Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Social Constructs
The Sellout
by Paul Beatty
An outrageous satire of race and civil rights in modern America.
The novel concerns a narrator, referred to by his childhood nickname "Bonbon" or his last name, "Me," who attempts to reintroduce segregation and keep a slave named Hominy in Dickens, his Los Angeles ... (Wikipedia)
The Human Condition
by Hannah Arendt
A philosophical exploration of what it means to be human, examining the nature of politics, labor, and action in the modern world.
A work of striking originality bursting with unexpected insights, The Human Condition is a in many respects more relevant now than when it first appeared in 1958. In her study of the state of modern ... (Goodreads)
The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception
by Emmanuel Carrère
A personal exploration of the life of a notorious criminal and the implications of his actions.
«Il 9 gennaio 1993 Jean-Claude Romand ha ucciso la moglie, i figli e i genitori, poi ha tentato di suicidarsi, ma invano. L'inchiesta ha rivelato che non era affatto un medico come sosteneva e, cosa ... (Goodreads)
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein
Examination of the US government's role in creating and enforcing racial segregation in housing.
In this groundbreaking history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explodes the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through ... (Goodreads)
Girl in a Band
by Kim Gordon
A memoir of a female rock musician's struggles to find her identity in the music scene.
NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, ... (Goodreads)
Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason
by Michel Foucault
Examination of the changing attitudes towards mental illness over time and the implications of social control.
Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found, here,. Michel Foucault examines the archeology of madness in the West from 1500 to 1800 – from the late Middle Ages, when insanity ... (Goodreads)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
by Susan Cain
An exploration of the power of introversion, examining the implications of modern society's emphasis on extroversion.
The book that started the Quiet Revolution, At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike ... (Goodreads)
The Girls
by Emma Cline
An exploration of the dark side of teenagehood, as a young girl is drawn into a cult.
Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their ... (Goodreads)
A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories
by Flannery O'Connor
A collection of short stories exploring the human condition, from the comic to the grotesque.
This now classic book revealed Flannery O'Connor as one of the most original and provocative writers to emerge from the South. Her apocalyptic vision of life is expressed through grotesque, often ... (Goodreads)
The Golden Notebook
by Doris Lessing
A woman's journey of self-discovery and reflection, exploring freedom, identity and relationships.
The Golden Notebook is the story of writer Anna Wulf, the four notebooks in which she records her life, and her attempt to tie them together in a fifth, gold-coloured notebook. The book intersperses ... (Wikipedia)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
by Edward Albee
A darkly comedic exploration of a troubled couple's tumultuous marriage.
George and Martha engage in dangerous emotional games. George is an associate professor of history and Martha is the daughter of the president of the college where George teaches. After they return ... (Wikipedia)
Passing
by Nella Larsen
A story of a woman caught in a racial dilemma, struggling to define her own identity.
The story is written as a third person narrative from the perspective of Irene Redfield, a black woman with a European or near-European appearance, who lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York ... (Wikipedia)
Perfect
by Sara Shepard
A young woman's struggle to grapple with her own perfectionism, and the perils of seeking perfection in the world around her.
IN ROSEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, FOUR PERFECT-LOOKING GIRLS AREN'T NEARLY AS PERFECT AS THEY SEEM. Aria can't resist her forbidden ex. Hanna is on the verge of losing her BFF. Emily is freaking out over a ... (Goodreads)
Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
Exploration of the hybrid identity of Chicana women, navigating between two cultures.
Anzaldua, a Chicana native of Texas, explores in prose and poetry the murky, precarious existence of those living on the frontier between cultures and languages. Writing in a lyrical mixture of ... (Goodreads)
One, No One and One Hundred Thousand
by Luigi Pirandello
A man's exploration of identity, uncovering the illusions of the external world.
Vitangelo Moscarda discovers by way of a completely irrelevant question that his wife poses to him that everyone he knows, everyone he has ever met, has constructed a Vitangelo, persona, in their own ... (Wikipedia)
Between the Acts
by Virginia Woolf
A play within a novel, set in a country house in England, explores the interplay between art and life, past and present, and the human condition.
The story takes place in a country house somewhere in England, just before the Second World War. It is the day when the annual pageant is to be performed in the grounds of the house. The pageant is ... (Wikipedia)
In the Miso Soup
by Ryū Murakami
A tour guide leads a mysterious foreigner through the neon-lit nightlife of Tokyo.
Twenty-year-old Kenji is a Japanese "nightlife" guide for foreigners—he navigates, gaijin, men around the sex clubs and hostess bars of Tokyo . On December 29 he receives a phone call from an ... (Wikipedia)
Luckiest Girl Alive
by Jessica Knoll
A young woman with a seemingly perfect life is forced to confront her traumatic past.
HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a ... (Goodreads)
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities
by Dossie Easton
An exploration of ethical non-monogamy, providing insight into brave new approaches of intimate relationships.
The essential guide for singles and couples who want to explore polyamory in ways that are ethically and emotionally sustainable. For anyone who has ever dreamed of love, sex, and companionship ... (Goodreads)
King Kong Theory
by Virginie Despentes
A candid and controversial exploration of gender, power and sexuality.
J’écris de chez les moches, pour les moches, les frigides, les mal baisées, les imbaisables, toutes les exclues du grand marché à la bonne meuf, aussi bien que pour les hommes qui n’ont pas envie ... (Goodreads)
The Rules Do Not Apply
by Ariel Levy
A memoir of a woman's journey of self-discovery, exploring the boundaries of freedom and responsibility.
A gorgeous, darkly humorous memoir about a woman overcoming dramatic loss and finding reinvention—for readers of Cheryl Strayed and Joan Didion When thirty-eight-year-old New Yorker writer Ariel Levy ... (Goodreads)
The Second Sex
by Simone de Beauvoir
A philosophical exploration of the history, struggles and oppression of women in society.
Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, Simone de Beauvoir’s masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of “woman,” and a groundbreaking exploration of inequality ... (Goodreads)
Blindsighted
by Karin Slaughter
A small Georgia town is rocked by a series of gruesome murders, and it's up to a female detective to solve the case.
A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it’s only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that ... (Barnes & Noble)
St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
by Karen Russell
Magical realism tale of young girls raised by wolves, learning to become human in a strange new world.
In these ten glittering short stories, debut author Karen Russell takes us to the ghostly and magical swamps of the Florida Everglades. Here, wolf-like girls are reformed by nuns; a family makes its ... (Goodreads)
Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference
by Cordelia Fine
Exposing the deeply embedded gender biases in our culture and beliefs.
It’s the twenty-first century, and although we tried to rear unisex children–boys who play with dolls and girls who like trucks--we failed. Even though the glass ceiling is cracked, most women stay ... (Goodreads)
Shame
by Salman Rushdie
Exploring the intricacies of identity and belonging in an ever-changing world.
This story takes place in a town called "Q" which is actually a fictitious version of Quetta, Pakistan . In Q, one of the three sisters (Chunni, Munnee, and Bunny Shakil) gives birth to Omar Khayyám ... (Wikipedia)
Juxtaposition
by Piers Anthony
A fantasy adventure novel of two parallel worlds, struggling against a common enemy.
In this brilliantly satisfying conclusion to the epic adventure begun in, Split Infinity, and continued in, Blue Adept,, Piers Anthony again proves himself a consummate master of both science fiction ... (Goodreads)
The Inheritance Trilogy
by N.K. Jemisin
A young woman struggles to claim her rightful place as ruler of a world where gods and mortals coexist. Epic fantasy with rich world-building.
In this omnibus edition of N.K. Jemisin's brilliantly original award-winning fantasy series, a young woman becomes entangled in a power struggle of mythic proportions. A REALM OF GODS AND MORTALS. ... (Goodreads)
The Kingdom of Gods
by N.K. Jemisin
Epic fantasy saga of gods, goddesses, and mortals struggling to survive and understand a mysterious power.
The Kingdom of Gods takes place about 100 years after the events of, The Broken Kingdoms, and centers around the godling Sieh. The god of childhood and mischief, he is suddenly transformed into a ... (Wikipedia)
Ethan Frome and Other Short Fiction
by Edith Wharton
A collection of short stories exploring the complexities of human relationships and societal expectations in the early 20th century.
On a bleak New England farm, a taciturn young man has resigned himself to a life of grim endurance. Bound by circumstance to a woman he cannot love, Ethan Frome is haunted by a past of lost ... (Goodreads)
Mariana
by Susanna Kearsley
Time-traveling adventure that uncovers secrets of a centuries-old mystery.
"I've loved every one of Susanna's books! She has bedrock research and a butterfly's delicate touch with characters—sure recipe for historical fiction that sucks you in and won't let go!"— DIANA ... (Barnes & Noble)
SCUM Manifesto
by Valerie Solanas
A radical feminist manifesto advocating for the overthrow of patriarchy and the elimination of men from society.
SCUM Manifesto was considered one of the most outrageous, violent and certifiably crazy tracts when it first appeared in 1968. Valerie Solanas, the woman who shot Andy Warhol, self-published this ... (Goodreads)
If you enjoyed this, try uploading your goodreads reviews and seeing what recommendations we can come up with for you.