The Woman in White

One of the earliest works of detective fiction, this story caused a sensation with readers at the time. More

Nostromo

A sweeping masterpiece considered by many to be Conrad’s greatest novel. More

Our Town

Pulitzer Prize–winning drama; hailed by Edward Albee as “The finest play ever written by an American.” More

Michael Chabon

The first writer that I really fell in love with was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in particular his Sherlock Holmes stories, and the first story that I ever wrote was a Sherlock Holmes story. More

Tom Robbins

I write to twine ideas and images into big subversive pretzels of life, death, and goofiness—on the chance that, like the Trickster figure in tribal myths, they might help keep the world lively and give it the flexibility to endure. More

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Pulitzer Prize winner; considered one of the classic works of creative nonfiction of the late twentieth century. More

The Odyssey of Homer

Hailed as “the best translation there is of a great, perhaps the greatest, poet” (New York Times Book Review). More

Moby-Dick

Often called the greatest American novel of all time. More

Mark Twain

In 1866, with mostly newspaper articles and other short works to his name, Mark Twain accepted an assignment from the Sacramento Union to produce a weekly column from Hawaii. More

V. Raghunathan

Mark Twain’s quote “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read” had a significant influence on me in my early years, which helped me take to reading seriously. More

Bleak House

Dickens’s tenth novel, often considered his finest; significantly influenced the development of mystery novels. More

Jane Eyre

Brontë’s masterpiece of Gothic romance; a milestone title in the history of British feminist literature. More

A Christmas Carol

Dickens’s beloved classic of the meaning of Christmas that has inspired countless adaptations. More