Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Disgust
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
A Faustian tale of a man who trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty.
The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a beautiful summer day in Victorian England, where Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, is observing the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait ... (Wikipedia)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
by Patrick Süskind
A murder mystery set in 18th century France, exploring the depths of human obsession.
An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of ... (Goodreads)
A Modest Proposal
by Jonathan Swift
A satirical essay that mocks British policies in Ireland and offers a shocking solution.
American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis
A corporate psychopath's descent into homicidal madness, exposing the dark side of 1980s New York.
Set in Manhattan during the Wall Street boom of the late 1980s, American Psycho follows the life of wealthy young investment banker Patrick Bateman. Bateman, in his mid-20s when the story begins, ... (Wikipedia)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 5: Lonely City
by Warren Ellis
A science-fiction dark comedy about a journalist navigating a dystopian world.
SC, TPB, in cello, New, Written by Warren Ellis. Art by Darick Robertson. Published in June of 2001. Softcover, 144 pages, full color. Mature Readers. Cover price $14.99. ... (Goodreads)
A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess
A teenage gang's journey of rebellion, exploring the nature of morality and personal choice.
In Anthony Burgess's influential nightmare vision of the future, criminals take over after dark. Teen gang leader Alex narrates in fantastically inventive slang that echoes the violent intensity of ... (Goodreads)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 2: Lust for Life
by Warren Ellis
An anti-hero journalist fights to uncover corruption in a futuristic dystopia.
Outlaw journalist Spider Jerusalem has become a household name in the future City he calls home. This latest collection of twisted tales showcases Spider's horrific yet funny screeds on subjects as ... (Goodreads)
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
An exploration of the strange and often unknown history of cadavers, and their uses in science and medicine.
Okay, you're thinking: ,"This must be some kind of a joke. A humorous book about cadavers?", Yup — and it works. Mary Roach takes the age-old question, "What happens to us after we die?" quite ... (Goodreads)
Sharp Objects
by Gillian Flynn
A gripping thriller following a journalist who uncovers a dark secret in her hometown.
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the unsolved murder of a preteen girl and the ... (Goodreads)
Diary
by Chuck Palahniuk
An exploration of the depths of human depravity, exposing the darkest aspects of society.
Diary takes the form of a "coma diary" telling the story of Misty Marie Wilmot as her husband lies senseless in a hospital after a suicide attempt. The story is not exactly told by Misty but through ... (Wikipedia)
The Island of Dr. Moreau
by H.G. Wells
A shipwrecked man's encounters with a mad scientist's experiments in animal-human hybridization.
The Island of Doctor Moreau is the account of Edward Prendick, an Englishman with a scientific education who survives a shipwreck in the southern Pacific Ocean. A passing ship called Ipecacuanha ... (Wikipedia)
Eating Animals
by Jonathan Safran Foer
An exploration of the ethical and environmental implications of eating meat.
Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his life oscillating between enthusiastic carnivore and occasional vegetarian. Once he started a family, the moral dimensions of food became increasingly important. ... (Goodreads)
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein
Examination of the exploitation of economic crises and shock tactics by governments and corporations.
In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it "disaster ... (Goodreads)
The Twits
by Roald Dahl
A tale of two mischievous and nasty people and their schemes to outwit each other.
A hideous, vindictive, spiteful couple known as the Twits live together in a brick house without windows. They continuously play nasty practical jokes on each other out of hatred for one another, ... (Wikipedia)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 3: Year of the Bastard
by Warren Ellis
A dystopian journey of a journalist, uncovering the darkness of power and corruption.
Investigative reporter Spider Jerusalem attacks the injustices of the 23rd Century surroundings while working for the newspaper The Word in this critically-acclaimed graphic novel series written by ... (Goodreads)
T is for Trespass
by Sue Grafton
Detective Kinsey Millhone investigates the disappearance of a client's daughter, uncovering a web of secrets and lies.
Kinsey's cantankerous neighbor Gus is badly injured in a fall and hires Solana Rojas, a private nurse, to help him while he recuperates. Kinsey becomes suspicious when Gus becomes isolated and ... (Wikipedia)
A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works
by Jonathan Swift
A collection of satirical essays on the state of England and Ireland in the 1700s.
The originality, concentrated power and ‘fierce indignation’ of his satirical writing have earned Jonathan Swift a reputation as the greatest prose satirist in English literature. Gulliver’s Travels ... (Goodreads)
Gulag: A History
by Anne Applebaum
A comprehensive account of the Soviet Union's notorious prison system, the history of its inhumane treatment of inmates.
The Gulag–a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners--was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying ... (Goodreads)
Stupid White Men
by Michael Moore
A sarcastic, incisive critique of contemporary American society and politics.
Now with more than three million copies sold, Oscar-winning filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore's bestseller, Stupid White Men, tells you everything you need to know about how the great ... (Goodreads)
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Dark satire of the medical industry, exposing the consequences of unchecked power and greed.
From Slapstick's "Turkey Farm" to Slaughterhouse-Five's eternity in a Tralfamadorean zoo cage with Montana Wildhack, the question of the afterlife never left Kurt Vonnegut's mind. In God Bless You, ... (Goodreads)
Tampa
by Alissa Nutting
A teacher's descent into depravity as she attempts to fulfill her twisted desires.
Celeste Price is a beautiful 26-year-old woman who is unhappily married to Ford, an alcoholic police officer with a wealthy family. She is secretly a hebephile , and has constructed her life to ... (Wikipedia)
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6: Gouge Away
by Warren Ellis
A dystopian future, where a renegade journalist confronts corruption and deception.
There's no faster path to paranoia and delusion that the red carpet of celebrity, and in the city no one is more famous than mega-popular attack journalist Spider Jerusalem. Nearly paralyzed by his ... (Barnes & Noble)
The Tin Drum
by Günter Grass
A satirical novel of a young boy's journey through WWII Germany, and the power of the human spirit.
The story revolves around the life of Oskar Matzerath, as narrated by himself when confined in a mental hospital during the years 1952–1954. Born in 1924 in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk , ... (Wikipedia)
Story of the Eye
by Georges Bataille
A surrealist exploration of transgression, sex, and violence.
Story of the Eye consists of several vignettes, centered around the sexual passion existing between the unnamed late adolescent male narrator and Simone, his primary female partner. Within this ... (Wikipedia)
The Anti-Christ
by Friedrich Nietzsche
An exploration of morality and its relationship to religion, with a focus on the concept of nihilism.
The reference to the Antichrist is not intended to refer to the biblical Antichrist but is rather an attack on the "slave morality" and apathy of Western Christianity. Nietzsche's basic claim is that ... (Goodreads)
Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
by Eduardo Galeano
Historical account of the exploitation of Latin America by foreign powers.
Open Veins of Latin America has a foreword written by Chilean writer Isabel Allende , followed by a preface by Galeano titled “In Defense of the World” and a series of acknowledgments. The book has ... (Wikipedia)
The Dinner
by Herman Koch
A tense family dinner that unravels a series of secrets and lies.
The story is narrated by Paul Lohman, a former history teacher. He and his wife Claire meet at a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam with his elder brother Serge, a prominent politician and contender for ... (Wikipedia)
The Hanging Garden
by Ian Rankin
Detective John Rebus investigates a series of grisly murders in Scotland.
Detective Inspector John Rebus is investigating a suspected war criminal. Rebus helps a traumatised Bosnian prostitute and tries to intercede in a territory war between gangster Tommy Telford and ... (Wikipedia)
Means of Ascent
by Robert A. Caro
An exploration of the ruthless ambition and cunning tactics of Lyndon B. Johnson's political career.
Robert A. Caro's life of Lyndon Johnson, which began with the greatly acclaimed The Path to Power, also winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, continues – one of the richest, most ... (Goodreads)
The Acid House
by Irvine Welsh
A collection of stories exploring the dark side of Edinburgh's working-class culture.
Description from the inside sleeve:, This scintillating, disturbing, and altogether outrageous collection of stories introduces to these shores a young writer already being called "the Scottish ... (Goodreads)
Porno
by Irvine Welsh
A darkly comic look at the lives of a group of drug-addled youths in Scotland.
The novel is divided into three sections, each of which comprises chapters with different narrators . Unlike Trainspotting which had more narrational diversity, Porno is reduced to just five ... (Wikipedia)
Filth
by Irvine Welsh
A darkly humorous story of a degenerate cop's descent into drug-fueled chaos.
Bruce Robertson is a detective sergeant serving in Edinburgh 's " Lothian Constabulary ". Robertson is a Machiavellian, intensely misanthropic man who spends his time indulging in cocaine and alcohol ... (Wikipedia)
Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson
by Jeff Guinn
Exploration of the life of notorious cult leader Charles Manson, examining his criminal behavior and cultural impact.
The New York Times bestselling, authoritative account of the life of Charles Manson, filled with surprising new information and previously unpublished photographs: “A riveting, almost Dickensian ... (Barnes & Noble)
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