Books like 'I am Charlotte Simmons'
Readers who enjoyed I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary university literary-fiction coming-of-age drama realistic satire bildungsroman humor social-commentary
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The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsRevised from the rather long original complete works of Shakespeare, this abridged version is written by three Americans, with no qualifications worth speaking of. The playtext is reproduced here with footnotes which will be of no help to anyone and a letter from the authors to the Queen... -
Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories by Raymond Carver
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBy the time of his early death in 1988, Raymond Carver had established himself as one of the greatest practitioners of the American short story, a writer who had not only found his own voice but imprinted it in the imaginations of thousands of readers... -
Looking for Alaska / An Abundance of Katherines / Paper Towns / The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFour critically acclaimed, award-winning modern classics from #1 New York Times-bestselling author John GreenThis John Green deluxe box set includes Printz Award–winning Looking for Alaska, Printz Honor book An Abundance of Katherines, Edgar Award–winning Paper Towns, and #1 New York Times–bestselling The Fault in Our Stars... -
Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTwin children Jeanne and Simon want to solve the mystery of their origins. In retracing the bitter history of their mother, who is about to die, other characters come into the story—witnesses or key players able to assist in the investigation. Carried aloft by poetic language, the inquiry pursued by Jeanne and Simon unfolds in a dreamlike atmosphere... -
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Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsYou're six years old. Mum's in hospital. Dad says she's 'done something stupid'. She finds it hard to be happy.So you start to make a list of everything that's brilliant about the world. Everything that's worth living for.1. Ice Cream2. Kung Fu Movies3. Burning Things4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose5. Construction cranes6. MeYou leave it on her pillow... -
Goat Days by Benyamin
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNajeeb’s dearest wish is to work in the Gulf and earn enough money to send back home. He achieves his dream only to be propelled by a series of incidents, grim and absurd, into a slave-like existence herding goats in the middle of the Saudi desert. Memories of the lush, verdant landscape of his village and of his loving family haunt Najeeb whose only solace is the companionship of goats...Categorized as:
bildungsroman classics drama literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary -
Picnic, Lightning by Billy Collins
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWinner of the 1999 Paterson Poetry Prize Over the past decade, Billy Collins has emerged as the most beloved American poet since Robert Frost, garnering critical acclaim and broad popular appeal. Annie Proulx admits, "I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours... -
You're So Vain by Whitney Dineen
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFamily drama is something Lutéce Choate struggles to avoid. With a mother who’s an award-winning country western song writer, an aunt who’s a Country Music Hall of Famer, and a brother who’s a rock star, it hasn’t exactly been a low-key kind of life, and she’s ready for a break... -
Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? by Raymond Carver
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWith this, his first collection, Carver breathed new life into the short story. In the pared-down style that has since become his hallmark, Carver showed us how humour and tragedy dwelt in the hearts of ordinary people, and won a readership that grew with every subsequent brilliant collection of stories, poems and essays that appeared in the last eleven years of his life... -
Noises Off by Michael Frayn
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNoises Off, the classic farce by the Tony Award—winning author of Copenhagen, is not one play but two: simultaneously a traditional sex farce, Nothing On, and the backstage “drama” that develops during Nothing On’s final rehearsal and tour... -
The Collected Stories by Amy Hempel
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Collected Stories of Amy Hempel gathers together the complete work of a writer whose voice is as singular and astonishing as any in American fiction. Hempel, fiercely admired by writers and reviewers, has a sterling reputation that is based on four very short collections of stories, roughly fifteen thousand stunning sentences, written over a period of nearly three decades...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction university adult anthologies contemporary female-author fiction -
Beatles by Lars Saabye Christensen
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBeatles is the story of Kim Karlsen and his three buddies, Gunnar, Ola and Seb - and, yes, they occasionally like to think of themselves as the Fab Four. They were born in 1951, and the story starts with the first wave of Beatlemania in Norway, in the spring of 1965...Categorized as:
bildungsroman classics coming-of-age drama literary-fiction 20th-century audiobook book -
Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings¿Quién es Belaundia Fu? Es la mejor amiga de Marta a los siete años: la amiga invisible que, en esos momentos en que las cosas no salen como había planeado y ni siquiera la abuela es capaz de consolarla, se sienta con ella y espera hasta que se le pase... -
Stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsT. C. Boyle is one of the most inventive and wickedly funny short story writers at work today. Over the course of twenty-five years, Boyle has built up a body of short fiction that is remarkable in its range, richness, and exuberance... -
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The Brotherhood of the Grape by John Fante
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHenry Molise, a 50 year old, successful writer, returns to the family home to help with the latest drama; his aging parents want to divorce. Henry's tyrannical, brick laying father, Nick, though weak and alcoholic, can still strike fear into the hearts of his sons. His mother, though ill and devout to her Catholicism, still has the power to comfort and confuse her children... -
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession, John Hopkins
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLeonard and Hungry Paul are two friends who see the world differently. They use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through the maelstrom that is the 21st century.‘The figure in Munch’s painting isn’t actually screaming!’ Hungry Paul said. ‘Really, are you sure?’ Replied Leonard. ‘Absolutely. That’s the whole thing. The figure is actually closing his ears to block outa scream...Categorized as:
coming-of-age humor literary-fiction realistic satire 21st-century adult anthologies -
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Selected Stories by William Trevor
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratings"Trevor was our twentieth century Chekov.--Wall Street Journal Selected as one of The New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of the Year. Four-time winner of the O. Henry Prize, three-time winner of the Whitbread Award, and five-time nominee for the Booker Prize, William Trevor is one of the most acclaimed authors of our era... -
The Complete Plays by Joe Orton
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis volume contains every play written by Joe Orton, who emerged in the 1960s as the most talented comic playwright in recent English history and was considered the direct successor to Wilde, Shaw, and Coward... -
On Herring Cove Road: Mr. Rosen and His 43Lb Anxiety by Michael Kroft
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOnce an amusing extrovert with a reputation as a prankster, Mr. Rosen is entering his retirement years as a stoic thirty-year converted introvert who has no interest in people, despises change, and is more than content to have his wife navigate his life... -
The Early Stories, 1953-1975 by John Updike
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsGathering together almost all the short fiction that John Updike published between 1953 and 1975, this collection opens with Updike's autobiographical stories about a young boy growing up during the Depression in a small Pennsylvania town. There follows tales of life away from home, student days, early marriage and young families, and finally Updike's experimental stories on 'The Single Life'... -
Fires: Essays, Poems, Stories by Raymond Carver
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsMore than sixty stories, poems, and essays are included in this wide-ranging collection by the extravagantly versatile Raymond Carver. Two of the stories—later revised for What We Talk About When We Talk About Love—are particularly notable in that between the first and the final versions, we see clearly the astounding process of Carver’s literary development... -
Padma River Boatman by Manik Bandopadhyay
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFishing life along the coastline of the Padma and its bitsy melancholic account of intense physical, helpless yet illusory tale. Kuber's struggles, Kapila's voluptuous youth like the rainfilled Padma and the presence of a mysterious man, Hasan Mia, make and break the narrative with tweaks that are deep, covert and sudden like hidden currents... -
The Gypsy Ballads of Federico Garcia Lorca by Federico García Lorca, Robert G. Harvard
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsTranslations of "Preciosa and the Wind""Walking Asleep," "The Moon, The Moon" "Fracas," "The Gypsy Nun" "Black Trouble" "St. Michael (Granada)""St. Gabriel (Seville)""Dead of Love""The Man Who Was Given a Summons""The Comical History of Pedro, Knight""Walking Asleep""The Unfaithful Married Woman""The Martyrdom of St... -
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Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTender and intense, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry as three young people come to understand what it means to truly be a friend.In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic coming-of-age fiction contemporary 21st-century book adult -
The Weight of a Moment by Michael Bowe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWinner for Literary Fiction at the American Fiction Awards 2020. On list of “10 Best Indie Books of 2019” at Shelf Unbound Magazine. Finalist for Best Novel at the Next Generation Book Awards 2020, (often referred to as the "Sundance of Books" in the media). Winner of a Bronze Medal at the Readers' Favorite Awards 2020... -
Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA pop-saturated epic novel about the second man on the moon, and the quiet thirty-year-old gardener who idolizes him. A story of unconventional psychiatry, the Faroe Islands, amateur boat building, and the journey across the space that divides us from other people: a journey as remote and dangerous as the trip to the moon itself... -
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsMaman was exigeante—there is no English word–and I had the benefit of her training. Others may not be so fortunate. If some other young girl, with two million dollars at stake, finds this of use I shall count myself justified.Raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father, a 17-year-old girl has learned above all to avoid mauvais ton ("bad taste" loses something in the translation)...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic humor satire fiction contemporary female-author anthologies -
Swimming for Beginners by Nicola Gill
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratings'The perfect mix of funny, poignant and heartwarming.' - Good Housekeeping'Warm, witty but also heart-wrenching read' - Red Magazine'Touching and witty. I adored Loretta and her relationship with Phoebe' - Lisa Snowdon. 'This heart-warming and creative contemporary fiction is a story of unexpected self-discovery.' - Woman's Weekly'Full of heart and depth... -
One on One by Tabitha King, Stephen King
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA high school basketball star and a defiant outcast discover a profound love that sustains them through a triumphant but painful year... -
Posh by Laura Wade
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn an oak-paneled room in Oxford, ten young punks with cut-glass vowels and deep pockets are meeting, intent on restoring their right to rule. Members of an elite student dining society, the boys are bunkering down for a wild night of debauchery, decadence and good wine. But this isn't just a jolly: they're planning a revolution.Welcome to the Riot Club... -
The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction by R. V. Cassil
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTalking about fictionStory form in our time/ Ernest HemingwayRevenge/ Giraldis CambrensisHeart of darkness/ Joseph ConradThe nightingales sing/ Elizabeth ParsonThe owl who was God/ James ThurberTraveling through the dark/ William StaffordGod's country and my people/ Wright MorrisThe egg/ Sherwood AndersonDeath in the woods/ Sherwood AndersonKarl-Yankel/ Isaac BabelSonny's blues/ Janes BaldwinA...Categorized as:
classics literary-fiction university fiction anthologies contemporary literary adult -
The Harpole Report by J.L. Carr
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsThe Harpole Report is the third novel by J. L. Carr, published in 1972. The novel tells the story mostly in the form of a school log book kept by George Harpole, temporary Head Teacher of the Church of England primary school of "Tampling St. Nicholas". Like all of Carr's novels, it is grounded in personal experience...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire social-commentary 20th-century adult anthologies comedy -
Supersaurio by Meryem El Mehdati
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn uproarious debut novel about a young woman from the Canary Islands whose internship with a supermarket chain reveals the soul-crushing vagaries of modern life.Meryem is twenty-five years old, drinks too much coffee, goes on dates with terrifying men and never says what she really thinks... -
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The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra Kring
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWisconsin, 1961. Evelyn “Button” Peters is nine the summer Winnalee and her fiery-spirited older sister, Freeda, blow into her small town–and from the moment she sees them, Button knows this will be a summer unlike any other... -
The Orange Mocha-chip Frappuccino Years by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSo there I was, roysh, enjoying college life, college birds and, like, a major amount of socialising. Then, roysh, the old pair decide to mess everything up for me. And we're talking totally here. Don't ask me what they were thinking. I hadn't, like, changed or treated them any differently, but the next thing I know, roysh, I'm out on the streets... -
Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFiction from Ireland. No 1 Bestseller... -
The Teenage Dirtbag Years by Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, Paul Howard
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSo there I was, roysh, class legend, schools rugby legend, basically all-round legend, when someone decides you can't, like, sit the Leaving Cert four times. Well that put a focking spanner in the works.But joining the goys at college wasn't the mare I thought it would be, basically for, like, three major beer, women and more women... -
The Beautiful Room Is Empty by Edmund White
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen the narrator of White's poised yet scalding autobiographical novel first embarks on his sexual odyssey, it is the 1950s, and America is "a big gray country of families on drowsy holiday." That country has no room for a scholarly teenager with guilty but insatiable stirrings toward other men... -
The Angel of Rome and Other Stories by Jess Walter
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and The Cold Millions comes a stunning collection about those moments when everything changes--for the better, for the worse, for the outrageous--as a diverse cast of characters bounces from Italy to Idaho, questioning their roles in life and finding inspiration in the unlikeliest places... -
Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom a dazzling new international voice, an audacious, darkly funny novel about a young woman whose carefully crafted office persona threatens to crack when she’s forced to attend her company’s annual retreatOn the surface, Marisa's life looks enviable... -
If the River Was Whiskey: Stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMagical, surprising, and very funny stories about eccentrics, charlatans, misfits, and lost souls by the winner of 1987's PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire adult anthologies contemporary fiction magical-realism -
Rumors: A Farce by Neil Simon
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsKen and Chris have found their host Charley, a prominent Government official, in his bedroom, too dazed to speak, with a bullet wound in his ear lobe! Len and Claire arrive, themselves injured in a car crash, and are soon joined by Ernest and Cookie, Glenn and Cassie, each with their own problems... -
Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA major work by one of our theatre's most respected and celebrated writers, this award-winning examination of the dislocations of contemporary American society was produced with great success in both London and New York.The setting is a farmhouse in the American West, inhabited by a family who has enough to eat but not enough to satisfy the other hungers that bedevil them... -
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Solal by Albert Cohen, Michel Bigot
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe youth of the hero from Belle du Seigneur is told in this novel, full of the irony and cynicism that is characteristic in the work of Albert Cohen... -
Amphibian by Carla Gunn
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsShortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (Canada and Caribbean region); Shortlisted for the 2011 Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award; A Globe and Mail Top Five First Fiction Title of 2009; A National Post Best Books of 2009 selection.Phineas William Walsh has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural world...Categorized as:
humor coming-of-age social-commentary literary-fiction fiction animals young-adult contemporary -
The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratings'Retired people are like nuclear power stations. They like to live by the sea.'Two ageing nuclear scientists in an isolated cottage on the coast, as the world around them crumbles. Then an old friend arrives with a frightening request... -
The Widows' Adventures by Charles Dickinson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsTwo widows take to the road across America in this ambitious novel by Charles Dickinson. Helene, who is blind, does the driving. Her sister, Ina, shows the way, and together they break free into the light they feared had gone out of their lives. They cross a landscape whose dangers are secondary to the perilous memories and secrets they share... -
The Big Wide Calm by Rich Marcello
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPaige is a rock star. The world just doesn't know it yet. She's got the charisma, the drive, and, of course, the mega-musical skills. All she needs is to make her debut album, one that will change the world, inspire revolutions--and make her galactically famous along the way... -
Help Wanted: A Novel by Adelle Waldman
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn Help Wanted, Adelle Waldman brings her unparalleled wit and knack for social observation to the world of work.At a big-box store in a small town in upstate New York, the members of Team Movement clock in every morning at 3:55. Under the eye of a self-absorbed and barely competent boss, they empty the day’s truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and scatter before customers arrive...
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