. Louis County.
Rett MacPherson
MacPherson is from St. Louis
Carolyn Mulford
Mulford grew up in Kirksville, where she attended one room schools.
Drama
Tennessee Williams
Williams grew up in St. Louis.
Nonfiction
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wilder might be famous for her novels set in other places, but she actually lived most of her adult life in Mansfield.
Walter Johnson
Johnson grew up in Columbia.
Ron Powers
Like Mark Twain, Powers was born in Hannibal. His bestselling book is Flags of Our Fathers, about Iwo Jima in World War 2.
Candace O’Connor
Frankie Muse Freeman
O’Connor is from St. Louis. She has written several nonfiction books about the St. Louis area and co wrote this biography below, with Frankie Muse Freeman, a woman lawyer who helped break barriers during the Civil Rights era.
William Garrett Piston
Piston is a history professor at Southwest Missouri State University.
Robert Bevier
Bevier founded the town of Bevier, which was named for him.
Joseph A. Mudd
Mudd was from Millwood.
Memoir
Ike Skelton
Congress member Skelton was born in Lexington.
Poetry
Selected Books Written for Older Children and Young Adults
Books Written by Missourians and Set Elsewhere
Fiction
Speer Morgan
Morgan taught at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Ruth Ann Musick
Musick was a folklorist who specialized in West Virginia, but she was born in Kirksville.
Pearl Doles Bell
Bell was born in St. Joseph. Although she is not well known now, early films were made from several of her books. To write Her Elephant Man, she traveled with Ringling Brothers Circus.
Nonfiction
Herbert Asbury
Asbury was from Farmington.
Josiah Gregg
Gregg lived in Howard County.
Carl Shurz
Shurz started a newspaper in St. Louis.
Arthur A. Vogel
Vogel was an Episcopal bishop in West Missouri.
Rose Wilder Lane
Lane grew up in Mansfield; she was the daughter of children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Memoir
Poetry
Naomi Shihab Nye
Nye was born in St. Louis. She has written several excellent novels and poetry collections for adolescents, many of them set in Palestine and the Middle East.
She is the current Poet Laureate for Young People.
On a personal note, even though I am a fan of Nye’s, I didn’t realize that she is a Missourian; her name didn’t come up in any of my research. I heard it on Sirius/XM’s U2 channel, directly from Bono! How is that for a recommendation? Thanks Bono!xx
Selected Books Written for Older Children and Young Adults
Naomi Shihab Nye
Teri Clemens
Clemens is known as the “winningest volleyball coach” in NCAA history. She has lived in St. Louis.
Books Set in Missouri but Not Written by Missourians
Fiction
Jonis Agee
Fannie Flagg
Flagg, best known for Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe, has written at least four novels set in Missouri.
Rebecca Makai
Elmore Leonard
John Edward Williams
Janet Dailey
Stephanie Carroll
A White Room is inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper.
P. L. Whitney
Laura Miller
Amy Matayo
Nonfiction
P. J. Sullivan
T. J. Stiles
According to this biography, Jesse James was less a random criminal and more the “forerunner of the modern terrorist”…and he was PRO slavery and PRO Confederate! Chilling.
Sean MacLaughlin
Troy Taylor
Galusha Anderson
Memoir
Poetry
Selected Books Written for Older Children and Young Adults
Christy Lenzi
Stone Field is inspired by Wuthering Heights.
Please comment at the bottom or on Facebook with suggestions. The idea is to make each state’s page as complete as possible but focused enough so that the page gives the reader an overall sense of place. Guidelines: In the case where the author has written several books set in the state, the most famous or recently published one will be selected.
Multiple books will be shown only if there is a reason to do so (e.g. significant topics, different genres, etc.). The author may be listed in more than one category, usually because the author’s most famous book is not set in the state. The famous book is listed to help readers recognize the author, but additional, less well known books, will be listed for those who want to read more about the state.
The intended audience for the The Lois Level is adult general readers, so books considered primarily for academic use will not be listed. For the same reason, authors who are completely out of print will usually not be included. Children’s books are limited to those that have adult appeal. Normally picture books are not included.
Recent and significant biographies of state notables are included with priority given to those written by state natives/residents or to individuals whose major contributions were state related.
Biographical Information
Wikipedia and author web pages are the primary sources for author information. If the author has several connections, usually the earliest one (birth, childhood) is used.