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Quick answer: If you loved Underworld, read Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, then David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, then Joseph Heller's Catch-22, and Martin Amis's Money and William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. All are sprawling American novels.
Don DeLillo's 1997 novel Underworld follows a baseball and a nation across the Cold War. These picks share its scale.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Corrections | Jonathan Franzen | Adult | family satire |
| Cloud Atlas | David Mitchell | Adult | readers who like structure |
| Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | Adult | readers who like absurd comedy |
| Money | Martin Amis | Adult | excess and satire |
| The Sound and the Fury | William Faulkner | Adult | more Faulkner |
| A Visit from the Goon Squad | Jennifer Egan | Adult | linked stories |
| House of Leaves | Mark Z. Danielewski | Adult | adventurous readers |
| The Sellout | Paul Beatty | Adult | readers who want satire |
| Long Walk to Freedom | Nelson Mandela | Adult | readers who want South African history |
| The Overstory | Richard Powers | Adult | readers who want fiction |
| Pattern Recognition | William Gibson | Adult | contemporary Gibson |
| Everything Is Illuminated | Jonathan Safran Foer | Adult | humour and history |
| Slaughterhouse-Five | Kurt Vonnegut | Adult | readers who like dark humor |
| Middlemarch | George Eliot | Adult | epic of provincial life |
| The Brothers Karamazov | Fyodor Dostoevsky | Adult | family and ideas |
1. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
An aging Midwestern couple and their three grown children collide at Christmas. A long, comic family novel about American life.
Best for: family satire.
2. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Six nested stories across time, each read by the next. Inventive and moving.
Best for: readers who like structure.
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Captain Yossarian, a bombardier in World War II, tries to survive a system that makes no sense. A satire of military logic.
Best for: readers who like absurd comedy.
4. Money by Martin Amis
A vulgar advertising man in London and New York chases film deals and gets lost. Satirical, loud and very British.
Best for: excess and satire.
5. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Compson family's decline, told from four viewpoints. Famous and difficult.
Best for: more Faulkner.
6. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Linked stories follow people in the music business over decades. Inventive and funny, and a Pulitzer winner.
Best for: linked stories.
7. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
A house is bigger on the inside than the outside, and a text about it drives readers mad. Experimental and dense.
Best for: adventurous readers.
8. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
A man in Los Angeles puts up a segregated school in his neighborhood in this satire of race in America. Wildly funny and bitter.
Best for: readers who want satire.
9. Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Mandela's autobiography, from his childhood to his presidency. Long and inspiring.
Best for: readers who want South African history.
10. The Overstory by Richard Powers
Nine people are drawn to trees in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Long, moving and ambitious.
Best for: readers who want fiction.
11. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
A marketing consultant with an allergy to brands investigates a mysterious series of internet video clips. A modern, stylish thriller set in the early 2000s.
Best for: contemporary Gibson.
12. Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
A young American goes to Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather, with a comic translator. Inventive and moving.
Best for: humour and history.
13. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Billy Pilgrim, a soldier who survived the bombing of Dresden, becomes “unstuck in time.” Funny, strange and sad.
Best for: readers who like dark humor.
14. Middlemarch by George Eliot
Dorothea Brooke and her neighbours seek meaning and love. Long, wise and rewarding.
Best for: epic of provincial life.
15. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Three brothers face their father's murder. Deep and demanding.
Best for: family and ideas.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Underworld: 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 Underworld. 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 sprawling fiction, read The Corrections. For history, try Cloud Atlas. For satire, pick Catch-22.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote Underworld?
Don DeLillo, in 1997.
Is it long?
Yes, over 800 pages.
Where do I start with DeLillo?
With White Noise.
Which book here is best for family and ideas?
Try The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which suits readers looking for family and ideas.
Which book here is best for epic of provincial life?
Try Middlemarch by George Eliot, which suits readers looking for epic of provincial life.
Which book here is best for readers who like dark humor?
Try Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, which suits readers looking for readers who like dark humor.
Which book here is best for humour and history?
Try Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, which suits readers looking for humour and history.
Which book here is best for contemporary Gibson?
Try Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, which suits readers looking for contemporary Gibson.