Books like

Books like Native Son

12 books with a reading profile close to Native Son by Richard Wright, Richard Wright - undifferentiated, Richard Wright. Deep and thought-provoking; a moderate read.

1

An American Tragedy

by Theodore Dreiser

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Clyde Griffiths grows up in a poor, religious household but develops a fixation on the lifestyles of the American upper class.
2

Let the Great World Spin

by Colum McCann

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Set in New York City during August 1974, the narrative centers on Philippe Petit’s unauthorized tightrope walk between the Twin Towers.
3

El coronel no tiene quien le escriba

by Gabriel García Márquez

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

A retired colonel in a small Colombian town has waited fifteen years for the pension he was promised after serving in a civil war.
4

All My Sons

by Arthur Miller

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, this drama centers on Joe Keller, a successful manufacturer who escaped conviction for shipping defective airplane cylinder heads that caused the deaths of twenty-one pilo…
5

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

by Ben Fountain

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Billy Lynn is a nineteen-year-old American soldier who has become a hero after a firefight in Iraq, which was caught on camera.
6

Pygmalion

by George Bernard Shaw

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Professor Henry Higgins, a specialist in phonetics, bets that he can pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a duchess by altering her speech and manners.
7

Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder

by Evelyn Waugh

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

During the mobilization of World War II, Captain Charles Ryder finds himself stationed at Brideshead Castle, the ancestral seat of the Marchmain family.
8

Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Jay Gatsby spends his life accumulating wealth through criminal channels to reclaim a past romance with Daisy Buchanan.
9

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

by Ernest Hemingway

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

This comprehensive collection gathers the full breadth of Hemingway’s short fiction, including the iconic Nick Adams adventures, vignettes from In Our Time, and posthumously published fragments.
10

A Thousand Acres

by Jane Smiley

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

In 1979, aging Iowa farmer Larry Cook decides to divide his namesake farm among his three daughters: Ginny, Rose, and Tyra.
11

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

by Ken Kesey

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Set in an Oregon psychiatric ward, the narrative follows Randle McMurphy, a boisterous criminal who fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a hospital rather than a work farm.
12

Sister Carrie

by Theodore Dreiser

Also deep and thought-provoking · narrative, literary

Eighteen-year-old Caroline Meeber leaves her rural Wisconsin home for Chicago with nothing but a small satchel and a desire for material comfort.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.