Forget the hefty college texts, technical manuals, and glossy coffee table books. For lighter reading about architecture, pick a paperback with action and sometimes even a smattering of romance. Here are favorite novels that have architecture as a central theme.
1. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
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Ever since Ayn Rand, writers have been fascinated by the stormy personal life of Frank Lloyd Wright. Never mind the genius of Fallingwater or his Prairie Style architecture. How about that love affair Frank Lloyd Wright had with Mamah Borthwick Cheney? Loving Frank is Nancy Horan's controversial novel that tells a fictionalized (but mostly true) story of Frank Lloyd Wright's love life, and much more.
Read an excerpt
Read an excerpt
2. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
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Published in 1943, this novel became a cult classic and is still a favorite on college campuses. The page-turning tale follows the struggles of Howard Roark, an architect whose genius and integrity will not be comprised. Some readers claim that Roark's passionate idealism is reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright.
3. The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
A rotting home with many gables represents the rotting heart of the Pyncheon family, which carries generations of guilt. Written in 1851, this classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne eventually became a movie starring Vincent Price. Today, the seven-gabled house that inspired the book is a popular New England Tourist attraction.4. A House for Mr. Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
In this early novel, the esteemed travel writer V.S. Naipaul tells the comic tale of a poor man's search for identity, and of the tumble-down house that comes to symbolize his quest.5. House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Lust for a single small bungalow leads to murder and suicide. The chilling story by Andres Dubus III was later made into a movie.6. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
A strange, multi-layered tale about the discovery of a pseudoacademic monograph about a nonexistent documentary film about a journalist who discovers a haunted house. The story of the house could stand alone.Are You an Author?
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