Georges Simenon bibliography
Georges Joseph Christian Simenon was a Belgian writer, most famous for his fictional detective Jules Maigret. He was one of the most popular authors of the 20th century, selling over 500 million copies of his works during his lifetime. Apart from his detective fiction, he achieved critical acclaim for his literary novels which he called romans durs. Among his literary admirers were Max Jacob, François Mauriac and André Gide. Gide wrote, “I consider Simenon a great novelist, the greatest perhaps, and the most truly a novelist that we have had in contemporary French literature.”
Simenon's published works include 192 novels written under his own name, over 200 novels written under various pseudonyms, four autobiographies and 21 volumes of memoirs. He also wrote a large quantity of short fiction.
Classification
Simenon's fiction is often classified into his early pseudonymous popular novels, the last of which was written in 1933; his fiction featuring police commissioner Jules Maigret ; and his 117 literary novels. Simenon's short fiction is usually classified into his Maigret stories and other short fiction. Simenon also wrote travel stories which straddle the boundary between fiction and non-fiction. His non-fiction includes autobiographical writings, travel writing, essays, journalism and published lectures.The following partial bibliography includes only those works which were first published under Simenon's own name. The works are listed in order of their first French publication in commercial editions. French title and year of first publication is given first, followed by English translations where applicable. The first English translations printed in book form in British and American commercial editions are listed, as are the first editions of subsequent translations, and English translations currently in print where known.
Unless otherwise specified, the sources for the French title and publication date are Bernard Alavoine, Trudee Young, Tout Simenon and Tout Maigret. The sources for the publication details of English translations are Trudee Young, Barry Forshaw, Patrick Marnham, Penguin UK and the individual works cited.
Short fiction
The date of French publication refers to first commercial publication in book form, whether separately or as part of a collection. Most of the stories were originally published in newspapers or magazines. The sources for French publication are Bernard Alavoine, Trudee Young and Tout Maigret. The sources for first English publication are Trudee Young and Barry Forshaw. The source for most recent English publication is Penguin UK.Other non- fiction
Mes apprentissages, Vol I: À la découverte de la France Mes apprentissages, Vol II: À la recherche de l'homme nu Mes apprentissages, Vol III: À la rencontre des autres- ''Portrait-souvenir de Balzac et autres textes sur la littérature''