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
7164 A Million Little Pieces James Frey 2003 American English
7182 Joseph Vance William De Morgan 1906 British English
7604 Sin Remedio Antonio Caballero 1984 Colombian Spanish
7616 Dirty Havana Trilogy Pedro Juan Gutierrez 1998 Cuban Spanish
7612 Aunt Julia And The Script Writer Mario Vargas Llosa 1977 Peruvian Spanish
7692 Heroes Like Us Thomas Brussig 1995 German German
7708 Bank Shot Donald E. Westlake 1972 American English
7726 Stupidity Rafael Spregelburd 2007 Argentinian Spanish
7733 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7831 The Blue Flowers Raymond Queneau 1965 French French
7846 Kingdom Cons Yuri Herrera 2008 Mexican Spanish
7872 Psmith, Journalist P. G. Wodehouse 1915 British English
7900 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7944 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7963 The Good Hope William Heinesen 1964 Danish Danish
7986 The History Of Pendennis William Makepeace Thackeray 1849 British English
7992 Viva O Povo Brasileiro João Ubaldo Ribeiro 1984 Brazilian Portuguese
8098 The Hotel New Hampshire John Irving 1981 American English
8106 O Miki Liukkonen 2017 Finnish Finnish
8144 Carbide Andriy Lyubka 2014 Ukrainian Ukrainian
8144 Jerusalem Commands Michael Moorcock 1992 British English
8144 Vor Uns Die Sintflut Urs Widmer 1998 Swiss German
8173 Ladrón De Lunas Isaac Montero 1990 Spanish Spanish
8217 Rum River Raymond Fraser 1997 Canadian English
8285 Nowhere Man Aleksandar Hemon 2002 Bosnian English
8293 Fredman's Epistles Carl Michael Bellman 1999 Swedish Swedish
8302 Darkside Dennis Etchison 1986 American English
8345 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8359 The Literary Conference César Aira 1997 Argentinian Spanish
8460 Been Down So Long it Looks Like Up to Me Richard Fariña 1966 American English
8499 Serafim Ponte Grande Oswald De Andrade 1923 Brazilian Portuguese
8633 The Knight And Knave Of Swords Fritz Leiber 1988 American English
8675 Marabou Stork Nightmares Irvine Welsh 1995 British English
8696 It's Me, Eddie Eduard Limonov 1978 Russian Russian
8763 Malagueta, Perus E Bacanaço João Antônio 1963 Brazilian Portuguese
8788 Romance D'a Pedra Do Reino E O Príncipe Do Sangue Do Vai E Volta Ariano Suassuna 1971 Brazilian Portuguese
8792 The Reivers William Faulkner 1962 American English
8875 Fogo Morto José Lins Do Rego 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
8909 Carreteras Secundarias Ignacio Martínez de Pisón 1996 Spanish Spanish
8922 The Voices Of The Dead Autran Dourado 1967 Brazilian Portuguese
9022 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
9031 Citizen Of The Galaxy Robert A. Heinlein 1957 American English
9066 A Million Windows Gerald Murnane 2014 Australian English
9074 Billy Bathgate E. L. Doctorow 1989 American English
9095 Prizzi's Honor Richard Condon 1982 American English
9110 The Collected Short Stories Of Roald Dahl Roald Dahl 1991 British English
9183 What Salmon Know Elwood Reid 1999 American English
9262 The Candy House Jennifer Egan 2022 American English
9287 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Tom Robbins 1976 American English
9300 The Imaginary Lives Of James Poneke Tina Makereti 2018 New Zealand English
9367 Rosario Tijeras Jorge Franco 1999 Colombian Spanish
9373 The African Shore Rodrigo Rey Rosa 1999 Guatemalan Spanish
9377 The Heroine Eaton Stannard Barrett 1813 British English
9548 The Man Who Laughs Victor Hugo 1869 French French
9591 Blue Lard Vladimir Sorokin 1999 Russian Russian
9677 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9730 Gagner La Guerre Jean-Philippe Jaworski 2009 French French
9742 Crime Ferdinand Von Schirach 2009 German German
9765 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9784 The Undertaking Of Hart And Mercy Megan Bannen 2022 Unknown English
9834 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English
9911 Women Charles Bukowski 1978 American English
9923 Hail And Farewell George Moore 1911 British English
9956 Bombi Bitt Och Jag Fritiof Nilsson Piraten 1932 Swedish Swedish
10058 Diablo Guardián Xavier Velasco 2003 Mexican Spanish
10156 You Dreamed Of Empires Alvaro Enrigue 2024 Unknown English
10229 Raw Material Jörg Fauser 1984 German German
10246 The Man Who Would Be King Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
10309 Curious Naturalists Niko Tinbergen 1958 British English
10510 Skin Kathe Koja 1993 American English
10539 A Sunny Place For Shady People Mariana Enríquez 2024 Unknown Unknown
10737 The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov 1995 Russian English
10736 Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, And General Tales Of Ordinary Madness Charles Bukowski 1972 American English
10745 Why Is There Salt In The Sea? Brigitte Schwaiger 1977 Austrian German
10949 Golden Hill Francis Spufford 2016 British English
11006 The Island Of The Day Before Umberto Eco 1994 Italian Italian
11025 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
11060 Coin Locker Babies Ryū Murakami 1980 Japanese Japanese
11093 The Age Of The Fish Ödön von Horváth 1937 Unknown Unknown
11093 Die Palette Hubert Fichte 1968 German German
11093 Gesammelte Erzählungen Kurt Kusenberg 1961 German German
11180 Black List, Section H Francis Stuart 1971 Irish English
11237 The Illustrious House of Ramires Eça de Queirós 1900 Portuguese Portuguese
11278 Gospel Wilton Barnhardt 1993 American English
11302 The Adventures Of China Iron Gabriela Cabezón Cámara 2017 Argentinian Spanish
11308 The Book Of Sins Chen Xiwo 2014 Chinese Chinese
11327 The Prince R. M. Koster 1972 Unknown English
11366 The Pencil Territory Robert Walser Swiss Unknown
11547 Valentine Vox Henry Cockton 1839 British English
11547 Rory O'more Samuel Lover 1837 Irish English
11547 Ten Thousand A Year Samuel Warren 1839 British English
11615 Homesick for Another World Ottessa Moshfegh 2017 American English
11663 Loon Lake E. L. Doctorow 1980 American English
11663 World Without End Francine du Plessix Gray 1981 American English
11663 The Burning House Ann Beattie 1982 American English
11663 Bech Is Back John Updike 1982 American English
11663 During The Reign Of The Queen Of Persia Joan Chase 1983 American English
11663 Whites Norman Rush 1986 American English
11663 Arabesques Anton Shammas 1986 Israeli Hebrew
11663 The Tenants Of Time Thomas Flanagan 1988 American English
11663 Cherry Nico Walker 2018 American English
11663 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
11663 Lake Success Gary Shteyngart 2018 American English
11897 Cruise Of The Midge Michael Scott 1834 Scottish English
12026 Biotope Orly Castel-Bloom 2022 Israeli Hebrew
12050 Omega Minor Paul Verhaeghen 2004 Belgian Dutch
12137 Mandragon R. M. Koster 1979 Unknown English
12163 Harry Lorrequer Charles Lever 1839 Irish English
12326 Tropical Gangsters Robert Klitgaard 1988 American English
12326 Mazurka For Two Dead Men Camilo José Cela 1983 Spanish Spanish
12326 Cloudsplitter Russell Banks 1998 American English
12326 Preston Falls David Gates 1998 American English
12326 A Star Called Henry Roddy Doyle 1999 Irish English
12400 Handy Andy Samuel Lover 1842 Irish English
12408 Slammerkin Emma Donoghue 2000 Irish English
12450 Changó, The Biggest Badass Manuel Zapata Olivella 1983 Colombian Spanish
12450 In The Beginning Was The Sea Tomás González 1983 Colombian Spanish