In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, released in 1938, is Delmore Schwartz’s groundbreaking collection of short stories and poetry.

The Adventures of Augie March (1953), Saul Bellow’s most renowned work, is a coming-of-age novel set in Chicago during the Great Depression.

William Faulkner’s Absalom! Absalom!, published in 1936, chronicles the life of a poor man who amasses wealth through a vast plantation but ultimately loses his sons and fails to establish the dynasty he had envisioned.

American Pastoral (1997), a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Philip Roth, one of Bellow’s protégés, explores a man’s pursuit of the American dream and how that dream is shattered and then redefined.

The Sun Also Rises (1926), by Ernest Hemingway, is a roman à clef similar to Humboldt’s Gift. It depicts the adventures of a group of American expatriates in Europe during the 1920s, reflecting Hemingway’s own life and friends during that period.

Best American Essays of the Century (2001), edited by Robert Atwan and Joyce Carol Oates, is a compilation of significant essays from North America’s twentieth century, featuring authors like Mark Twain, Stephen Jay Gould, and Maya Angelou.

Moby-Dick (1851), by Herman Melville, is a classic novel about a ship captain obsessed with hunting a legendary white whale. Bellow is often regarded as the Melville of the twentieth century.

The Closing of the American Mind (1987), by Allan Bloom, is a critique of the American university educational system, penned by a distinguished philosopher and close friend of Bellow.

Gimpel, the Fool (1957), by Isaac Bashevis Singer, is a collection of short stories centered on an individual’s quest for guidance in life. It is Singer’s first book to be translated into English, with the title story translated by Bellow.