The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Los Angeles

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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
41 On the Road Jack Kerouac 1957 American English
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
161 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
347 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
433 Play It As It Lays Joan Didion 1970 American English
513 Kindred Octavia E. Butler 1979 American English
595 Farewell, My Lovely Raymond Chandler 1940 American English
747 Blonde Joyce Carol Oates 2000 American English
777 I Am Legend Richard Matheson 1954 American English
800 The Loved One Evelyn Waugh 1948 British English
837 The Sellout Paul Beatty 2015 American English
909 The Warmth Of Other Suns Isabel Wilkerson 2010 American English
922 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1153 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
1183 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1193 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
1272 Erasure Percival Everett 2001 American English
1322 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
1530 Myra Breckinridge Gore Vidal 1968 American English
1597 Snow Crash Neal Stephenson 1992 American English
1695 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
1720 The Lady In The Lake Raymond Chandler 1943 American English
1847 The Little Sister Raymond Chandler 1949 American English
1936 Ask The Dust John Fante 1939 American English
1954 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Horace McCoy 1935 American English
2068 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2178 The Love Of The Last Tycoon F. Scott Fitzgerald 1941 American English
2291 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
2384 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2515 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
2787 A Cultural History Of The Modern Age Egon Friedell 1927 Austrian English
2828 Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow Gabrielle Zevin 2022 American English
2883 Physics And Beyond Werner Heisenberg 1971 German German
3012 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3117 The White Album Joan Didion 1979 American English
3184 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
3198 The Autobiography Of A Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda 1946 Indian English
3223 Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Lawrence Weschler 1995 American English
3317 City Of Night John Rechy 1963 American English
3320 Metzger's Dog Thomas Perry 1983 American English
3323 Post Office Charles Bukowski 1971 American English
3429 Short Letter, Long Farewell Peter Handke 1972 Austrian German
3445 The Kandy Kolored Tangerine Flake Streamline Baby Tom Wolfe 1965 American English
3553 The Revolt Of The Cockroach People Oscar Zeta Acosta 1973 American English
3586 A Single Man Christopher Isherwood 1964 British English
3600 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid 2019 American English
3614 The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett 2020 American English
3638 The Jazz Book Joachim-Ernst Berendt 1953 German German
3638 Exile Lion Feuchtwanger 1940 German German
3638 The Future Has Already Begun Robert Jungk 1952 Austrian German
3857 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3938 Collected Stories Raymond Chandler 1964 American English
4460 The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Aimee Bender 2010 American English
4803 Dictee Theresa Hak Kyung Cha 1982 American English
4810 Slow Days, Fast Company Eve Babitz 1977 American English
4815 A Dram Of Poison Charlotte Armstrong 1956 American English
4856 The Gift Horse Hildegard Knef 1970 German German
4899 Cruising Speed William F. Buckley, Jr 1971 American English
4941 Ghettoside Jill Leovy 2015 American English
5039 The Pleasure Of Finding Things Out Richard P. Feynman 1999 American English
5318 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
5324 If He Hollers Let Him Go Chester Himes 1945 American English
5347 The Last Coyote Michael Connelly 1995 American English
5361 The Hite Report Shere Hite 1976 American English
5368 White Jazz James Ellroy 1992 American English
5438 The Black Echo Michael Connelly 1992 American English
5691 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5948 Inherent Vice Thomas Pynchon 2009 American English
5986 Ham On Rye Charles Bukowski 1982 American English
6003 Waiting For Nothing And Other Writings Tom Kromer 1935 American English
6003 Testimony Charles Reznikoff 1965 American English
6192 Fletch Gregory Mcdonald 1974 American English
6274 American Tabloid James Ellroy 1995 American English
6277 Primary Colors Unknown 1996 American English
6299 Ecology Of Fear Mike Davis 1998 American English
6359 The Library Book Susan Orlean 2018 American English
6524 The Mars Room Rachel Kushner 2018 American English
6672 What The Dog Saw And Other Adventures Malcolm Gladwell 2009 Canadian English
6737 My Misspent Youth Meghan Daum 2001 American English
6737 The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup Susan Orlean 2001 American English
6806 America Jean Baudrillard 1986 French French
6817 Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid 2017 American English
6860 My Guru And His Disciple Christopher Isherwood 1980 British English
6881 Tinísima Elena Poniatowska 1992 Mexican Spanish
7028 Going Clear Lawrence Wright 2013 American English
7037 Bright Shiny Morning James Frey 2008 American English
7096 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7122 Why We Love Helen Fisher 2004 American English
7215 Lonely Crusade Chester Himes 1947 American English
7215 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye Horace McCoy 1948 American English
7670 14 Peter Clines 2012 American English
7790 Weetzie Bat Francesca Lia Block 1989 American English
7860 The Barbarous Coast Ross Macdonald 1956 American English
7908 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
8075 Nurture Shock Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman 2008 American English
8159 The Choirboys Joseph Wambaugh 1975 American English
8228 Solito Javier Zamora 2022 Unknown English
8382 Outrageous Acts And Everyday Rebellions Gloria Steinem 1983 American English
8429 All Fours Miranda July 2024 American English
8432 A Running Duck Paula Gosling 1978 American English
8464 Griftopia Matt Taibbi 2010 American English
8491 Postcards From The Edge Carrie Fisher 1987 American English
8498 Chinaman's Chance Ross Thomas 1978 American English
8590 The Monkey's Raincoat Robert Crais 1987 American English
8641 Water Marq de Villiers 2000 Canadian English
8696 Inner City Blues Paula L. Woods 1999 American English
8848 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
8890 Midnight In Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
8925 The End Of Men Hanna Rosin 2012 American English
8991 The Deal Of The Century Steve Coll 1986 American English
9191 Words On The Move John McWhorter 2016 American English
9191 Hit Makers Derek Thompson 2017 American English
9191 The Death Class Erika Hayasaki 2014 American English
9287 Cemetery Boys Aiden Thomas 2020 American English
9287 Spoiler Alert Olivia Dade 2020 American English
9324 The Hacker Crackdown Bruce Sterling 1992 American English
9328 In Search Of Excellence Tom Peters, Robert H. Waterman, Jr. 1982 American English
9356 True Confessions John Gregory Dunne 1977 American English
9529 Snakeskin Shamisen Naomi Hirahara 2006 Japanese English