
Carter observed that he āenjoyed writingā and that his books āprovided a much-needed source of income.ā But some projects were easier than others.
NEW YORK ā No ex-president had a more prolific and diverse publishing career thanĀ Jimmy Carter.
His more than two dozen books included nonfiction, poetry, fiction, religious meditations and a childrenās story. His memoir āAn Hour Before Daylightā was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002, while his 2006 best-seller āPalestine: Peace Not Apartheidā stirred a fierce debate by likening Israelās policies in the West Bank to the brutal South African system of racial segregation.
And just before his 100th birthday, theĀ Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation honored him with aĀ lifetime achievement award for how he wielded “the power of the written word to foster peace, social justice, and global understanding.ā
In one recent work, āA Full Life,ā Carter observed that he āenjoyed writingā and that his books āprovided a much-needed source of income.ā But some projects were easier than others.
āEverything to Gain,ā a 1987 collaboration with his wife, Rosalynn, turned into the āworst threat we ever experienced in our marriage,ā an intractable standoff for the facilitator of the Camp David accords and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
According to Carter, Rosalynn was a meticulous author who considered āthe resulting sentences as though they have come down from Mount Sinai, carved into stone.ā Their memories differed on various events and they fell into āconstant arguments.ā They were ready to abandon the book and return the advance, until their editor persuaded them to simply divide any disputed passages between them.
āIn the book, each of these paragraphs is identified by a āJā or an āR,ā and our marriage survived,ā he wrote.
Here is a partial list of books by Carter:
āKeeping Faith: Memoirs of a Presidentā
āThe Blood of Abraham: Insights into the Middle Eastā
(With Rosalynn Carter) āEverything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Lifeā
āAn Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflectionsā
āTurning Point: A Candidate, a State, and a Nation Come of Ageā
āAlways a Reckoning, and Other Poemsā
(With daughter Amy Carter) āThe Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejerā
āThe Virtues of Agingā
āAn Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhoodā
āChristmas in Plains: Memoriesā
āThe Hornetās Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary Warā
āOur Endangered Values: Americaās Moral Crisisā
āFaith & Freedom: The Christian Challenge for the Worldā
āPalestine: Peace Not Apartheidā
āA Remarkable Motherā
āBeyond the White Houseā
āWe Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Workā
āNIV Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carterā
āA Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Powerā
āA Full Life: Reflections at Ninetyā

