Harold Bloom's 278 Books You Should Have Read By Now

1.
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby 3.93 avg rating — 5,731,019 ratings
2.
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath 4.02 avg rating — 971,543 ratings
3.
The Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye 3.80 avg rating — 3,800,283 ratings
4.
The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises 3.79 avg rating — 482,009 ratings
5.
Lolita
Lolita 3.87 avg rating — 919,161 ratings
6.
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman 3.58 avg rating — 252,744 ratings
7.
As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying 3.72 avg rating — 182,460 ratings
8.
A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms 3.82 avg rating — 344,467 ratings
9.
Tender Is the Night
Tender Is the Night 3.77 avg rating — 146,411 ratings
9.
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie 3.74 avg rating — 141,049 ratings
11.
A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire 3.98 avg rating — 328,868 ratings
12.
Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom! 3.99 avg rating — 47,015 ratings
13.
The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth 3.97 avg rating — 103,530 ratings
14.
Cat’s Cradle
Cat’s Cradle 4.15 avg rating — 428,357 ratings
15.
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood 4.09 avg rating — 710,325 ratings
16.
The Sound and the Fury
The Sound and the Fury 3.86 avg rating — 192,267 ratings
17.
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon 4.15 avg rating — 123,924 ratings
18.
Long Day’s Journey into Night
Long Day’s Journey into Night 4.06 avg rating — 42,392 ratings
19.
The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence 3.97 avg rating — 189,900 ratings
20.
Myra Breckinridge
Myra Breckinridge 3.57 avg rating — 5,191 ratings
21.
The Hamlet (The Snopes Trilogy, #1)
The Hamlet (The Snopes Trilogy, #1) 3.86 avg rating — 5,831 ratings
22.
The Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel 3.85 avg rating — 5,846 ratings
23.
Angels in America
Angels in America 4.30 avg rating — 22,976 ratings
24.
The Ballad of the Sad Café
The Ballad of the Sad Café 3.79 avg rating — 25,466 ratings
25.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God 3.99 avg rating — 377,769 ratings
26.
Invisible Man
Invisible Man 3.92 avg rating — 198,724 ratings
27.
The Left Hand Of Darkness
The Left Hand Of Darkness 4.10 avg rating — 209,422 ratings
28.
Winesburg, Ohio
Winesburg, Ohio 3.84 avg rating — 36,325 ratings
29.
Seize the Day
Seize the Day 3.53 avg rating — 13,347 ratings
29.
Pale Fire
Pale Fire 4.17 avg rating — 55,881 ratings
29.
Fences (The Century Cycle, #6)
Fences (The Century Cycle, #6) 3.88 avg rating — 29,469 ratings
32.
The Collected Poems
The Collected Poems 4.27 avg rating — 11,537 ratings
33.
Native Son
Native Son 4.04 avg rating — 103,285 ratings
34.
The Fixer
The Fixer 3.98 avg rating — 11,820 ratings
35.
Complete Poems
Complete Poems 4.02 avg rating — 3,151 ratings
36.
The Complete Poems 1927-1979
The Complete Poems 1927-1979 4.20 avg rating — 12,966 ratings
37.
Jesus’ Son
Jesus’ Son 4.13 avg rating — 39,233 ratings
38.
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West 4.16 avg rating — 204,428 ratings
39.
Babbitt
Babbitt 3.69 avg rating — 24,525 ratings
40.
Nine Stories
Nine Stories 4.18 avg rating — 152,901 ratings
41.
The Collected Poems
The Collected Poems 4.36 avg rating — 18,158 ratings
42.
Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome 3.45 avg rating — 134,931 ratings
43.
The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh 3.90 avg rating — 10,050 ratings
44.
The Crying of Lot 49
The Crying of Lot 49 3.69 avg rating — 93,725 ratings
45.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter 3.99 avg rating — 116,833 ratings
45.
Three Lives
Three Lives 3.07 avg rating — 4,475 ratings
47.
The Floating Opera
The Floating Opera 3.87 avg rating — 3,029 ratings
48.
The Complete Stories
The Complete Stories 4.39 avg rating — 40,387 ratings
49.
Selected Poems
Selected Poems 4.20 avg rating — 1,393 ratings
50.
Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories
Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories 4.41 avg rating — 22,205 ratings
51.
My Ántonia
My Ántonia 3.84 avg rating — 144,858 ratings
52.
The Selected Poems of Frank O'Hara
The Selected Poems of Frank O'Hara 4.34 avg rating — 1,447 ratings
52.
Gravity’s Rainbow
Gravity’s Rainbow 4.01 avg rating — 46,890 ratings
54.
It Can't Happen Here
It Can't Happen Here 3.80 avg rating — 22,839 ratings
55.
Herzog
Herzog 3.76 avg rating — 22,522 ratings
56.
All the King's Men
All the King's Men 4.09 avg rating — 65,738 ratings
57.
Collected Poems
Collected Poems 4.08 avg rating — 2,672 ratings
58.
Tender Buttons
Tender Buttons 3.65 avg rating — 7,004 ratings
59.
White Noise
White Noise 3.86 avg rating — 123,837 ratings
60.
Counter-Statement
Counter-Statement 4.14 avg rating — 114 ratings
60.
Light in August
Light in August 3.94 avg rating — 65,240 ratings
62.
Seven Plays
Seven Plays 4.16 avg rating — 5,522 ratings
63.
Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems
Robinson Jeffers: Selected Poems 4.26 avg rating — 630 ratings
64.
Three Short Novels: The Crazy Hunter; The Bridegroom's Body; Decision
Three Short Novels: The Crazy Hunter; The Bridegroom's Body; Decision
by: Kay Boyle
4.40 avg rating — 40 ratings
64.
Selected Poems of Rita Dove
Selected Poems of Rita Dove
by: Rita Dove
3.98 avg rating — 883 ratings
66.
The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950
The Complete Poems and Plays, 1909-1950 4.34 avg rating — 6,974 ratings
67.
Selected Poems
Selected Poems 4.07 avg rating — 27 ratings
68.
Child of God
Child of God 3.82 avg rating — 52,905 ratings
69.
A Lost Lady
A Lost Lady 3.72 avg rating — 7,897 ratings
69.
The Collected Poems of Weldon Kees
The Collected Poems of Weldon Kees 4.26 avg rating — 319 ratings
71.
Westward
Westward 3.79 avg rating — 39 ratings
72.
Libra
Libra 4.05 avg rating — 19,590 ratings
73.
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway 4.29 avg rating — 37,556 ratings
74.
The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter
The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter 3.97 avg rating — 6,229 ratings
75.
Geographical History of America (PAJ Books)
Geographical History of America (PAJ Books) 3.97 avg rating — 76 ratings
76.
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country and Other Stories
In the Heart of the Heart of the Country and Other Stories 3.97 avg rating — 2,814 ratings
76.
Spoon River Anthology
Spoon River Anthology 4.04 avg rating — 13,412 ratings
78.
Alphabetical Africa
Alphabetical Africa 3.58 avg rating — 336 ratings
78.
New and Selected Poems
New and Selected Poems 3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
78.
The Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden 3.70 avg rating — 23,183 ratings
78.
Selected Longer Poems
Selected Longer Poems 4.10 avg rating — 10 ratings
82.
Eclipse Fever
Eclipse Fever 3.62 avg rating — 76 ratings
82.
The Poetry of Robert Frost
The Poetry of Robert Frost 4.24 avg rating — 48,972 ratings
82.
Solo Faces
Solo Faces 3.90 avg rating — 1,848 ratings
85.
How German Is It
How German Is It 3.87 avg rating — 618 ratings
85.
Collected Poems
Collected Poems 4.46 avg rating — 367 ratings
87.
I am the Dust Under Your Feet
I am the Dust Under Your Feet 3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
87.
The Rest of the Way
The Rest of the Way 3.44 avg rating — 18 ratings
87.
Selected Poems: Summer Knowledge
Selected Poems: Summer Knowledge 3.93 avg rating — 258 ratings
90.
Poems: A Selection
Poems: A Selection 3.50 avg rating — 18 ratings
90.
Selected Poems, 1963-1983
Selected Poems, 1963-1983 4.34 avg rating — 184 ratings
92.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men 3.97 avg rating — 3,971 ratings
92.
No Nature: New and Selected Poems
No Nature: New and Selected Poems 4.20 avg rating — 862 ratings
94.
Permit Me Voyage
Permit Me Voyage 4.09 avg rating — 23 ratings
94.
Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose
Opus Posthumous: Poems, Plays, Prose 4.31 avg rating — 155 ratings
96.
Conrad Aiken Selected Poems
Conrad Aiken Selected Poems 4.21 avg rating — 151 ratings
96.
Second Skin
Second Skin 3.88 avg rating — 504 ratings
96.
The Necessary Angel: Essays on Reality and the Imagination
The Necessary Angel: Essays on Reality and the Imagination 4.15 avg rating — 772 ratings
99.
Collected Poems, 1951-1971
Collected Poems, 1951-1971 4.40 avg rating — 168 ratings
99.
The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play
The Palm at the End of the Mind: Selected Poems and a Play 4.33 avg rating — 2,214 ratings
Next