swap_horiz Babbitt Alternatives

1

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner’s *Absalom, Absalom!* explores the ambitious, ultimately tragic story of Thomas Sutpen’s attempt to bui...

Classic American 20TH Century Southern

8.68 Great

2

Infinite Jest

David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is a complex American novel exploring themes of entertainment, addiction, and commu...

American Satire Experimental Postmodern

8.68 Great

3

Passing

Nella Larsen’s *Passing* explores the complexities of racial identity within the context of the Harlem Renaissance. The...

Classic American Race Harlem Renaissance

8.46 Great

4

The Recognitions

William Gaddis’s *The Recognitions* explores themes of art, faith, and deception through a highly experimental narrative...

Classic American Postmodern Art

8.44 Great

5

Cat's Cradle

Kurt Vonnegut’s *Cat's Cradle* explores themes of faith, scientific discovery, and human folly through a darkly humorous...

American Satire Postmodern Science Fiction

8.36 Great

6

Light in August

William Faulkner’s *Light in August* explores complex themes within rural Mississippi during the 1930s. The novel examin...

Classic American 20TH Century Southern

8.34 Great

7

The Ambassadors

Henry James’ *The Ambassadors* explores the complexities of cultural adjustment and disillusionment through the experien...

Classic American Realist Society

8.28 Great

8

Wise Blood

Flannery O’Connor’s *Wise Blood* explores themes of disillusionment and spiritual searching through the character of Haz...

Classic American Southern Gothic Religious

8.18 Great

9

Rabbit, Run

John Updike’s *Rabbit, Run* explores the disillusionment of Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a working-class man navigating subu...

Classic American Suburban Realist

8.14 Great

10

The Awakening

Kate Chopin’s *The Awakening* explores the restrictive nature of marriage and societal expectations for women in late ni...

Classic American Feminist Marriage

8.12 Great

11

Oblomov

Ivan Goncharov’s *Oblomov* portrays a nineteenth-century Russian nobleman consumed by apathy and inaction. The novel exp...

Russian Classic 19TH Century Satire

8.08 Great

12

Main Street

Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street examines the stifling effects of conformity within a struggling Midwestern community. The n...

Classic American Satire Small Town

8.08 Great

13

Cold Comfort Farm

Stella Gibbons’ *Cold Comfort Farm* (1932) offers a sharp satire of rural English life and melodramatic storytelling. Th...

Classic Satire English Rural

8.05 Great

14

Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome is a 1911 novella by American writer Edith Wharton, set in the fictional rural town of Starkfield, Massachus...

Classic American Rural Tragic

7.88 Good

15

The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth is a 1905 novel by American author Edith Wharton. The narrative follows Lily Bart, a beautiful but im...

Classic American Wharton 20TH Century

7.80 Good

16

Giovanni's Room

Giovanni's Room is a 1956 novel by James Baldwin, published by Dial Press and set largely in Paris. It follows David, a...

Classic American 20TH Century Lgbtq+

7.76 Good

17

Go Tell It on the Mountain

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is a semi-autobiographical novel by American writer James Baldwin, originally published in...

Classic American 20TH Century Race

7.70 Good

18

Tender Is the Night

Tender Is the Night is a modernist novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in 1934. Set primarily in Europe on the...

Classic American Modernist 20TH Century

7.65 Good

19

Sister Carrie

Sister Carrie is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, first published in 1900, and an important work of American literary natura...

Classic American Naturalist 20TH Century

7.53 Good

20

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Cancer is a modernist novel by American author Henry Miller, first published in Paris by Obelisk Press in 1934...

Classic American Controversial Modernist

7.42 Good