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Tom Wolfe; This non-fiction work portrays the psychedelic experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, who traveled across the U.S. in a colorfully painted bus.

Frantz Fanon; The book, which includes essays on the decolonization process, argues for the necessity of revolutionary struggle against colonial rule.

Betty Friedan; This work challenges the notion that women could only find fulfillment through homemaking and motherhood, sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century.

W.E.B. Du Bois; This seminal work in African-American literature combines history and sociology to reflect on the problem of race and the quest for progress since the Emancipation Proclamation.

Joan Didion; In this collection of essays, Didion explores the myths and narratives of American culture and her own personal stories during the 1960s and 1970s.

George Orwell; Orwell criticizes the ugly and inaccurate written English of his time, and argues for the use of plain English.

Naomi Klein; The central thesis criticizes brand-focused consumer culture and the operations of large corporations, accusing them of cultural appropriation and of hawking their ideologies.

Susan Sontag; This essay criticizes the practice of interpreting art, arguing that in our overly-intellectualist culture, content has become overly emphasized at the expense of the form of the aesthetic experience itself.

Rachel Carson; The book presents an indictment of DDT and other pesticides, predicting devastating consequences for the environment and linking them to health problems in humans.

Noam Chomsky; Chomsky argues that intellectuals have a moral duty to use their privileged status to challenge unjust state power and to expose the lies of governments.

C. Wright Mills; The essay examines the structure of power in American society, defining and critiquing the actions of the consolidated power community composed of the military, corporate, and political elites.

Chinua Achebe; This essay criticizes Joseph Conrad as being a 'thoroughgoing racist' and 'Heart of Darkness' as dehumanizing Africans.

Joan Didion; In the title essay, Didion reflects on the culture of California in the late 1960s, capturing its social fragmentation and moral chaos.

Albert Camus; The essay introduces his philosophy of the absurd and man's futile search for meaning, unity, and clarity.

Ralph Waldo Emerson; Across these essays, Emerson lays out his philosophy of transcendentalism, conveying the belief in the inherent goodness of both nature and humankind.

David Foster Wallace; This collection of essays, highlighted by the title piece, considers the ethics of boiling a creature alive in order to enhance the consumer's pleasure, questioning mainstream gourmandise.

Francis Fukuyama; This essay argues that the end of the Cold War might signal the endpoint of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy.

Edward Said; In this foundational text for postcolonial studies, Said examines how the West perceives the East, critiquing the patronizing Western attitudes towards Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African societies.

Susan Sontag; Sontag argues that the re-editing and Americanization of the Japanese film 'Gojira' into 'Godzilla, King of the Monsters!' stripped the movie of its original anti-nuclear message.

James Baldwin; It’s a collection of previously published essays that tell of Baldwin's experiences with racism and his observations on American society.

Roland Barthes; The essay argues that the interpretation of a text should not be limited by the author's intentions, and instead, the reader's role is essential in giving a text meaning.

Virginia Woolf; This essay argues that women must have a fixed income and a room of their own if they are to write fiction with creative freedom and authority.

James Baldwin; This essay is a powerful contemplation on race in America, critiquing the way society perpetuates racism and calling for change.

Simone de Beauvoir; This extensive essay examines the treatment of women throughout history and is foundational to contemporary feminism, introducing the concept that 'One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.'