Skip to content

Browse Genres Lists Sources About

Topreads — find books that are both loved and widely read, then get them from the best available source.

About Sources Genres Lists

Home
Browse

Browse books

Search books, authors, or genres

Genre: Essays(remove filter)
Tag: theory(remove filter)
Clear all

Filters

Genre

Essays114
Literary & Classics114
Theory114
Non-Fiction113
Philosophy98
Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality98
History, Politics & Society68
Politics45
Art, Design & Culture41
Art34
History29
Places & World Literature29

Rating & popularity

Minimum ratingMinimum ratings count

Sort:Topreads score Highest rated Most ratings Most reviews Title A–Z

Genre

Essays114
Literary & Classics114
Theory114
Non-Fiction113
Philosophy98
Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality98
History, Politics & Society68
Politics45
Art, Design & Culture41

Art

34

Places & World Literature29

Rating & popularity

Minimum ratingMinimum ratings count

Results

Showing 1–24 of 114 books

Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
Mark Fisher
4.21 average rating, · 43k ratings
Get this book
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Regarding the Pain of Others
Susan Sontag
4.10 average rating, · 24k ratings
Get this book
Regarding the Pain of Others
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media
Walter Benjamin
4.08 average rating, · 25.1k ratings
Get this book
The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments
Roland Barthes
4.35 average rating, · 14.5k ratings
Get this book
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Mythologies
Roland Barthes
4.08 average rating, · 17.5k ratings
Get this book
Mythologies
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
Walter Benjamin
4.29 average rating, · 12.7k ratings
Get this book
Illuminations: Essays and Reflections
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
Friedrich Nietzsche
4.23 average rating, · 10.9k ratings
Get this book
Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Discourse on Colonialism
Aimé Césaire
4.44 average rating, · 8.5k ratings
Get this book
Discourse on Colonialism
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Against Interpretation and Other Essays
Susan Sontag
4.14 average rating, · 10.8k ratings
Get this book
Against Interpretation and Other Essays
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
Toni Morrison
4.33 average rating, · 7.7k ratings
Get this book
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
About Looking
John Berger
4.08 average rating, · 9.5k ratings
Get this book
About Looking
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Ethics of Ambiguity
Simone de Beauvoir
4.17 average rating, · 8.4k ratings
Get this book
The Ethics of Ambiguity
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors
Susan Sontag
4.00 average rating, · 8.1k ratings
Get this book
Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Anarchism and Other Essays
Emma Goldman
4.06 average rating, · 7.4k ratings
Get this book
Anarchism and Other Essays
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction
Ursula K. Le Guin
4.56 average rating, · 4.9k ratings
Get this book
The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Pleasure of the Text
Roland Barthes
4.00 average rating, · 6k ratings
Get this book
The Pleasure of the Text
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
Antonio Gramsci
4.21 average rating, · 5.3k ratings
Get this book
Selections from the Prison Notebooks
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Weird and the Eerie
Mark Fisher
4.01 average rating, · 5.8k ratings
Get this book
The Weird and the Eerie
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses
Juhani Pallasmaa
4.37 average rating, · 4.6k ratings
Get this book
The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
Theodor W. Adorno
4.24 average rating, · 4.9k ratings
Get this book
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Basic Writings
Martin Heidegger
4.07 average rating, · 5.2k ratings
Get this book
Basic Writings
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Erotism: Death and Sensuality
Georges Bataille
4.05 average rating, · 4.4k ratings
Get this book
Erotism: Death and Sensuality
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning
Maggie Nelson
4.21 average rating, · 3.8k ratings
Get this book
The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in
Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection
Julia Kristeva
4.07 average rating, · 4.1k ratings
Get this book
Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection
Details Goodreads
Want to track this? Sign in