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David Copperfield traces the eponymous hero from misery in the Salem House Academy and drudgery in his stepfather's business, to his escape to Dover and an eccentric aunt where he transforms his life.

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

So begins this epic, mesmerizing first novel set in the underworld of contemporary Bombay. Shantaram is narrated by Lin, an escaped convict with a false passport who flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of a city where he can disappear.

An autobiography that connects the twentieth century European life of internationally beloved teacher Elisabeth Haich and her lucid memories of initiation into the hidden mystical teachings of the priesthood in ancient Egypt. It reveals her insights into the subtle workings of karma, reincarnation, and spiritual development.

London tells the story of Martin Eden, a young sailor who, through self-education and determination, rises out of poverty to passionately pursue a dream of literary and intellectual achievement. But soon he discovers a life of success is not what he hoped it would be.

Now 99 years old, Mathilde Kschessinska sits down to write her memoirs, and ponders the life she lived as one of Russia's most talented dancers and the great love of Nikolai Romanov.

Set in Mexico City during the early fifities, the story follows William Lee from bar to bar in the American expatriate scene as he pursues a young man named Allerton.

Burroughs' first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. Through junk neighborhoods in New York, New Orleans and Mexico City, through time spent kicking, time spent dealing and time rolling drunks for money, through junk sickness and a sanatorium, Junky is a field report (by a writer trained in anthropology at Harvard) from the American post-war drug underground.

The story of a WWI veteran, just returned from the front with a severe case of PTSD. The prescribed cure is a stint in an enclosed community focused on work and camaraderie: in this case, an English public school.

A fictional diary of the author's experiences during a three week stay in hospital. An amusing, yet moving, account of a person who battles to stay honest with God despite oddball visitors, outrageous medical procedures, and unexpected diagnoses.