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Quick answer: If you loved Oil!, read F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, then Ron Chernow's Titan, then Andrew Scott Cooper's The Oil Kings, and Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion. All are muckraking American novels.
Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! is a tale of corruption in the early oil industry. These picks share its critique.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Adult | American classics |
| Titan | Ron Chernow | Adult | business history |
| The Oil Kings | Andrew Scott Cooper | Adult | oil and diplomacy |
| Nickel and Dimed | Barbara Ehrenreich | Adult | low-wage work |
| The Bottom Billion | Paul Collier | Adult | why poor countries stay poor |
| The Looting Machine | Tom Burgis | Adult | readers who like investigative nonfiction |
| Private Empire | Steve Coll | Adult | ExxonMobil |
| Sister Carrie | Theodore Dreiser | Adult | American realism |
| Collapse | Jared Diamond | Adult | societies and nature |
| The Smartest Guys in the Room | Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind | Adult | corporate scandal |
| The Predators' Ball | Connie Bruck | Adult | junk bond history |
| Bad Blood | John Carreyrou | Adult | tech scandals |
| Lords of Finance | Liaquat Ahamed | Adult | central bankers |
| Evicted | Matthew Desmond | Adult | poverty and housing |
| Nomadland | Jessica Bruder | Adult | modern migrants |
1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A mysterious millionaire throws grand parties for a lost love. Short and sharp on illusion and wealth.
Best for: American classics.
2. Titan by Ron Chernow
A biography of John D. Rockefeller and the rise of Standard Oil. Long, rich and authoritative.
Best for: business history.
3. The Oil Kings by Andrew Scott Cooper
The story of oil, Iran and the Cold War. Clear and gripping.
Best for: oil and diplomacy.
4. Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
A writer takes low-wage jobs to see how people live. Sharp and still relevant.
Best for: low-wage work.
5. The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier
Collier identifies traps that keep countries poor. Clear and provocative.
Best for: why poor countries stay poor.
6. The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis
How oil, gold and minerals feed elites and wars in Africa. Angry and well reported.
Best for: readers who like investigative nonfiction.
7. Private Empire by Steve Coll
The story of ExxonMobil and its global power. Thorough and sharp.
Best for: ExxonMobil.
8. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
A young woman rises in Chicago and New York. Blunt and powerful.
Best for: American realism.
9. Collapse by Jared Diamond
Diamond examines why societies fail or succeed in their environments. Wide-ranging and thought provoking.
Best for: societies and nature.
10. The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
The rise and fall of Enron. Clear and detailed.
Best for: corporate scandal.
11. The Predators' Ball by Connie Bruck
Explains how Drexel Burnham Lambert and Michael Milken built the junk bond market. A look at the rise of the deals Barbarians describes.
Best for: junk bond history.
12. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
The collapse of Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes. A thriller of Silicon Valley fraud.
Best for: tech scandals.
13. Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed
The story of the bankers who helped cause the Great Depression. Rich and humane.
Best for: central bankers.
14. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Follows families facing eviction in Milwaukee. Sociology that reads like a novel.
Best for: poverty and housing.
15. Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
The author spends time with older Americans who live in vans and chase seasonal work. Compassionate and eye opening.
Best for: modern migrants.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Oil!: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Oil!. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most.
How to Choose
For social critique, read Nickel and Dimed. For money, try The Great Gatsby. For power, pick Titan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Oil!?
Upton Sinclair, in 1927.
Is there a film?
Yes, There Will Be Blood (2007) is loosely based on it.
What is it about?
Oil, greed and politics in California.
Which book here is best for modern migrants?
Try Nomadland by Jessica Bruder, which suits readers looking for modern migrants.
Which book here is best for poverty and housing?
Try Evicted by Matthew Desmond, which suits readers looking for poverty and housing.
Which book here is best for central bankers?
Try Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed, which suits readers looking for central bankers.
Which book here is best for tech scandals?
Try Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, which suits readers looking for tech scandals.
Which book here is best for junk bond history?
Try The Predators' Ball by Connie Bruck, which suits readers looking for junk bond history.
Which book here is best for corporate scandal?
Try The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, which suits readers looking for corporate scandal.
Which book here is best for societies and nature?
Try Collapse by Jared Diamond, which suits readers looking for societies and nature.
Which book here is best for American realism?
Try Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser, which suits readers looking for American realism.