swap_horiz Two Serious Ladies Alternatives

1

Journey to the End of the Night

Louis-Ferdinand Celine’s *Journey to the End of the Night* chronicles the experiences of Bardamu, a former soldier adrif...

French Satire 20TH Century Dark

9.3 Excellent

2

The Adventures of Augie March

Saul Bellow’s *The Adventures of Augie March* chronicles a young man's unconventional journey through early 20th-century...

Classic American 20TH Century Rogue

9.1 Excellent

3

A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole’s *A Confederacy of Dunces* is a celebrated 20th-century American novel exploring the eccentric lives...

Classic American Comic 20TH Century

8.9 Great

4

Nights at the Circus

Angela Carter’s *Nights at the Circus* (1984) presents a darkly fantastical narrative centered on Sophie Fevvers, a cele...

20TH Century British Postmodern Circus

8.7 Great

5

Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex explores themes of identity and family through the life of Cal Stephanides, an American man...

American Satire 21ST Century Identity

8.7 Great

6

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Junot Díaz’s *The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* explores the complex experiences of an isolated Dominican-American m...

American Satire 21ST Century Diaspora

8.7 Great

7

Portnoy's Complaint

Philip Roth’s *Portnoy’s Complaint* offers a candid, confessional narrative following Alexander Portnoy’s exploration of...

American Satire 20TH Century Confessional

8.5 Great

8

The Sot-Weed Factor

The Sot-Weed Factor is John Barth's 1960 picaresque satire of colonial Maryland and the poet Ebenezer Cooke, marking his...

American Satire 20TH Century Historical

8.4 Great

9

The Dog of the South

The Dog of the South is Charles Portis's 1979 comic road novel, following Ray Midge from Arkansas toward Belize in pursu...

American Comic Satire 20TH Century

8.2 Great

10

Hasta no verte Jesús mío

Hasta no verte Jesús mío is a 1969 Mexican testimonio novel by Elena Poniatowska, based on Josefina Bohórquez as Jesusa...

Satire 20TH Century Mexican Testimonial

8.1 Great

11

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman is Angela Carter's 1972 surreal picaresque about Desiderio in a war betwe...

Adventure Satire 20TH Century British

8.0 Great

12

Rubyfruit Jungle

Rubyfruit Jungle is Rita Mae Brown's 1973 debut novel, a coming-of-age account of Molly Bolt notable for its open portra...

American Satire 20TH Century Queer

7.8 Good

13

A Cool Million

A Cool Million is Nathanael West's 1934 American novel, a bleak parody of Horatio Alger success stories centered on Lemu...

American Satire 20TH Century Parody

7.5 Good

14

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me is Richard Farina's 1966 comic campus picaresque, a counterculture novel publis...

American Satire 20TH Century Counterculture

7.2 Good

15

Kinflicks

Kinflicks is Lisa Alther's 1976 debut novel, following Ginny Hull through 1960s identity crises and noted for frank femi...

American Satire 20TH Century Coming Of Age

7.1 Good

16

A Start in Life

A Start in Life is Honore de Balzac's 1842 French novel in La Comedie humaine, built around youthful boasting and its so...

Satire 20TH Century Crime British

7.0 Good

17

Letty Fox: Her Luck

Letty Fox: Her Luck is Christina Stead's 1946 sixth novel, a New York first-person account often described as both picar...

American Satire 20TH Century Urban

7.0 Good

18

My Search for Warren Harding

My Search for Warren Harding is Robert Plunket's 1983 debut novel, a comic picaresque about historian Elliot Weiner hunt...

Quest American Comic Satire

7.0 Good

19

Mott the Hoople

Mott the Hoople is Willard Manus's 1966 comic novel about Norman Mott, best known for giving its name to the British roc...

American Comic Satire 20TH Century

6.2 Fair

20

Ten Men

Ten Men is Alexandra Gray's 2005 British novel, an episodic first-person account of an Englishwoman's search for lasting...

Comic Satire 20TH Century British

5.9 Mediocre