Required Reading: The 7 Books That Inspired Anika Jade Levy’s ‘Flat Earth’

While it’s likely enough that you’ve encountered tales of rivalries between best friends or biting portraits of coastal arts scenes, you’ve surely never read anything quite like Anika Jade Levy’s new novel Flat Earth . “Renata Adler’s Speedboat for the Adderall generation” may sound like a lot to live up to, but Levy more than pulls it off, crafting a tale of grad-school metafiction antics, right-wing romantic intrigue, sugaring and quasi-sororal betrayal that’s almost impossible to put down.

To mark Flat Earth ’s release this week, Vogue asked Levy to round up seven of the books that helped her write her novel—and that continue to inspire her work.

Male Fantasies by Klaus Theweleit

Male Fantasies $33

Bookshop

This two-volume cult text dissects diaries of early-20th-cent