1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Delve into the pages of this sumptuously illustrated book and take a tour of the greatest novels that the world has to offer. Fully updated for 2018.

People have always shared stories, whether to teach moral lessons, to entertain, or to record important events in history. Today the range of excellent fiction available to read is truly breathtaking - and choosing the right novel to read can appear a little daunting. This ground-breaking volume makes the task much easier. Whether you're trying to broaden your literary horizons, find the perfect book for a friend, or simply select a good read for yourself, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is the only guide you will need to make the right choice.

Offering concise critical insight to the novels and the writers that have fired imaginations and influenced cultures around the world, this newly updated edition covers the gamut, from the first Latin novel to survive in its entirety to Mohsin Hamid's highly topical novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Organised chronologically, and covering the whole range of literary styles, this indispensable reference traces the history of world fiction. Discover the stories behind the adjectives: Dickensian, Kafkaesque, Rabelaisian.and the writers behind the stories. From the dark recesses of the Marquis de Sade's jail cell to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and from the society of Barbara Pim's Excellent Women to Don DeLillo's Falling Man, you'll find critiques of the most important and bestselling fiction ever written.

About the Editor

Peter Boxall is Professor of English Literature at the University of Sussex. He has published widely on twentieth-century fiction and drama, and regularly contributes essays and articles to journals such as The Yearbook of English Studies. Co-editor of Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory for four years until 2008, he is currently editor of Textual Practice. He is author of Don DeLillo: The Possibility of Fiction (2006) and Since Beckett: Contemporary Writing in the Wake of Modernism (2009). He is currently preparing a critical introduction to twenty-first century fiction to be published by Cambridge University Press.