25 Superb Coming-of-Age Novels
Submitted by fit2print on Sun, 12/02/2007 - 08:37
Tags:
- 1. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Mordecai Richler)
- 2. Last Picture Show (Larry McMurtry)
- 3. Portnoy’s Complaint (Philip Roth)
- 4. Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Michael Chabon)
- 5. All the Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy)
- 6. Bloodbrothers (Richard Price)
- 7. Old School (Tobias Wolff)
- 8. Moon Palace (Paul Auster)
- 9. Cement Garden (Ian McEwan)
- 10. The Wishbones (Tom Perrotta)
- 11. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
- 12. For Kings and Planets (Ethan Canin)
- 13. Going All the Way (Dan Wakefield)
- 14. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time(Mark Haddon)
- 15. Splinter in the Heart (Al Purdy)
- 16. Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky)
- 17. Snow Angels (Stewart O’Nan)
- 18. Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
- 19. American Youth (Phil Lamarche)
- 20. Prep (Curtis Sittenfeld)
- 21. Fortress of Solitude (Jonathan Lethem)
- 22. Risk Pool (Richard Russo)
- 23. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
- 24. Who Has Seen the Wind? (W.O. Mitchell)
- 25. Bad Influence (Stuart Sutcliffe)
Amongst my list of all-time favourite books is:
The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
I can also recommend the movie, which has the most amazing cast, and includes the author in a cameo role.
Agreed. The Outsiders, book and film, are winners. I also overlooked Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. Both the novel and the film version are worthy additions to the genre.
would you consider My Antonia coming of age.
Well, if Jane Eyre can be considered a coming-of-age novel (as many people do), the same could probably be said of My Antonia, though both books trace the lives of their heroines beyond their younger years.
My personal preference is for c-of-a novels that focus on childhood, adolescence and/or early adulthood (not much beyond the college years) but that isn't to say books that encompass a longer period of time can't fit neatly into the genre.