“The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy
This is a charming novel that gives the feel of what’s life like in 1960s southern USA, especially New Orleans. The book revolves around the character of Jack “Binx” Bolling, a stockbroker and a son of a wealthy family who has troubles living his life after the trauma from his childhood (when his father committed suicide) and the Korean war.
He also has difficulties in having a long lasting relationship, has the tendency to date multiple women (including few of his secretaries) and is so into the artificialities of movies that he tend to daydream more than actually living his life.
And then leading up to his 30th birthday, in a desperate need of spiritual redemption and without any sense of direction, Bolling then left the rat race of his everyday life and went to a journey in search of meaning. Starting from the Mardi Gras in New Orleans then to Chicago and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he is having philosophical epiphanies along the way about all the important things in his life from family, to friends, career, and ultimately to the 1 unexpected woman who can truly understands him.
Indeed, it is a book about existential crisis and the journey to overcome it, with the protagonist meeting new people with colourful characters along the way in a distinctively southern flavour. No wonder that it became an instant American Classic.
THE CHAOS THEORY 