Black Metropolis: A Study of Negro Life in a Northern City (1945) by St. Clair Drake and Horace R. Cayton is a seminal sociological examination of the economic and social conditions on Chicago's South Side during the early twentieth century. The book has undergone three revisions, with the latest update in 1993. The original introduction was penned by Richard Wright.

The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) by Sigmund Freud, the Austrian psychiatrist who pioneered psychoanalysis. Wright was intrigued by Freud's theories on the links between dreams and the unconscious mind. Freud's interpretations may have influenced Wright's use of imagery such as stairs, tunnels, and walls in his works.

Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison, an African-American writer. Ellison's protagonist, who remains unnamed, is a black man navigating his quest for identity, starting in his Southern hometown and later within a Black Nationalist group in New York City. Similar to Fred Daniels, the Invisible Man contends with a racist society, but his journey to find meaning and purpose surpasses racial issues.

Native Son (1940) by Richard Wright. The story follows Bigger Thomas, a young African American who commits two murders, faces trial with the help of a Communist lawyer, and receives a death sentence. Despite his grave crimes, Thomas is depicted as a victim of racial oppression, which Wright powerfully and convincingly illustrates.

"Notes from Underground" (1864) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, a Russian novelist and short story writer. This novella is divided into two sections: a monologue where the underground man disputes the idea that material progress equates to social progress, and a series of anecdotes that reflect the narrator's thoughts. Many critics believe Wright drew inspiration from this story for his own work.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston, an African-American novelist and folklorist of the rural South. The novel narrates the life of Janie Crawford, who seeks to discover her identity through various relationships with men. The characters speak in the dialects of the African-American South, a literary technique that led Wright to dismiss the book as a "minstrel" novel.

The Trial (1925) by Franz Kafka, an Austrian existential novelist. The story centers on Joseph K., a bank assessor who is inexplicably accused by an anonymous judicial authority of an unknown crime. He strives in vain for justice and ultimately meets his demise. Many critics interpret this story as an allegory of existential guilt.