Books like A Confederacy of Dunces
12 books with a reading profile close to A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. Deep and open-ended; a moderate read.
-
1
The Arabian Nights
by Anonymous
Also deep · narrative, classic literature
This collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories is built around a frame tale.
-
2
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
by Ben Fountain
Also deep · narrative, classic literature
Billy Lynn is a nineteen-year-old American soldier who has become a hero after a firefight in Iraq, which was caught on camera.
-
3
The Sisters Brothers
narrative, classic literature
Eli and Charlie Sisters are notorious hired killers traveling from Oregon City to California during the 1851 Gold Rush.
-
4
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
by Ken Kesey
Also deep · narrative, classic literature
Set in an Oregon psychiatric ward, the narrative follows Randle McMurphy, a boisterous criminal who fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a hospital rather than a work farm.
-
5
Bel-Ami
narrative, classic literature
Georges Duroy arrives in Paris as a penniless veteran with nothing but his appearance and a lack of scruples.
-
6
Bracebridge Hall
narrative, classic literature
Bracebridge Hall functions as a series of character sketches and observational essays centered on an idealized English country estate.
-
7
Kim
Also deep · narrative, classic literature
Set against the backdrop of late nineteenth-century British India, the story follows Kimball O’Hara, an orphaned white boy living as a street-wise urchin in Lahore.
-
8
The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews
Also deep · narrative, classic literature
The narrative follows Joseph Andrews, a virtuous footman who is dismissed from service after resisting the aggressive sexual advances of his mistress, Lady Booby.
-
9
The White Tiger
narrative, classic literature
Balram Halwai, a chauffeur from a poverty-stricken village in rural India, details his rise to entrepreneurial success through a series of letters to the Chinese Premier.
-
10
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
narrative, classic literature
Joe Kavalier, a magician and escape artist, flees Nazi-occupied Prague and arrives in New York City to live with his cousin, Sammy Clay.
-
11
Silk and Insight
narrative, classic literature
Set in 1950s Japan, this novel dramatizes the labor dispute at a major textile factory to examine the reality of industrial paternalism.
-
12
Prodigal Summer
narrative, classic literature
In the humid mountains of southern Appalachia, three narrative threads intersect through the lens of evolutionary biology and ecological interdependence.
Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.
Get papr
