This memoir by the Art Institute's first curator of modern painting and sculpture offers a behind-the-scenes peek of the art world.

Perfect if you like: biographies, local history, or gossip columns.
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Written at the same time that Munch was developing his signature style, Ibsen’s provocative play explores issues of morality, class, gender, and more.

Perfect if you like: theater, compelling characters, or literary challenges to the status quo.
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_{Edvard Munch. Girl by the Window, 1893. Searle Family Trust and Goldabelle McComb Finn Endowments; Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester Collection. © 2008 The Munch Museum / The Munch-Ellingsen Group / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY}

Chronicling the struggles of an unrecognized, unappreciated author in 19th-century Norway, Hunger is a semi-autobiographical tale. The author later won a Nobel Prize in Literature.

Perfect if you like: first-person narrative, the arts community, or before-they-were-famous stories.
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_{Edvard Munch. Melancholy, 1894/96. The Rasmus Meyer Collection, The Bergen Art Museum, RMS.M.249. © 2008 The Munch Museum / The Munch-Ellingsen Group / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.}

An ambitious response to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Anthony and Cleopatra, Shaw's non-traditional take on a classic story of statecraft enhances our understanding of the great tale pictured in 14 of the exhibition’s tapestries.

Perfect if you like: theater, dry wit, histories.
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_{The Battle of Actium (detail), c. 1680. After a design by Justus van Egmont. Produced at the workshop of Willem van Leefdael. Flanders, Brussels. Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick and Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson.}

This collection of short, witty fables draws on a variety of sources, from the familiar stories of Aesop to the more obscure tales of Phaedrus. Written at the same time that many of the tapestries in The Divine Art were being woven, the fables reflect the values and ideals of 17th-century Europe.

Perfect if you like: bawdy humor, poetry, or bite-sized sections.
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One of the most widely-known pieces of noir fiction, this hard-boiled novel was written just three years before Hopper painted the iconic Nighthawks. Laconic and stoic, Chandler's protagonist is perfectly suited to the life portrayed by Hopper in this comprehensive exhibition.

Perfect if you like: snappy dialogue, rough-and-tumble characters, or mysteries.
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Written during Homer's lifetime, this novel about life in rural Maine is widely considered to be Jewett's greatest work. The themes of hardship and isolation in Jewett's fishing villages echo the tone found in many of Homer's watercolors, making the novel an ideal accompaniment to this breathtaking exhibition.

Perfect if you like: character development, elegant description, or short stories.
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_{Winslow Homer. The Watcher, Tynemouth, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection.}