Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote follows an aging gentleman who loses himself in chivalric romances and sets out as a knight-errant with his loyal squire Sancho Panza. Through their misadventures, Cervantes creates a complex meditation on reality and illusion, idealism and pragmatism, madness and sanity. The novel becomes both hilarious comedy and profound exploration of what it means to live by principles in a world that has abandoned them.

WHY WE PICKED IT: Because Cervantes understood that the line between madness and vision is thinner than we think. Don Quixote asks whether it's nobler to see the world as it is or as it should be, and whether the greatest fools are the dreamers or those who've stopped dreaming.

DETAILS: • Author: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra • Publisher: Penguin Classics • Format: Paperback • Publication Date: February 25, 2003 • ISBN: 9780142437230 • Ships direct from distributor in 3–7 business days