"A simple but magnificent proof of genius. A first novel by a 25-year-old with absolute command of his craft, uncanny knowledge of his world, its past and present, and a daring originality which makes its last pages among the most startlingly moving I know."

"The story of William Stoner, English professor, an unremarkable man by the standards of his world (early 20th century Missouri). Its plain and unerring truth is astonishing. Though undemonstrative and remote, I experience such a quiet and sublime intimacy with the protagonist. It’s a perfect novel."

"Probably the greatest novel ever written for its psychological and sociological accuracy over a wide range of characters. My favorite scene occurs when Anna, the day after she meets Vronsky, gets out of her train at a country station in a snowstorm-and runs into Vronsky!"

"Yanagihara’s novel breaks with the decorum of much of contemporary American fiction, laying claim instead to the scope and grandeur that often characterize the greatest queer art. This book elicits strong reactions; however you feel about it, it will be a landmark in your reading life."

"Duras… There is no one like her, who speaks with such simple and yet high-flown authority. Her tone is Biblical, absolute. She brushes off mediocre narrative expectations, and with this novel, a critical moment in her extraordinary writing career, and life, made something entirely new."

"I love the way Curtis Sittenfeld writes. It feels personal and immediate. And in this, her debut novel, she tells the story of a lower middle class Lee Fiora navigating her way through an elite boarding school. Sittenfeld’s observations are razor-edged, dark, and brazenly funny."

"This novel about how the human race responds to the end of life on Earth rekindled my love for sci-fi. Some readers will lose patience with all the technical details about orbits and space flight, but for me, it’s an engrossing and thought-provoking story."

"The first feminist character in a novel. I love this period of French lit, reflecting the life of a bored wife trapped as a woman in a ‘suitable’ marriage as a way to maintain her inheritance. It was seen as introducing realism and the modern narrative."

"Part of the Cairo trilogy by Mahfouz, this novel is like Ulysses in its focus (everyday life) but instead of a day covers a family moving through generations. It, too, views politics not through the excitements of politicians but what it means for our lived experience."