The Greatest Books of All Time on Prostitution

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
695 Boys Alive Pier Paolo Pasolini 1955 Italian Italian
901 Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby 1964 American English
929 Our Lady of the Flowers Jean Genet 1943 French French
1132 Fanny Hill John Cleland 1748 British English
1140 Nana Émile Zola 1880 French French
1241 The Life Before Us Romain Gary 1975 French French
1732 A Harlot High And Low Honoré de Balzac 1839 French French
1918 The Lady Of The Camellias Alexandre Dumas 1848 French French
2215 The Threepenny Opera Bertolt Brecht 1928 German German
3272 The Luminaries Eleanor Catton 2013 New Zealand English
3460 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3638 The School Of Whoredom Pietro Aretino 1536 Italian English
3902 Cities of the Plain Cormac McCarthy 1998 American English
4271 Eight Million Ways To Die Lawrence Block 1982 American English
4441 The Thief's Journal Jean Genet 1949 French French
4887 The Crimson Petal And The White Michel Faber 2002 British English
5033 The Sluts Dennis Cooper 2004 American English
5932 King Kong Theory Virginie Despentes 2006 French French
6226 Boule De Suif Guy de Maupassant 1880 French French
6618 Redeeming Love Francine Rivers 1991 American English
7130 Beauty Is A Wound Eka Kurniawan 2002 Indonesian Indonesian
7216 Lulu Plays Frank Wedekind 1895 German German
7616 Dirty Havana Trilogy Pedro Juan Gutierrez 1998 Cuban Spanish
8144 Suspicious River Laura Kasischke 1999 American English
8240 Nineteen Seventy Seven David Peace 2000 British English
8589 Sold Patricia McCormick 2006 American English
8628 Navalha Na Carne Plínio Marcos 1967 Brazilian Portuguese
8860 Lucíola José de Alencar 1862 Brazilian Portuguese
9141 Bangkok 8 John Burdett 2003 British English
9642 Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 Congolese French
10002 Narcopolis Jeet Thayil 2012 Indian English
10382 Memories Of My Melancholy Whores Gabriel García Márquez 2004 Colombian Spanish
10726 Rampart Street David Fulmer 2006 American English
12259 The Women Outside Stephanie Golden 1990 American English
12408 Slammerkin Emma Donoghue 2000 Irish English
12657 The Barbary Coast Herbert Asbury 2009 American English
13362 London Labour and the London Poor Henry Mayhew 1851 British English
13600 The Margin André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1967 French French
13600 Momo Émile Ajar French French
14006 The Five Hallie Rubenhold 2019 British English
14100 The Royal Family William T. Vollmann 2000 American English
14499 Super Freakonomics Steven D. Levitt 2009 American English
14899 Maggie Stephen Crane 1893 American English
14985 Lullabies For Little Criminals Heather O'Neill 2006 Canadian English
15883 Fanny By Gaslight Michael Sadleir 1940 British English
17162 Hogg Samuel R. Delany 1995 American English
17099 Balm In Gilead Lanford Wilson 1965 American English
17162 Revolting Prostitutes Molly Smith, Juno Mac 2018 British English
17162 Lost Girls Robert Kolker 2013 American English
17162 For Bread Alone Mohamed Choukri 1973 Moroccan Arabic
17162 The Flowers Of War Yan Geling 2006 Chinese Chinese
17162 Lotus Lijia Zhang 2017 Chinese English
17162 Without Remorse Tom Clancy 1993 American English
17162 New Babylon New Nineveh Charles Van Onselen 2011 Unknown English
17162 Limehouse Nights Thomas Burke 1917 British English
16801 Yama Aleksandr Kuprin 1909 Russian Russian
17162 Frank Miller's Complete Sin City Library Frank Miller 2005 American English