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Become a Genius in 27 Books

Sure, it's annoying when people start talking like a literary snob, but maybe if you joined the conversation, it might be a little more fun than you expected. First step? Read these books that are sure to make you smarter in one way or another. It's pretty likely that you've been asked to read a few of these books along the way, but maybe boredom set in and you gave up too soon. I'm here to tell you that, upon a closer read, these books are important pieces of western civilization. Meaning, ahem, get your brain going with these 27 classics. Surely you will sound a heck of a lot smarter, and hey, you'll actually be a lot smarter after you dig into these literary treasures.
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1
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov
2
Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
3
The Tempest (William Shakespeare)
The Tempest
William Shakespeare
4
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner
5
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
The Collected Short Stories of Eudora Welty
6
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
Toni Morrison
7
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
8
Howl (Allen Ginsberg)
Howl
Allen Ginsberg
9
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
10
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
11
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf
12
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Milan Kundera
13
The Year of Magical Thinking (Joan Didion)
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
14
On the Origin of Species (Charles Darwin)
On the Origin of Species
Charles Darwin
15
Underworld (Don Delillo)
Underworld
Don Delillo
16
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
17
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
18
The Art of War (Sun Tzu)
The Art of War
Sun Tzu
19
Ulysses (James Joyce)
Ulysses
James Joyce
20
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Crime and Punishment
Fyodor Dostoevsky
21
The Second Sex (Simone De Beauvoir)
The Second Sex
Simone De Beauvoir
22
Second Treatise of Government
Second Treatise of Government
23
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace
24
Up From Slavery (Booker T. Washington)
Up From Slavery
Booker T. Washington
25
The Female Man (Joanna Russ)
The Female Man
Joanna Russ
26
Don Quixote (Miguel De Cervantes)
Don Quixote
Miguel De Cervantes
27
The Little Prince (Antoine De Saint-Exupéry)
The Little Prince
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
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