Books By Colson Whitehead to Read After Watching "The Underground Railroad"

Oprah described Colson Whitehead's 2016 novel The Underground Railroad, which she selected as one of her Book Club picks, as a work that that would never leave her. The bestseller, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, reimagines the Underground Railroad as an actual subterranean train bringing enslaved people to freedom in the 18th century. The book was adapted into a stunning Amazon Prime series, directed by Barry Jenkins, which Oprah has extolled. "I don’t know when I’ve been prouder of a human being. What you’ve done with The Underground Railroad, there are no words," Oprah told Jenkins. "You cannot do a thing that you have done, taken Colson Whitehead’s words, which were extraordinary to begin with, and now shape them into such a way that the imagery lives in our spirits. That's what you have done."

Let The Underground Railroad be your entry point into Whitehead's oeuvre. His first book, 20oo's The Intuitionist, was a fable set in a world governed by warring sects of elevator operators. In the two decades since, he's written a dazzling array of acclaimed books, ranging from a summer coming-of-age story set on Sag Harbor to a pandemic novel, and a memoir about competing in the World Series of Poker. His next novel, The Harlem Shuffle, out this fall, borrows from the heist genre.

Whitehead's books are varied in subject, but they're all united by a mastery of prose, vibrant characters, and a degree of acclaim—he is one of only four authors to win the Pulitzer Prize twice. Here's a list of Colson Whitehead's books, in order of when they were released, to read after watching The Underground Railroad.