Powered by a book like {foo}
Recommendations based on The Wapshot Chronicleby John Cheever
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Adventures of Augie March
by Saul Bellow
Young man's search for identity amidst the chaotic and unpredictable life of the Depression-era Midwest.
The story describes Augie March's growth from childhood to a fairly stable maturity. Augie, with his brother Simon and the mentally abnormal George have no father and are brought up by their mother ... (Wikipedia)
The Wings of the Dove
by Henry James
A tale of love and intrigue, as a young woman balances her desires against her moral obligations.
Kate Croy and Merton Densher are two betrothed Londoners who desperately want to marry but have very little money. Kate is constantly put upon by family troubles, and is now living with her ... (Wikipedia)
The Golden Bowl
by Henry James
Exploration of a marriage doomed by infidelity and hidden secrets.
Prince Amerigo, an impoverished but charismatic Italian nobleman, is in London for his marriage to Maggie Verver, only child of the widower Adam Verver, the fabulously wealthy American financier and ... (Wikipedia)
Revolutionary Road
by Richard Yates
An American couple's struggle to stay afloat in suburban conventions and expectations.
Set in 1955, the novel focuses on the hopes and aspirations of Frank and April Wheeler, self-assured Connecticut suburbanites who see themselves as very different from their neighbors in the ... (Wikipedia)
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
A young man's journey of self-discovery, as he confronts the meaninglessness of life.
The Moviegoer tells the story of Jack "Binx" Bolling, a young stock-broker in postwar New Orleans . The decline of tradition in the Southern United States , the problems of his family and his ... (Wikipedia)
Herzog
by Saul Bellow
A man's existential journey to make sense of his life and relationships.
Herzog is set in 1964 in the United States, and is about the midlife crisis of a Jewish man named Moses E. Herzog. At the age of forty-seven, , he is just emerging from his second divorce, this one ... (Wikipedia)
Lucky Jim
by Kingsley Amis
A story of a young lecturer struggling to make it in academia, while learning the importance of self-discovery.
Jim Dixon is a lecturer in medieval history at a red brick university in the English Midlands . He has made an unsure start and, towards the end of the academic year, is concerned about losing his ... (Wikipedia)
Ironweed
by William Kennedy
An exploration of the struggles of the homeless, and the power of redemption.
Ironweed is set during the Great Depression and tells the story of Francis Phelan , an alcoholic vagrant originally from Albany, New York , who left his family after accidentally killing his infant ... (Wikipedia)
Howards End
by E.M. Forster
Exploration of the societal divides in early 20th century England, and the consequences of class prejudice.
Howards End is a novel by E. M. Forster about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. A strong-willed and intelligent woman refuses to allow the ... (Goodreads)
Of Human Bondage
by W. Somerset Maugham
A young man's struggles to find a sense of purpose, despite a series of catastrophic misfortunes.
The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the much beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months before. Now orphaned, he is sent to ... (Wikipedia)
Under the Net
by Iris Murdoch
A young writer's comedic adventures in post-war London, learning about life and love.
In this lightly comic novel about work, love, wealth and fame the main character of Jake Donaghue, a long-winded freeloader, seeks to improve his circumstances and make up for past mistakes by ... (Wikipedia)
Henderson the Rain King
by Saul Bellow
A man's journey of self-discovery, finding his place in the world through travel and adventure.
Eugene Henderson is a troubled middle-aged man. Despite his riches, high social status , and physical prowess, he feels restless and unfulfilled, and harbors a spiritual void that manifests itself as ... (Wikipedia)
The Day of the Locust
by Nathanael West
A study of the dark side of the American Dream, exploring the disappointments and struggles of the have-nots.
Tod Hackett is the novel's protagonist. He moves from the east coast to Hollywood, California in search of inspiration for his next painting. The novel is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression ... (Wikipedia)
Tropic of Cancer
by Henry Miller
A young writer's journey of self-exploration in Paris, confronting life, love and lust.
Now hailed as an American classic Tropic of Cancer , Henry Miller’s masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a ... (Goodreads)
Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories
by Philip Roth
A collection of stories focused on themes of assimilation, identity, and relationships.
Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin - he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills - meet one summer and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is ... (Goodreads)
Scoop
by Evelyn Waugh
A humorous and satirical look at journalistic misadventures in Africa.
Lord Copper, newspaper magnate and proprietor of the "Daily Beast", has always prided himself on his intuitive flair for spotting ace reporters. That is not to say he has not made the odd blunder, ... (Goodreads)
Brideshead Revisited
by Evelyn Waugh
A nostalgic reflection on a wealthy family and the enduring power of love.
The novel is divided into three parts, framed by a prologue and epilogue. The prologue takes place during the final years of the Second World War . Charles Ryder and his battalion are sent to a ... (Wikipedia)
The Stories of John Cheever
by John Cheever
A collection of short stories that explore the human condition in the modern era.
Here are sixty-one stories that chronicle the lives of what has been called "the greatest generation." From the early wonder and disillusionment of city life in "The Enormous Radio" to the surprising ... (Goodreads)
Main Street
by Sinclair Lewis
A small-town woman's quest for freedom and self-expression in a repressive society.
With Commentary by E. M. Forster, Dorothy Parker, H. L. Mencken, Lewis Mumford, Rebecca West, Sherwood Anderson, Malcolm Cowley, Alfred Kazin, Constance Rourke, and Mark Schorer. Main Street , the ... (Goodreads)
The Jungle
by Upton Sinclair
An expose of the brutal working conditions in the early 20th century meatpacking industry.
Jurgis Rudkus marries his fifteen-year-old sweetheart, Ona Lukoszaite, in a joyous traditional Lithuanian wedding feast. They and their extended family have recently immigrated to Chicago due to ... (Wikipedia)
The Good Soldier
by Ford Madox Ford
A chronicle of the lives of two couples, weaving together tragedy, deceit, and self-deception.
The Good Soldier is narrated by the character John Dowell, half of one of the couples whose dissolving relationships form the subject of the novel. Dowell tells the story of those dissolutions, plus ... (Wikipedia)
A Handful of Dust
by Evelyn Waugh
A satirical novel about the decline of British aristocracy and the emptiness of modern life.
Tony Last is a country gentleman, living with his wife Brenda and his eight-year-old son John Andrew in his ancestral home, Hetton Abbey. The house is a Victorian pseudo-Gothic pastiche described as ... (Wikipedia)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
by Thornton Wilder
Unexpected tragedy brings together a disparate group of strangers, revealing the interconnectedness of all lives.
The first few pages of the first chapter explain the book's basic premise: the story centers on a fictional event that happened in Peru on the road between Lima and Cuzco , at noon on Friday, July ... (Wikipedia)
The World According to Garp
by John Irving
A humorous and heart-wrenching journey of life, love and literature.
This is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields—a feminist leader ahead of her times. This is the life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son; theirs is a ... (Goodreads)
Rabbit, Run
by John Updike
A man's attempt to escape the pressures of adult life and find freedom.
Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, formerly a high school basketball star, is now 26, and has a job selling a kitchen gadget named MagiPeeler. He is married to Janice, who was a salesgirl at the store where he ... (Wikipedia)
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
A survivor of the Holocaust is confronted with a devastating moral dilemma.
Stingo, a novelist who is recalling the summer when he began his first novel, has been fired from his low-level reader's job at the publisher McGraw-Hill and has moved into a cheap boarding house in ... (Wikipedia)
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow
Interweaving stories of disparate individuals as they navigate the changing social and cultural landscape of early 20th century America.
The novel centers on a wealthy family living in New Rochelle, New York , referred to as Father, Mother, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather, and 'the little boy', Father and Mother's young son. The ... (Wikipedia)
Death Comes for the Archbishop
by Willa Cather
An epic tale of faith and courage, set in the deserts of New Mexico during the 19th century.
The narrative is based on two historical figures of the late 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Lamy and Joseph Projectus Machebeuf , and rather than any one singular plot, is the stylized re-telling of ... (Wikipedia)
Go Tell It on the Mountain
by James Baldwin
A young boy's struggle to reconcile his faith and family with his own identity.
“,Mountain,” Baldwin said, “is the book I had to write if I was ever going to write anything else.”, Go Tell It on the Mountain, originally published in 1953, is Baldwin’s first major work, a novel ... (Barnes & Noble)
All the King's Men
by Robert Penn Warren
A powerful political drama that follows a governor's rise and fall as he grapples with ambition, morality and power.
All the King's Men is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Its title is drawn from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty". The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his ... (Goodreads)
