The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Chicago

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 '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
10451 The Speed Of Light Javier Cercas 2005 Spanish Spanish
10454 A Promised Land Barack Obama 2020 American English
10454 The Poison Squad Deborah Blum 2018 American English
10541 The Rediscovery Of America Ned Blackhawk 2023 Unknown English
10555 18% Gray Zachary Karabashliev 2008 Bulgarian Bulgarian
10637 The New Me Halle Butler 2019 American English
10670 Our Migrant Souls Héctor Tobar 2023 American English
10774 Halfway Home Reuben Jonathan Miller 2021 American English
10849 Orson Welles André Bazin 1972 French French
10901 America’s Women Gail Collins 2003 American English
10919 The Shining Girls Lauren Beukes 2013 South African English
10943 I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter Erika L. Sánchez 2017 American English
10956 Spillover David Quammen 2012 American English
11204 The Audacity of Hope Barack Obama 2006 American English
11227 Becoming Michelle Obama 2018 American English
11278 Gospel Wilton Barnhardt 1993 American English
11305 A Raisin In The Sun Lorraine Hansberry 1959 American English
11310 James Tiptree, Jr. Julie Phillips 2006 Unknown English
11393 Speed The Plow David Mamet 1988 American English
11423 Feminism And Pop Culture Andi Zeisler 2008 American English
11439 A History Of Bombing Sven Lindqvist 1999 Swedish Swedish
11455 Years of Grace Margaret Ayer Barnes 1930 American English
11483 Ali Jonathan Eig 2017 American English
11483 Why Comics? Hillary L. Chute 2017 American English
11492 When Everything Changed Gail Collins 2009 American English
11513 Race Experts Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn 2001 American English
11525 206 Bones Kathy Reichs 2009 American English
11547 Nineteen Nineteen John Dos Passos 1932 American English
11633 The Instructions Adam Levin 2010 American English
11653 American Musicians Ii Whitney Balliett 1996 American English
11663 Bad Blood James Jones 1981 American Unknown
11663 Him With His Foot In His Mouth And Other Stories Saul Bellow 1984 American English
11663 Fly Girls Keith O'Brien 2018 American English
11663 We The Corporations Adam Winkler 2018 American English
11841 Reality Bites Back Jennifer L. Pozner 2009 American English
11873 Weapons Of Math Destruction Cathy O'Neil 2016 American English
11938 Coffee Will Make You Black April Sinclair 1995 American English
11941 The American Orchestra and Theodore Thomas Charles Edward Russell 1927 American English
12177 Algorithms Of Oppression Safiya Umoja Noble 2018 American English
12313 Yes Please Amy Poehler 2014 American English
12326 Overcoming Law Richard A. Posner 1995 American English
12505 Distributed Blackness André Brock Jr. 2020 Unknown English
12588 Geeks Jon Katz 2000 American English
12624 People Of Means Nancy Johnson 2025 Unknown English
13217 The Crisis Winston Churchill 1901 British English
13246 When God Talks Back Tanya Luhrmann 2012 American English
13259 The Spoken Word Revolution Mark Eleveld 2003 Unknown English
13295 Outside The Gates Of Eden Peter Bacon Hales 2014 Unknown English
13330 Olio Tyehimba Jess 2016 American English
13337 Change We Can Believe In Barack Obama 2008 American English
13340 Candyfreak Steve Almond 2004 American English
13362 Strange People Frank Edwards 1961 American English
13533 Gardner's Art Through The Ages Helen Gardner 1926 American English
13575 The Sound Of The City Charlie Gillett 1970 British English
13749 The Enchantments Of Mammon Eugene McCarraher 2019 American English
13799 The Winged Seed Li-Young Lee 1995 American English
13971 The Bridge David Remnick 2010 Unknown English
14001 The Eye In The Pyramid Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson 1975 American English
14025 The Big Book Of Adventure Stories Otto Penzler 2011 American English
14056 Sweet Soul Music Peter Guralnick 1986 American English
14232 Glengarry Glen Ross David Mamet 1984 American English
14232 Under A White Sky Elizabeth Kolbert 2021 American English
14374 Smoke And Steel Carl Sandburg 1920 American English
14404 The Titan Theodore Dreiser 1914 American English
14458 Clarence Darrow For The Defense Irving Stone 1957 American English
14499 Nowhere To Run Gerri Hirshey 2001 American English
14499 Super Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt 2009 American English
14554 The Deep End Of The Ocean Jacquelyn Mitchard 1996 American English
14630 Sexual Perversity in Chicago David Mamet 1974 American English
14674 The Genius Theodore Dreiser 1915 American English
14698 The Age Of American Unreason Susan Jacoby 2008 American English
14714 The Iron Heel Jack London 1908 American English
14854 To Be Young, Gifted, And Black Lorraine Hansberry 1969 American English
14958 The Front Page Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur 1928 American English
14985 My Favorite Thing Is Monsters Vol. 1 Emil Ferris 2017 American English
14985 Lovecraft Country Matt Ruff 2016 American English
14985 Clybourne Park Bruce Norris 2010 American English
14985 The Unnamed Joshua Ferris 2010 American English
14985 Bossypants Tina Fey 2011 American English
14985 Bliss Montage Ling Ma 2022 American English
14981 The Complete Poems Of Carl Sandburg Carl Sandburg 1970 American English
14985 A False Spring Pat Jordan 1975 American English
14985 Dark Matter Blake Crouch 2016 American English
14985 Crossroads Jonathan Franzen 2021 American English
15567 The Last Trial Scott Turow 2020 American English
15567 Music For Wartime Rebecca Makkai 2015 American English
15594 The Making Of A Counter Culture Theodore Roszak 1969 American English
15610 Moon Calf Floyd Dell 1920 American English
15616 Going All The Way Dan Wakefield 1970 American English
15667 The Nick Adams Stories Ernest Hemingway 1972 American English
15728 Slaughterhouse Five, Or The Children's Crusade Ryan North 1969 Unknown English
15727 You Know Me Al Ring Lardner 1916 American English
15916 Experience and Education John Dewey 1938 American English
15916 The School and the Child John Dewey 1902 American English
15916 Selected Poems Gwendolyn Brooks 1963 American English
15916 The Harsh Voice Rebecca West 1935 British English
15916 Black On White M. Ilin 1932 Russian Russian
15916 Exploring The Dangerous Trades Alice Hamilton 1943 American English
15916 The Shame Of The Cities Lincoln Steffens 1904 American English
15916 Sister Of The Road Bertha Thompson 1937 American English
15916 American Gothic Robert Bloch 1974 American English
15916 A Child Of The Century Ben Hecht 1954 American English
15916 Boss Mike Royko 1971 American English
15916 Rules For Radicals Saul D. Alinsky 1971 American English
15916 La Salle And The Discovery Of The Great West Francis Parkman 1869 American English
16550 The Other America Michael Harrington 1962 American English
16719 How To Win Friends & Influence People Dale Carnegie 1936 American English
16673 Personal Knowledge Michael Polanyi 1958 British English
17163 Larry's Party Carol Shields 1997 Canadian English
17163 Blacks Gwendolyn Brooks 1987 American English
17163 Black Picket Fences Mary Pattillo-McCoy 1999 American English
17163 Unequal City Carla Shedd 2015 American English
17163 The Year Of The Quiet Sun Wilson Tucker 1970 American English
17163 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom August Wilson 1984 American English
17163 Proof David Auburn 2000 American English
17163 The Royale Marco Ramirez 2013 American English
17163 Mama Terry McMillan 1987 American English
17163 The Middlesteins Jami Attenberg 2012 American English
17163 Battle Ground Jim Butcher 2020 American English
17163 The Chamber John Grisham 1994 American English