Inside the Mind of the 20th-Century Male

Added 9/09

Go Tell it On The Mountain  by James Baldwin
This novel of black life in America is written with an impartial attitude.

The Adventures of Augie March  by Saul Bellow
Augie’s nonconformity leads him into an eventful, humorous, and sometimes earthy way of life.

Ragtime  by E.L. Doctorow
In America at the beginning of this century, three families become entwined with Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, Theodore Dreiser, Sigmund and Emiliano Zapata.

An American Tragedy  by Theodore Dreiser
The classic vision of the dark side of American life looks at the failings of the American Dream in the story of the rise and fall of Clyde Griffiths, who sacrifices everything in his desperate quest for success.

As I Lay Dying  by William Faulkner
The members of a Southern family contribute their individual tribulations to this encompassing impression of rural poverty.

Catch 22  by Joseph Heller
The contemporary classic depicting the struggles of a United States airman attempting to survive the lunacy and depravity of a World War II airbase.

Babbitt  by Sinclair Lewis
Describes the life of an aggressive, prosperous realtor, reflecting an image of middle-class America.

The Thanatos Syndrome  by Walker Percy
Dr. Tom More investigates a sudden outbreak of unusual behavior in Feliciana, Louisiana, and uncovers a criminal experiment to "improve" behavior patterns through the secret use of drugs in the local water supply.

The Spectator Bird  by Wallace Stegner
Retired literary agent Joe Allston passes through life as a spectator until he discovers the journals of a trip he took to his mother's birthplace years before.

The Confessions of Nat Turner  by William Styron
Nat Turner leads a group of slaves in an insurrection during 1831 in Virginia.

Rabbit, Run  by John Updike
Tired of the responsibility of married life, Harry Angstrom leaves his wife and home.

Slaughter-House Five  by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
A novel by "a fourth-generation German-American now living in easy circumstances on Cape Cod (and smoking too much), who, as an American infantry scout hors de combat, as a prisoner of war, witnessed the fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany, 'The Florence of the Elbe,' a long time ago, and survived to tell the tale. This is a novel somewhat in the telegraphic, schizophrenic manner of tales of the planet Tralfamadore, where the flying saucers come from. Peace."