Fiction Since 1940 or So: Some Recommendations
Jonathan Franzen, the author of The Corrections and Freedom, said making a list of his favorite fiction reads was easy: "I decided to make up for my lack of annotations with great quantity."
Here are 34 books he recommends reading.
Here are 34 books he recommends reading.
Continental Drift by Russell Banks
Seize the Day by Saul Bellow
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
The Chaneysville Incident by David Bradley
Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
Mrs. Bridge by Evan S. Connell
White Noise by Don DeLillo
The End of Vandalism by Tom Drury
The Hamlet by William Faulkner
Desperate Characters by Paula Fox
Something Happened by Joseph Heller
Angels by Denis Johnson
Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson
Corregidora by Gayl Jones
Independent People by Halldór Laxness
The Assistant by Bernard Malamud
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
The Beggar Maid by Alice Munro
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
Runaway by Alice Munro
A Personal Matter by Kenzaburō Ōe
Eustace Chisholm and the Works by James Purdy
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders
Enemies: A Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Family Moskat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley
The Age of Grief by Jane Smiley
Ordinary Love and Good Will by Jane Smiley
Endless Love by Scott Spencer
The Man Who Loved Children by Christina Stead
Taking Care by Joy Williams
Learn more about each of these novels
NEXT STORY
