Essential Books for Writers
Fiction Masterpieces |
Eminent Authors |
Writing Guidebooks
One of the best ways for an author to learn the craft of writing is to read the best books available. We offer our list of the greatest stories ever written.
Study of successful authors can inspire us to pursue our own literary dreams. These writers are talented, prolific, and uncompromising of their literary visions.
Independent authors can also supplement their learning, or find specific answers to common writing problems, in some of the many self-help books gathered below.
15 Masterpieces of Fiction
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Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- A wild romp through language.
Purchase | Download
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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Perfectly plotted and paced. Purchase
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The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
- An intellectual historical mystery.
Purchase
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The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Best of the Century
- The Great American Novel.
Purchase
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Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- A novella that cannot be prevented.
Purchase
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One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Best of the Century
- The classic of magical realism.
Purchase
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The Tin Drum by Günter Grass | 1999 Nobel Prize
- A boy protests war by refusing to grow.
Purchase
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Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
- The bloom and gloom of love.
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The World According to Garp by John Irving
- The story of a life well-lived.
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
- Purchase
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The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence
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Purchase
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Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
- A study of male friendship.
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Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie | 1981 Booker Prize | Best of the Century
- The birth of a nation.
Purchase
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Dracula by Bram Stoker
- Gothic grown up. The first and best.
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The Once and Future King by T. H. White
- A brilliant and original interpretation of the Matter of Britain.
10 Authors of Eminence
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Ray Bradbury
- The human face of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
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Italo Calvino (1923-1985)
- The Italian wizard.
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Umberto Eco (1932- )
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Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1928- ) | 1982 Nobel Prize
- The master of magical realism.
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Thomas Hardy (1839-1928)
- The master of melancholy.
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John Irving (1942- )
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Milan Kundera (1929- )
- The intrepid explorer of modern existence.
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D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930)
- The prophet of individual regeneration.
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Salman Rushdie (1947- )
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William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- The greatest dramatist ever.
5 Invaluable Guidebooks for Fiction Writers
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The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
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The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera
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Purchase
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Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
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Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See
- Purchase
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On Writing Well by William Zinser
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