# Books with stories about social isolation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540 "2012-05-20T20:49:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/1 "2012-05-20T20:49:06Z")
Can anyone recommend a story where the main character overcomes or struggles with social isolation? I added “social” in the title because I don’t like stories where someone is physically isolated on an island or prison somewhere. Physical isolation is ok if they eventually come to meet people at some point. Like in WALL-E (I know it’s not a book) where WALL-E is alone at first, but then quickly encounters another robot. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/2 "2012-05-20T21:25:45Z")
[Stripper Lessons](http://www.amazon.com/Stripper-Lessons-John-OBrien/dp/0802135072/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337548872&sr=1-1) by John O’Brien ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/3 "2012-05-21T12:57:43Z")
_The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_. Also an excellent movie. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/4 "2012-05-21T14:24:08Z")
How about “The Snow Goose” by Paul Gallico or “The Man with No Face” by Isabelle Holland? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/5 "2012-05-21T16:28:20Z")
If TV is okay, check out [To See The Invisible Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_See_the_Invisible_Man)from the 1980’sversion of Twilight Zone. If it has to be a book, then you can look for the original short story. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/6 "2012-05-21T16:45:12Z")
A lot depends on your definition of “Social isolation.” If your definition includes “trying to be part of a community, but failing miserably,” there are all kinds of classics. Sinclair Lewis’ _ **Main Street** _, for instance, chronicles the social isolation of a progressive young woman who just can’t figure out how to fit into the smug, isolated, conservative Midwestern town she’s living in. That’s definitely a SORT of social isolation, but not the kind Robinson Crusoe faced. ---
**Author:** ![wonderlust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonderlust/32/7237_2.png) [@wonderlust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonderlust)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/7 "2012-05-21T18:08:56Z")
Confederacy of Dunces. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/8 "2012-05-21T19:26:00Z")
How about \*\*\*The Fixer _ **by Bernard Malamud, or** _ Darkness at Noon \*\*\*by Arthur Koestler? Both, especially the former, deal with prisoners who are kept isolated for long stretches of time, and left alone with their own thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-stories-about-social-isolation/622540/9 "2012-05-21T21:05:52Z")
_…And The Ass Saw The Angel_ by Nick Cave. Or the classic short story \* The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner\*