Little Big Man Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Little Big Man | 1964 | Buy |
| The Return of Little Big Man | 1999 | Buy |
Reinhart Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Crazy in Berlin | 1958 | Buy |
| Reinhart in Love | 1962 | Buy |
| Vital Parts | 1971 | Buy |
| Reinhart’s Women | 1981 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Killing Time | 1967 | Buy |
| Regiment of Women | 1973 | Buy |
| Sneaky People | 1975 | Buy |
| Who is Teddy Villanova? | 1977 | Buy |
| Arthur Rex | 1978 | Buy |
| Neighbors | 1980 | Buy |
| The Feud | 1983 | Buy |
| Nowhere | 1985 | Buy |
| Being Invisible | 1987 | Buy |
| The Houseguest | 1988 | Buy |
| Changing the Past | 1989 | Buy |
| Orrie’s Story | 1990 | Buy |
| Meeting Evil | 1992 | Buy |
| Robert Crews | 1994 | Buy |
| Suspects | 1996 | Buy |
| Best Friends | 2003 | Buy |
| Adventures of the Artificial Woman | 2004 | Buy |
Thomas Berger was a prolific American novelist who published 23 books between 1958 and 2004. He is best known for Little Big Man, his 1964 novel told by Jack Crabb, a 111-year-old man who claims to be the sole white survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The book is both a parody of the Western genre and a serious examination of American history, and it was adapted into a popular 1970 film starring Dustin Hoffman.
Beyond Little Big Man, Berger wrote in a range of modes that make him hard to categorize. The Reinhart series follows a single character through four novels spanning from postwar Berlin to 1980s America. Arthur Rex is a retelling of the Arthurian legends. Neighbors is a dark comedy about suburban paranoia. Who is Teddy Villanova? is a detective fiction parody. This willingness to move between genres and tones made Berger a critical favorite, though his sales never matched the success of Little Big Man.
Berger’s writing is marked by sharp prose, a skeptical view of American culture, and a talent for finding absurdity in ordinary situations. He received the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and critics often compared him to other satirical novelists like Kurt Vonnegut, though Berger’s humor tends to be drier and more grounded in the details of everyday life.