Chosen Books

Invited designers and commentators have chosen these as the books that inspire them and that have shaped their worldview or their ideas about design.
329 books
You Can’t Go Home Again Wolfe, Thomas Comments:
The Year of the Flood Artwood, Margaret
Woman’s World: A Novel Rawle, Graham
The Woman in the Dunes Abe, Kōbō
Winter’s Tale Helprin, Mark
The Wine-Dark Sea Sciascia, Leonardo
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Murakami, Haruki
The White Tiger Adiga, Aravind
White Noise DeLillo, Don
What a Carve Up! Coe, Jonathan
Watt Beckett, Samuel
Washington Square James, Henry
War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo
A Visit from the Goon Squad Egan, Jennifer
Vindication: A Novel Sherwood, Frances
Villa Triste Modiano, Patrick
versations Lehrer, Warren
Vermilion Sands Ballard, J. G.
Vendredi ou les Limbes du Pacifique (Friday) Tournier, Michel
Vas: An Opera in Flatland Tomasula, Steve et al.
Vanity Fair Thackeray, William Makepeace
The Vampire Lestat Rice, Anne
Valley of the Dolls Susann, Jacqueline
The Underpainter Urquhart, Jane
Ulysses Joyce, James
Two Under the Indian Sun Godden, Jon et al.
The Troubled Man Mankell, Henning
Tristram Shandy Sterne, Laurence
Tree of Smoke Johnson, Denis
Tonio Kröger Mann, Thomas
To the Lighthouse Woolf, Virginia
A Time to Love and a Time to Die Remarque, Erich Maria
A Time to Be Born Powell, Dawn
The Three Musketeers Dumas, Alexandre
Things You Should Know Homes, A. M.
The Things They Carried O’Brien, Tim
Things Fall Apart Achebe, Chinua
The Sixth Day and Other Tales Levi, Primo
Tender Is the Night Fitzgerald, F. (Francis) Scott
Tarzan of the Apes Burroughs, Edgar Rice
The Tanners Walser, Robert
Tales of the Unexpected Dahl, Roald
Tales of Mystery and Imagination Poe, Edgar Allan
The Tale of Genji Murasaki, Shikibu
The Tain Kinsella, Thomas
Super-Cannes Ballard, J. G.
Strait is the Gate Gide, André
Story of O Réage, Pauline
Stick Leonard, Elmore
Steppenwolf Hesse, Hermann
Speak, Memory Nabokov, Vladimir
The Sound and the Fury Faulkner, William
The Sorrows of Young Werther Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Song of the Lark Cather, Willa
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan See, Lisa
Snow Crash Stephenson, Neal
Smoke Turgenev, Ivan
Slowness Kundera, Milan
Slaughterhouse-Five Vonnegut, Kurt
Sister Carrie Dreiser, Theodore
Sicilian Carousel Durrell, Lawrence
The Shining King, Stephen
Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein Stein, Gertrude
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet Larsen, Reif
Selected Short Stories Tagore, Rabindranath
The Sea Wall Duras, Marguerite
Scruples Krantz, Judith
The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne, Nathaniel
Sarum Rutherfurd, Edward
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass Schulz, Bruno
Saka no ue no kumo (Clouds on the Slope) Shiba, Ryotaro
Ryoma ga Yuku (Ryoma Goes) Shiba, Ryotaro
The Royal Game Zweig, Stefan
Rosa Rabb, Jonathan
A Room of One’s Own Woolf, Virginia
A Romance of the Equator Aldiss, Brian Wilson
Road Dogs Leonard, Elmore
The Road McCarthy, Cormac
The Rings of Saturn Sebald, W. G.
Remembrance of Things Past Proust, Marcel
The Red Badge of Courage Crane, Stephen
The Red and the Black Stendhal,
The Recognitions Gaddis, William
Rayuela (Hopscotch) Cortázar, Julio
Rashomon and Other Stories Akutagawa, Ryunosuke
Ragtime Doctorow, E. L.
The Rachel Papers Amis, Martin
Putkinotko Lehtonen, Joel
The Prince of Tides Conroy, Pat
Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane
A Prayer for Owen Meany Irving, John
Positron Atwood, Margaret
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (German edition, Ein Porträt des Künstlers als junger Mann) Joyce, James
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Joyce, James
Portnoy’s Complaint Roth, Philip
The Portable Dorothy Parker Parker, Dorothy
The Plague Camus, Albert
The Picture of Dorian Gray Wilde, Oscar
The Pickup Gordimer, Nadine
Petersburg Bely, Andrei
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Suskind, Patrick
Pedro Páramo Rulfo, Juan
Pale Fire Nabokov, Vladimir
The Painted Veil Maugham, W. Somerset
Oryx and Crake Atwood, Margaret
Orlando Woolf, Virginia
One Hundred Years of Solitude García Márquez, Gabriel
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Kesey, Ken
One Arm Williams, Tennessee
On the Road Kerouac, Jack
On Beauty Smith, Zadie
Old Yeller Gipson, Fred
Obras Completas (Complete Works) Borges, Jorges Luis
Oblomov Goncharov, Ivan
Novelle Meravigliose delle Mille e Una Notte (Tales from the Thousand and One Nights) Oddone, Flora et al.
Notes of a Son and Brother James, Henry
Notes from Underground Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount Calvino, Italo
1984 Orwell, George
Night Flight Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
Neuromancer Gibson, William
Narcissus and Goldmund Hesse, Hermann
Nana Zola, Émile
The Name of the Rose Eco, Umberto
The Naked and the Dead Mailer, Norman
My Antonia Cather, Willa
The Museum of Innocence Pamuk, Orhan
Mrs. Dalloway Woolf, Virginia
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House Hodgins, Eric
The Moviegoer Percy, Walker
The Mother’s Recompense Wharton, Edith
Moby Dick Melville, Herman
Miramar Mahfouz, Naguib
Middlesex Eugenides, Jeffrey
Microscripts Walser, Robert
The Mezzanine Baker, Nicholson
Memoirs of Hadrian Yourcenar, Marguerite
The Member of the Wedding McCullers, Carson
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories Burton, Tim
The Matisse Stories Byatt, A. S.
The Master and Margarita Bulgakov, Mikhail
The Martian Chronicles Bradbury, Ray
The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony Calasso, Roberto
The Map and the Territory (La Carte et le Territoire) Houellebecq, Michel
The Man Without Qualities (German edition, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) Musil, Robert
The Man Without Qualities Musil, Robert
The Man Who Would Be King Kipling, Rudyard
The Man Who Laughs Hugo, Victor
The Maltese Falcon Hammett, Dashiell
A Maigret Trio Simenon, Georges
The Magic Mountain Mann, Thomas
Madame Bovary Flaubert, Gustave
Love Trouble Is My Business Geng, Veronica
Love in the Time of Cholera García Márquez, Gabriel
Lord Peter Sayers, Dorothy
Lord Byron’s Doctor West, Paul
Look Homeward, Angel Wolfe, Thomas
London Fields Amis, Martin
Lolita Nabokov, Vladimir
The Living Dillard, Annie
The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
Little Novels of Sicily Verga, Giovanni
Light in August Faulkner, William
Life: A User’s Manual Perec, Georges
Let the Great World Spin McCann, Colum
Les choses: Une histoire des années soixante (Things: A Story of the Sixties) Perec, Georges
The Leopard (Il gattopardo) Tomasi Di Lampedusa, Giuseppe et al.
Le rivage des Syrtes (The Opposing Shore) Gracq, Julien
The Ladies’ Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) Zola, Émile
Labyrinths Borges, Jorge Luis
The Labyrinth of Solitude (El Laberinto de la Soledad) Paz, Octavio
La Comédie Humaine (The Human Comedy) Balzac, Honoré de
Kissing in Manhattan Schickler, David
The Kindly Ones Littell, Jonathan
Killshot Leonard, Elmore
Killing Floor Child, Lee
The Jungle Book Kipling, Rudyard
John Dollar Wiggins, Marianne
Je me souviens Perec, Georges
Jazz Morrison, Toni
Jane Eyre Brontë, Charlotte
Ivanhoe Scott, Sir Walter
Ishmael Quinn, Daniel
Invisible Cities Calvino, Italo
The Invention of Morel Bioy Casares, Adolfo
Inter Ice Age 4 Abe, Kōbō
The Information Amis, Martin
In the Skin of a Lion Ondaatje, Michael
In Search of Lost Time (A la recherche du temps perdu) Proust, Marcel
In Our Time Hemingway, Ernest
Impressions of Africa Roussel, Raymond
The Impossible Dead Rankin, Ian
The Immoralist Gide, André
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler Calvino, Italo
The Idiot Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
i mean you know Lehrer, Warren
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Angelou, Maya
Hunger Hamsun, Knut
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Hugo, Victor
The Human Stain Roth, Philip
Howards End Forster, E. M.
The House of Spirits Allende, Isabel
House of Leaves Danielewski, Mark
Hollywood Bukowski, Charles
High-Rise Ballard, J. G.
High Fidelity Hornby, Nick
Herzog Bellow, Saul
A Hero of Our Time Lermontov, Mikhail
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Rowling, J. K.
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World Murakami, Haruki
Gulliver’s Travels Swift, Jonathan
The Guermantes Way Proust, Marcel
The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald, F. (Francis) Scott
Gravity’s Rainbow Pynchon, Thomas
The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck, John
Goodbye, Columbus Roth, Philip
The Golden Bowl James, Henry
The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) Hesse, Hermann
The Ginger Man Donleavy, J. P.
Germinal Zola, Émile
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis Bassani, Giorgio
The Front Runner Warren, Patricia Nell
Frankenstein Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
The Fountainhead Rand, Ayn
Foucault’s Pendulum Eco, Umberto
Flaubert’s Parrot Barnes, Julian
Flatland Abbott, Edwin A.
Finnegans Wake Joyce, James
A Fine Balance Mistry, Rohinton
Ficciones Borges, Jorge Luis
Favorite Greek Myths Osborne, Mary Pope et al.
The Fall Camus, Albert
Fahrenheit 451 Bradbury, Ray
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Foer, Jonathan Safran
Exodus Uris, Leon
Evil Under the Sun Christie, Agatha
Everything Is Illuminated Foer, Jonathan Safran
Eva Luna Allende, Isabel
Ender’s Game Card, Orson Scott
The Empty Canvas Moravia, Alberto et al.
Emma Austen, Jane
The Emigrants Sebald, W. G.
The Elementary Particles Houellebecq, Michel
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Barbery, Muriel
Elective Affinities Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
Einstein’s Dreams Lightman, Alan
East of Eden Steinbeck, John
Dune Herbert, Frank
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim Sedaris, David
The Dream of the Red Chamber Xueqin, Cao
Dora Bruder (The Search Warrant) Modiano, Patrick
Don Quixote Cervantes, Miguel de
Don Quixote Long, Gareth
Dombey and Son Dickens, Charles
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories Gogol, Nicolai
The Diamond Age Stephenson, Neal
Demons Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Demian Hesse, Hermann
Decameron Boccaccio, Giovanni
Death in Venice Mann, Thomas et al.
Death in the Afternoon Hemingway, Ernest
The Day Khrushchev Panicked Mair, George B.
Darkness at Noon Koestler, Arthur
Dans ma chambre (In My Room) Dustan, Guillaume
Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
Crash Ballard, J. G.
The Count of Monte Cristo Dumas, Alexandre
The Corrections Franzen, Jonathan
Contempt Moravia, Alberto et al.
Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man Mann, Thomas
Concrete Island Ballard, J. G.
The Complete Short Stories of J. G. Ballard Ballard, J. G. et al.
The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine La Fontaine, Jean de
The Collected Works of Jules Verne: 36 Novels and Short Stories Verne, Jules
The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Hempel, Amy
The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer Singer, Isaac Bashevis
The Collected Short Stories of Jean Rhys Rhys, Jean
Cloud Atlas Mitchell, David
A Clockwork Orange Burgess, Anthony
City of Night Rechy, John
China Lover Buruma, Ian
China Court Godden, Rumer
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules Sedaris, David
The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal,
Cathedral Carver, Raymond
The Castle Kafka, Franz
The Case for the Burial of Ancestors, Book 3: The History of the Tabernacle Zelevansky, Paul
Carrie King, Stephen
The Canterbury Tales Chaucer, Geoffrey
Buddenbrooks Mann, Thomas et al.
The Brothers Karamazov Dostoyevsky, Fyodor
The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Díaz, Junot
The Bridge of San Luis Rey Wilder, Thornton
Brave New World Huxley, Aldous
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting Kundera, Milan
The Book of Dave Self, Will
The Book of Daniel Doctorow, E. L.
The Bluest Eye Morrison, Toni
Blindness Saramago, José
Bleak House Dickens, Charles
The Black Book Pamuk, Orhan et al.
Billy Budd Melville, Herman
Berlin Alexanderplatz Döblin, Alfred
Beloved Morrison, Toni
The Belly of Paris Zola, Émile
The Bell Jar Plath, Sylvia
Being There Kosinski, Jerzy
A Beggar in Jerusalem Wiesel, Elie
Bartleby, the Scrivener Melville, Herman
Barcelona Hughes, Robert
The Aviator (L’Aviateur) Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de
Austerlitz Sebald, W. G.
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter Vargas Llosa, Mario
The Atrocity Exhibition Ballard, J. G.
Atonement McEwan, Ian
At Last St. Aubyn, Edward
As I Lay Dying Faulkner, William
Answered Prayers Capote, Truman
Annals of the Former World McPhee, John
Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo
Angle of Repose Stegner, Wallace
Amsterdam McEwan, Ian
American Pastoral Roth, Philip
All the King’s Men Warren, Robert Penn
The Aleph Borges, Jorge Luis
Akhenaten Mahfouz, Naguib
The Age of Innocence Wharton, Edith
Against Nature (A Rebours) Huysmans, Joris-Karl
Ada, or Ardor Nabokov, Vladimir
comments powered by Disqus