Books like Ham on Rye
12 books with a reading profile close to Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski. Inward-looking and thought-provoking; an easy read.
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1
Rubyfruit Jungle
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Molly Bolt grows up in impoverished rural Florida and York, Pennsylvania, refusing to conform to the expectations of her adoptive mother or the social dictates of the mid-twentieth century.
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2
The Accidental Tourist
by Anne Tyler
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Macon Leary is a travel writer who hates traveling.
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3
Galatea
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
In this short story, a statue carved from ivory is granted life by a goddess, becoming the wife of her creator, Pygmalion.
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4
Post Office
narrative, classic literature
Henry Chinaski is a hard-drinking, hard-gambling, constantly broke man who takes a job as a substitute mail carrier in Los Angeles.
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5
Silver Sparrow
by Tayari Jones
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Dana Yarboro knows her father, James Witherspoon, has another family.
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6
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Francie Nolan grows up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn during the first two decades of the twentieth century.
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7
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Also inward-looking · narrative, classic literature
Edgar Sawtelle is born mute in rural Wisconsin, into a family that breeds a special line of dogs, the Sawtelle dogs, chosen for their intelligence and character.
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8
The Interestings
by Meg Wolitzer
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
The story begins in 1974 at a summer arts camp where six teenagers—Jules, Ash, Goodman, Ethan, Jonah, and Cathy—form a tight-knit circle based on their shared creative ambitions.
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9
The Palace of Illusions
narrative, classic literature
This retelling of the Mahabharata is narrated by Panchaali, also called Draupadi, who emerges from a sacrificial fire to marry the five Pandava brothers.
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10
The Bonesetter's Daughter
by Amy Tan
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Ruth Young, a ghostwriter in San Francisco, struggles to communicate with her mother, LuLing, whose behavior becomes increasingly erratic due to dementia.
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11
The Red Pony
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
Jody Tiflin is a young boy growing up on his father’s California ranch, where he learns the rigid realities of life and death through his relationship with a red pony named Gabilan.
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12
A Lesson Before Dying
Also inward-looking and thought-provoking · narrative, classic literature
In 1940s Louisiana, Jefferson, a young Black man, is wrongly convicted of murder after being present during a store robbery, and his lawyer compares him to a hog to save him.
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