The Neon Bible vs World's fair: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Boys, Bildungsromans, Fiction
The Neon Bible
“because I start to think too much in the dark about what's back in the house. They must have turned the heat off too.”
The first novel by the Pulizer Prize-winning author of A Confederacy Of Dunces. David is a young boy growing up in a small Southern town in the 1940s. From his porch, David can see the whole valley, including the neon…
vs
World's fair
Recalls a certain New York City boyhood in the 1930s, through the eyes of the child himself and then him as an adult trying to reconstruct the past.
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Neon Bible is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 5 for World's fair.
- The Neon Bible has the widest readership — 8441 ratings behind its score.
- World's fair reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 22 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Neon Bible | World's fair | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (8441) | 3.9 (5055) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (14) | — |
| Google Books | 3.5 (18) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (26) | 4.0 (83) |
Reception
| The Neon Bible | World's fair | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 8441 | 5055 |
| Editions | 17 | 10 |
| Citations | 2 | 22 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 7217 | — |
| Reading it now | 243 | — |
| Written reviews | 738 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 2318 | 447 |
| Pages | 176 | 288 |