What Does It Mean to Be Well-Read?

Novels

Biography and Autobiography

Miscellaneous (Including Essays and Non-Fiction)

Foremost among Latin American authors, Borges was known for his avant-garde poems and tales that created a fantastic, totally subjective, and deeply metaphysical world.

Also: 

• The Aleph and Other Stories (1933-1969)
• Doctor Brodie’s Report (1972)
• The Book of Sand (1977)

These stories, written over several years, come together to chronicle the colonization of Mars by people from Earth.

The brilliant, analytical detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson, put Scotland Yard to shame as they outwit the villainous Moriarty.

These stories helped give shape and definition to "The Roaring Twenties," which Fitzgerald called "The Jazz Age": a time of decadence and broken dreams. Read "Babylon Revisited."

Read "Young Goodman Brown"; "The Birthmark"; "The Minister’s Black Veil"; and "Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment."

Read "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"; "My Old Man"; and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.

Although not considered great literature, these stories of everyday people and their lives, primarily in New York City or on the Western frontier, have become part of the American culture. Read "The Gift of the Magi"; "After Twenty Years"; and "The Last Leaf."

Considered America’s first classic writer, Irving is best known for "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a giant cockroach.

Read "The Necklace."

Read "A Good Man is Hard to Find," about the deadly confrontation between a religious grandmothers and a mad murderer.

Included is a novella about an old man and woman who quarrel bitterly about remaining in their own home or moving to a retirement home.

Poe is the father of the detective story and a master of supernatural tales. Look for "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Purloined Letter," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Pit and the Pendulum," and "The Tell-Tale Heart."

See also Poetry

These bittersweet snapshots of life in post-war America offer a look into the hearts of ordinary, middle-class people, especially urban and suburban American Jews.

This Nobel-Prize winning author combines his Eastern-European Jewish boyhood with contemporary insights into characters both unique and commonplace.

Twain is also known for some of his shorter works, especially "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" and "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg."

See also Novels

This collection of stories pre-dates his best-known work, Slaughterhouse-Five. Read "Harrison Bergeron" and "Who Am I This Time?"

See also Novels

A collection of short stories about people and life in the deep South. Look for "Why I Live at the PO," "The Worn Path," and "The Petrified Man."