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
7055 Golden Age Wang Xiaobo 1997 Chinese Chinese
7082 The Scholars Wu Ching-tzu 1750 Chinese Chinese
7117 The Fortunes Of Nigel Sir Walter Scott 1822 Scottish English
7163 A Million Little Pieces James Frey 2003 American English
7181 Joseph Vance William De Morgan 1906 British English
7603 Sin Remedio Antonio Caballero 1984 Colombian Spanish
7615 Dirty Havana Trilogy Pedro Juan Gutierrez 1998 Cuban Spanish
7611 Aunt Julia And The Script Writer Mario Vargas Llosa 1977 Peruvian Spanish
7691 Heroes Like Us Thomas Brussig 1995 German German
7707 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7725 Stupidity Rafael Spregelburd 2007 Argentinian Spanish
7732 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7830 The Blue Flowers Raymond Queneau 1965 French French
7845 Kingdom Cons Yuri Herrera 2008 Mexican Spanish
7871 Psmith, Journalist P. G. Wodehouse 1915 British English
7899 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7943 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7962 The Good Hope William Heinesen 1964 Danish Danish
7985 The History Of Pendennis William Makepeace Thackeray 1849 British English
7991 Viva O Povo Brasileiro João Ubaldo Ribeiro 1984 Brazilian Portuguese
8096 The Hotel New Hampshire John Irving 1981 American English
8104 O Miki Liukkonen 2017 Finnish Finnish
8142 Carbide Andriy Lyubka 2014 Ukrainian Ukrainian
8142 Jerusalem Commands Michael Moorcock 1992 British English
8142 Vor Uns Die Sintflut Urs Widmer 1998 Swiss German
8171 Ladrón De Lunas Isaac Montero 1990 Spanish Spanish
8215 Rum River Raymond Fraser 1997 Canadian English
8283 Nowhere Man Aleksandar Hemon 2002 Bosnian English
8291 Fredman's Epistles Carl Michael Bellman 1999 Swedish Swedish
8300 Darkside Dennis Etchison 1986 American English
8343 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8357 The Literary Conference César Aira 1997 Argentinian Spanish
8458 Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me Richard Fariña 1966 American English
8497 Serafim Ponte Grande Oswald De Andrade 1923 Brazilian Portuguese
8631 The Knight And Knave Of Swords Fritz Leiber 1988 American English
8673 Marabou Stork Nightmares Irvine Welsh 1995 British English
8694 It's Me, Eddie Eduard Limonov 1978 Russian Russian
8760 Malagueta, Perus E Bacanaço João Antônio 1963 Brazilian Portuguese
8785 Romance D'a Pedra Do Reino E O Príncipe Do Sangue Do Vai E Volta Ariano Suassuna 1971 Brazilian Portuguese
8789 The Reivers William Faulkner 1962 American English
8873 Fogo Morto José Lins Do Rego 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
8907 Carreteras Secundarias Ignacio Martínez de Pisón 1996 Spanish Spanish
8920 The Voices Of The Dead Autran Dourado 1967 Brazilian Portuguese
9020 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
9029 Citizen Of The Galaxy Robert A. Heinlein 1957 American English
9064 A Million Windows Gerald Murnane 2014 Australian English
9072 Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow 1989 American English
9093 Prizzi's Honor Richard Condon 1982 American English
9108 The Collected Short Stories Of Roald Dahl Roald Dahl 1991 British English
9182 What Salmon Know Elwood Reid 1999 American English
9261 The Candy House Jennifer Egan 2022 American English
9285 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Tom Robbins 1976 American English
9298 The Imaginary Lives Of James Poneke Tina Makereti 2018 New Zealand English
9365 Rosario Tijeras Jorge Franco 1999 Colombian Spanish
9371 The African Shore Rodrigo Rey Rosa 1999 Guatemalan Spanish
9375 The Heroine Eaton Stannard Barrett 1813 British English
9546 The Man Who Laughs Victor Hugo 1869 French French
9589 Blue Lard Vladimir Sorokin 1999 Russian Russian
9674 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9727 Gagner La Guerre Jean-Philippe Jaworski 2009 French French
9739 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9762 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9781 The Undertaking Of Hart And Mercy Megan Bannen 2022 Unknown English
9831 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English
9908 Women Charles Bukowski 1978 American English
9919 Hail And Farewell George Moore 1911 British English
9952 Bombi Bitt Och Jag Fritiof Nilsson Piraten 1932 Swedish Swedish
10053 Diablo Guardián Xavier Velasco 2003 Mexican Spanish
10152 You Dreamed Of Empires Alvaro Enrigue 2024 Unknown English
10224 Raw Material Jörg Fauser 1984 German German
10241 The Man Who Would Be King Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
10305 Curious Naturalists Niko Tinbergen 1958 British English
10506 Skin Kathe Koja 1993 American English
10535 A Sunny Place For Shady People Mariana Enríquez 2024 Unknown Unknown
10732 The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov 1995 Russian English
10731 Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, And General Tales Of Ordinary Madness Charles Bukowski 1972 American English
10740 Why Is There Salt In The Sea? Brigitte Schwaiger 1977 Austrian German
10944 Golden Hill Francis Spufford 2016 British English
11001 The Island Of The Day Before Umberto Eco 1994 Italian Italian
11020 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
11055 Coin Locker Babies Ryū Murakami 1980 Japanese Japanese
11088 The Age Of The Fish Ödön von Horváth 1937 Unknown Unknown
11088 Die Palette Hubert Fichte 1968 German German
11088 Gesammelte Erzählungen Kurt Kusenberg 1961 German German
11175 Black List, Section H Francis Stuart 1971 Irish English
11232 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11273 Gospel Wilton Barnhardt 1993 American English
11297 The Adventures Of China Iron Gabriela Cabezón Cámara 2017 Argentinian Spanish
11303 The Book Of Sins Chen Xiwo 2014 Chinese Chinese
11322 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11362 The Pencil Territory Robert Walser Swiss Unknown
11544 Valentine Vox Henry Cockton 1839 British English
11544 Rory O'more Samuel Lover 1837 Irish English
11544 Ten Thousand A Year Samuel Warren 1839 British English
11612 Homesick for Another World Ottessa Moshfegh 2017 American English
11660 Loon Lake E. L. Doctorow 1980 American English
11660 World Without End Francine du Plessix Gray 1981 American English
11660 The Burning House Ann Beattie 1982 American English
11660 Bech Is Back John Updike 1982 American English
11660 During The Reign Of The Queen Of Persia Joan Chase 1983 American English
11660 Whites Norman Rush 1986 American English
11660 Arabesques Anton Shammas 1986 Israeli Hebrew
11660 The Tenants Of Time Thomas Flanagan 1988 American English
11660 Cherry Nico Walker 2018 American English
11660 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
11660 Lake Success Gary Shteyngart 2018 American English
11895 Cruise Of The Midge Michael Scott 1834 Scottish English
12024 Biotope Orly Castel-Bloom 2022 Israeli Hebrew
12048 Omega Minor Paul Verhaeghen 2004 Belgian Dutch
12136 Mandragon R. M. Koster 1979 Unknown English
12162 Harry Lorrequer Charles Lever 1839 Irish English
12324 Tropical Gangsters Robert Klitgaard 1988 American English
12324 Mazurka For Two Dead Men Camilo José Cela 1983 Spanish Spanish
12324 Cloudsplitter Russell Banks 1998 American English
12324 Preston Falls David Gates 1998 American English
12324 A Star Called Henry Roddy Doyle 1999 Irish English
12398 Handy Andy Samuel Lover 1842 Irish English
12406 Slammerkin Emma Donoghue 2000 Irish English
12448 Changó, The Biggest Badass Manuel Zapata Olivella 1983 Colombian Spanish
12448 In The Beginning Was The Sea Tomás González 1983 Colombian Spanish