The Greatest Picaresque Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1808 Martin Chuzzlewit Charles Dickens 1843 British English
1819 Carry On, Jeeves P. G. Wodehouse 1925 British English
1824 The Engineer of Human Souls Josef Škvorecký 1977 Czech Czech
1831 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
1903 Handley Cross R. S. Surtees 1843 British English
1905 The Road to Klockrike Harry Martinson 1948 Swedish Swedish
1926 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1957 The Spanish Brabanter G. A. Bredero 1617 Dutch Dutch
2018 The Death Ship B. Traven 1926 German German
2064 The Egghead Republic Arno Schmidt 1957 German German
2067 How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman 1994 Scottish English
2107 Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver 2022 American English
2116 Siebenkäs Jean Paul 1796 German German
2116 The Life Story And Real Adventures Of The Poor Man Of Toggenburg Ulrich Bräker 1789 Swiss German
2127 Restoration Rose Tremain 1989 British English
2128 Houtekiet Gerard Walschap 1939 Belgian Dutch
2128 Will O' The Wisp Willem Elsschot 1947 Belgian Dutch
2131 Seven Brothers Aleksis Kivi 1870 Finnish Finnish
2154 Don Juan Molière 1665 French French
2210 Exemplary Stories Miguel de Cervantes 1613 Spanish Spanish
2319 Lavengro George Borrow 1851 British English
2372 The Vagabond Colette 1910 French French
2372 Roxana Daniel Defoe 1724 British English
2403 The City Of Marvels Eduardo Mendoza 1986 Spanish Spanish
2412 Loitering With Intent Muriel Spark 1981 British English
2413 The Stars My Destination Alfred Bester 1956 American English
2454 Molesworth Geoffrey Willans, Ronald Searle 1953 British English
2480 Mangeclous Albert Cohen 1938 French French
2545 Martín Fierro José Hernández 1872 Argentinian Spanish
2584 Bokhandlaren som slutade bada Fritiof Nilsson Piraten 1937 Swedish Swedish
2663 Debit And Credit Gustav Freytag 1855 German German
2680 El Día Del Watusi Francisco Casavella 2002 Spanish Spanish
2751 Fabian Erich Kästner 1931 German German
2781 The Legend Of Thyl Ulenspiegel And Lamme Goedzak Charles de Coster 1867 Belgian French
2790 The Island Of Second Sight Albert Vigoleis Thelen 1953 German English
2791 Dog Years Günter Grass 1963 German German
2856 The Dog Of The South Charles Portis 1979 American English
2873 The Horseman on the Roof Jean Giono 1951 French French
2892 Silverlock John Myers Myers 1949 American English
2908 Villa Des Roses Willem Elsschot 1913 Belgian Dutch
2971 The White Tiger Aravind Adiga 2008 Indian English
2976 My Friends Emmanuel Bove 1924 French French
2981 Tent of Miracles Jorge Amado 1969 Brazilian Portuguese
2984 Friday Michel Tournier 1967 French French
3000 Monsignor Quixote Graham Greene 1982 British English
3004 Scaramouche Rafael Sabatini 1921 Italian English
3019 The Memoirs Of Barry Lyndon William Makepeace Thackeray 1844 British English
3035 Heavy Weather P. G. Wodehouse 1933 British English
3038 Baron Munchausen's Narrative Of His Marvelous Travels And Campaigns In Russia Rudolf Erich Raspe 1785 German German
3052 National Episodes Benito Pérez Galdós 1873 Spanish Spanish
3061 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
3078 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3215 The Year of the Hare Arto Paasilinna 1975 Finnish Finnish
3272 Bohemian Lights Ramón del Valle-Inclán 1920 Spanish Spanish
3274 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3320 Our Lady of the Assassins Fernando Vallejo 1994 Colombian Spanish
3324 Thomas of Reading, Or, The Sixe Worthie Yeomen of the West Thomas Deloney 1599 British English
3324 Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus Scriblerus Club 1741 British English
3324 The Female Quixote Charlotte Lennox 1752 British English
3324 Broad and Alien is the World Ciro Alegría 1941 Peruvian Spanish
3396 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3441 In Search Of The Castaways Jules Verne 1867 French French
3454 Ян Бибиян Elin Pelin 1923 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3456 Glory Road Robert A. Heinlein 1963 American English
3477 The Black Obelisk Erich Maria Remarque 1956 German German
3490 Seminario Sulla Gioventù Aldo Busi 1984 Italian Italian
3515 Rhinoceros and Other Plays Eugène Ionesco 1959 Romanian French
3615 The Eyes Of The Overworld Jack Vance 1966 American English
3630 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3631 Life Of Quintus Fixlein Jean-Paul Richter 1796 German German
3637 Goat Song Konstantin Vaginov 1927 Russian Russian
3638 The Queen's Tiara Carl Jonas Love Almqvist 1834 Swedish Swedish
3638 Trans-Atlantyk Witold Gombrowicz 1953 Polish Polish
3638 White Shroud Antanas Škėma 1958 Lithuanian Lithuanian
3638 Childe Harold Of Dysna Moyshe Kulbak 1939 Belarusian Yiddish
3638 Till Eulenspiegel Hermann Bote 1510 German German
3638 The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen Gottfried Burger 1785 German German
3638 Der Gaulschreck Im Rosennetz Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando 1928 Austrian German
3638 Fluss Ohne Ufer Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
3638 Scenes Of Bohemian Life Henri Murger 1845 French French
3638 Stopfkuchen Wilhelm Karl Raabe 1891 German German
3638 Lausbubengeschichten Ludwig Thoma 1905 German German
3638 Franz Sternbald's Wanderings Ludwig Tieck 1798 German German
3638 The Large Testament And The Small Testament François Villon 1461 French French
3638 Rinaldo Rinaldini, The Robber Captain Christian August Vulpius 1799 German German
3638 The History Of The Abderites Christoph Martin Wieland 1774 German German
3803 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3817 City of Bohane Kevin Barry 2011 Irish English
3829 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
3832 Blott On The Landscape Tom Sharpe 1975 British English
3887 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
3889 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3908 Med Ana Schwoazzn Dintn Hans Carl Artmann 1958 Austrian German
3929 The Vice-Consul Marguerite Duras 1966 French French
3953 Γιούγκερμαν M. Karagatsis 1938 Greek Greek
3953 Ο Συνταγματάρχης Λιάπκιν M. Karagatsis 1933 Greek Greek
3953 The Beggar Andreas Karkavitsas 1896 Greek Greek
3953 Το Σόλο του Φίγκαρο Yiannis Skarimbas 1938 Greek Greek
3953 Το Θείο Τραγί Yiannis Skarimbas 1935 Greek Greek
3953 Rakes Of The Old Court Mateiu I. Caragiale 1929 Romanian Romanian
3953 Papucii Lui Mahmud Gala Galaction 1932 Romanian Romanian
3953 The Thistles Of The Bărăgan Panaït Istrati 1928 Romanian French
3953 Groapa Eugen Barbu 1957 Romanian Romanian
3953 The Life And Opinions Of Zacharias Lichter Matei Călinescu 1969 Romanian Romanian
4056 The Tunnel William H. Gass 1995 American English
4058 The Woutertje Pieterse Chronicles Multatuli 1890 Dutch Dutch
4061 Down With Skool! Geoffrey Willans 1953 British English
4119 Anton Wachter Series Simon Vestdijk 1934 Dutch Dutch
4127 Ferdinand Huyck Jacob van Lennep 1840 Dutch Dutch
4134 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4137 Το Μυθιστόρημα της Κυρίας Έρσης Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis 1966 Greek Greek
4149 The Tale Of Cross Eyed Lefty From Tula And The Steel Flea Nikolai Leskov 1881 Russian Russian
4151 Oxherding Tale Charles R. Johnson 1982 American English
4163 The Good Lord Bird James McBride 2013 American English
4166 Vasili Tyorkin Alexander Tvardovsky 1943 Russian Russian
4173 Sandro of Chegem Fazil Iskander 1966 Russian Russian
4175 Peer Gynt Henrik Ibsen 1867 Norwegian Norwegian
4200 Edisto Padgett Powell 1984 American English
4233 Een Zwerver Verliefd Arthur van Schendel 1904 Dutch Dutch
4233 The Tears Of The Acacias W.F. Hermans 1949 Dutch Dutch