The Greatest Books of All Time Set in California

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 401 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
21 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 1939 American English
102 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
112 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
119 The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett 1930 American English
210 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck 1937 American English
215 East of Eden John Steinbeck 1952 American English
308 The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Tom Wolfe 1968 American English
369 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
408 Play It As It Lays Joan Didion 1970 American English
419 The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan 1989 American English
464 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
493 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
496 Slouching Towards Bethlehem Joan Didion 1968 American English
507 The Right Stuff Tom Wolfe 1979 American English
519 A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius Dave Eggers 2000 American English
524 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 1966 American English
560 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
653 The Glass Key Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
671 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
697 Cannery Row John Steinbeck 1945 American English
711 Kindred Octavia E. Butler 1979 American English
717 And the Band Played On Randy Shilts 1987 American English
722 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
744 The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston 1976 American English
755 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
791 Angle of Repose Wallace Stegner 1971 American English
846 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
847 The Sellout Paul Beatty 2015 American English
876 The Feynman Lectures on Physics Richard P. Feynman 1963 American English
944 The Omnivore's Dilemma Michael Pollan 2006 American English
962 Martin Eden Jack London 1909 American English
974 Blonde Joyce Carol Oates 2000 American English
987 Parable Of The Sower Octavia E. Butler 1993 American English
994 Mc Teague Frank Norris 1899 American English
1005 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1009 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1022 Tales of the City Armistead Maupin 1978 American English
1039 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig 1974 American English
1106 My Name Is Aram William Saroyan 1940 American English
1128 Moneyball Michael M. Lewis 2003 American English
1223 Erasure Percival Everett 2001 American English
1267 White Fang Jack London 1906 American English
1376 The Overstory Richard Powers 2018 American English
1383 My First Summer in the Sierra John Muir 1911 American English
1426 The Graduate Charles Webb 1963 American English
1425 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1463 Tell Me a Riddle Tillie Olsen 1961 American English
1488 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1707 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Horace McCoy 1935 American English
1836 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1868 Ask The Dust John Fante 1939 American English
1870 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
1873 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
1937 The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka 2011 American English
2019 If He Hollers Let Him Go Chester Himes 1945 American English
2038 Our Lady Of Darkness Fritz Leiber 1977 American English
2134 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Jack Finney 1955 American English
2133 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2229 The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Steffens 1931 American English
2312 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
2429 There There Tommy Orange 2018 American English
2509 Native Funk & Flash Alexandra Jacopetti 1974 American English
2553 Generation X Douglas Coupland 1991 Canadian English
2563 Falling Leaves Adeline Yen Mah 1997 Chinese English
2641 Barbarian Days William Finnegan 2015 American English
2660 What Is the What Dave Eggers 2006 American English
2719 Willard and His Bowling Trophies Richard Brautigan 1975 American English
2765 Cutter and Bone Newton Thornburg 1976 American English
2799 Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser 2001 American English
2815 The Revolt Of The Cockroach People Oscar Zeta Acosta 1973 American English
2834 World's End T. C. Boyle 1987 American English
2919 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
3033 Living Up The Street Gary Soto 1985 American English
3058 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
3081 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
3129 The Wycherly Woman Ross Macdonald 1961 American English
3279 Children Of The Atom Wilmar H. Shiras 1953 American English
3314 Duke of Deception Geoffrey Wolff 1979 American English
3358 American Born Chinese Gene Luen Yang 2006 American English
3386 Pictures From Home Larry Sultan 1992 American English
3446 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3458 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
3497 Tripmaster Monkey Maxine Hong Kingston 1989 American English
3507 Inner City Blues Paula L. Woods 1999 American English
3638 The Land Of Little Rain Mary Austin 1903 American English
3638 Mountain Charley Elsa Jane Guerin 1861 American English
3638 Ramona Helen Hunt Jackson 1884 American English
3690 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
3692 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
3714 Dictee Theresa Hak Kyung Cha 1982 American English
3719 Fifth Chinese Daughter Jade Snow Wong 1945 American English
3739 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman 1997 American English
3757 When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi 2016 American English
3857 Stone Junction Jim Dodge 1990 American English
3891 Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Lawrence Weschler 1995 American English
3934 Under The Feet Of Jesus Helena MarĂ­a Viramontes 1995 American English
3961 Timescape Gregory Benford 1980 American English
3975 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
4033 Management Peter Drucker 1973 American English
4043 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
4047 I Love Dick Chris Kraus 1997 American English
4056 Chinese Cinderella Adeline Yen Mah 1999 Chinese English
4060 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English
4066 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
4135 Bid Time Return Richard Matheson 1975 American English
4197 The Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan 2001 American English
4248 Going Clear Lawrence Wright 2013 American English
4369 The Winds Of War Herman Wouk 1971 American English
4384 If Only It Were True Marc Levy 1999 French French
4460 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
4460 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
4486 Stay True Hua Hsu 2022 Chinese English
4518 Funny in Farsi Firoozeh Dumas 2003 Iranian English
4548 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
4585 Stiff Mary Roach 2003 American English
4588 Primary Colors Anonymous 1996 American English
4595 The Pat Hobby Stories F. Scott Fitzgerald 1962 American English
4595 Collected Stories Of William Saroyan William Saroyan 1943 American English
4797 Can't Stop Won't Stop Jeff Chang 2005 American English
4799 The Power Of The Dog Don Winslow 2005 American English