1961
Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates · 1926–1992 · USA
Why it matters
Frank and April Wheeler, convinced they're too exceptional for their own Connecticut suburb, destroy their marriage trying to prove it. The founding text of suburban disillusionment fiction, praised on publication by Vonnegut and Williams alike, and still the genre's harshest, most exact diagnosis.
At a glance
tragedypsychological novelfamily saga
Difficulty 4/10medium pace337 pagesClear, controlled realist prose, though its psychological precision is unsparing.
Deep dive
The Wheelers are certain they're too exceptional for their own Connecticut suburb — the novel's real subject is how completely that conviction corrodes everything it touches, long before the plot forces the question of who, if anyone, was right.
Where to go next
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