Study Guide Library

Explore an ever-expanding selection of titles ranging from classic texts to contemporary works. SuperSummary Study Guides feature detailed summaries plus analyses of major themes, symbols, characters, and important quotes—all written by literature scholars and experts. Browse titles alphabetically or by genre.

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All TitlesModern FictionClassic FictionNonfictionPlaysEssaysPoetryMiddle Grade/YA
The Perfect Storm
Sebastian Junger

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1997

The Perfumist of Paris
Alka Joshi

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Perils of Indifference
Elie Wiesel

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1999

The Peripheral
William Gibson

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2014

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1999

The Persians
Aeschylus

Fiction | Play | Adult | BCE

The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias
Dolly Chugh

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1910

The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1961

The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1846

The Phoenix Crown: A Novel
Kate Quinn, Janie Chang

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
Gene Kim, George Spafford, Kevin Behr

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013

The Pianist
Władysław Szpilman

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1946

The Piano Lesson
August Wilson

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1987

The Piazza
Herman Melville

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1856

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1890

The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Robert Browning

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1842

The Pigman
Paul Zindel

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1968

The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1678

The Pilgrim's Regress
C. S. Lewis

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1933

The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1989

The Pillow Book
Sei Shōnagon

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1002

The Pillowman
Martin McDonagh

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 2003

The Pilot's Wife
Anita Shreve

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

The Pinballs
Betsy Byars

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1976

The Pioneers
James Fenimore Cooper

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1823

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
David McCullough

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019

The Pit and the Pendulum
Edgar Allan Poe

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1842

The Pivot Year: 365 Days to Become the Person You Want to Be
Brianna Wiest

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2023

The Plague
Albert Camus

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1947

The Plague Of Doves
Louise Erdrich

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2008

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England
Dan Jones

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2012

The Plantation
Ovo Adagha

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 2010

The Playboy of the Western World
John Millington Synge

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1907

The Plot
Jean Hanff Korelitz

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Plot Against America
Philip Roth

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004

The Poem of the Cid (The Song of the Cid)
Anonymous

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult

The Poetics of Space
Gaston Bachelard

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1957

The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | YA | Published in 2018

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Deborah Blum

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2010

The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Deborah Blum

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2018

The Poisonwood Bible
Barbara Kingsolver

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998

The Poppy War
R. F. Kuang

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Steve Sheinkin

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2014

The Portrait of a Lady
Henry James

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1881

The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics
George Lipsitz

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998

The Possibility of Evil
Shirley Jackson

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1965

The Post-American World
Fareed Zakaria

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2008

The Postcard
Anne Berest

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Transl. Gregory Rabassa

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1881

The Postman Always Rings Twice
James M. Cain

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1934

The Postmortal
Drew Magary

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011

The Power
Naomi Alderman

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

The Power and the Glory
Graham Greene

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1940

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Robert A. Caro

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1974

The Power Elite
C. Wright Mills

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1956

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Charles Duhigg

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2012

The Power of Myth
Joseph Campbell

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1991

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Eckhart Tolle

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1997

The Power of One
Bryce Courtenay

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1989

The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success
Ed Mylett

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022

The Power Of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World
Jon Gordon

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
Daniel H. Pink

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022

The Power of the Dog
Thomas Savage

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967

The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind
Dr. Joseph Murphy

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1963

The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity
Toby Ord

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2020

The Premature Burial
Edgar Allan Poe

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1844

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story
Michael Lewis

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021

The Presentation Of Self In Everyday Life
Erving Goffman

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1959

The President Has Been Shot!: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
James L. Swanson

Nonfiction | Biography | YA | Published in 2013

The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of the Enslaved, from Womb to Grave, in the Building of a Nation
Daina Ramey Berry

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017

The Price of Inequality
Joseph E. Stiglitz

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2012

The Price of Salt
Patricia Highsmith

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1952

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Muriel Spark

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1961

The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1532

The Prince and the Dressmaker
Jen Wang

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 2018

The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1881

The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood
Richard Blanco

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2014

The Princess and the Goblin
George MacDonald

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1872

The Princess Bride
William Goldman

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1973

The Princess Diaries
Meg Cabot

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2000

The Princesse de Clèves (The Princess of Cleves)
Madame de La Fayette

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1678

The Princess of Las Vegas
Chris Bohjalian

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024

The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

The Prisoner's Throne
Holly Black

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2024

The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses
Bessie Head

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1963

The Prison Healer
Lynette Noni

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2021

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1824

The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students
Anthony Abraham Jack

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2019

The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
Daniel Yergin

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1991

The Problem of Pain
C. S. Lewis

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1940

The Problems of Philosophy
Bertrand Russell

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1912

The Professor And The Madman
Simon Winchester

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 1998

The Professor's House
Willa Cather

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1925

The Program
Suzanne Young

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2013

The Progress of Poesy: A Pindaric Ode
Thomas Gray

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1757

The Promise
Damon Galgut

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

The Promise: The Omnibus (Parts 1-3)
Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gene Luen Yang

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2013

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Max Weber

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1905