Books like 'Inherent Vice'
Readers who enjoyed Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary mystery comedy action / adventure 20th century thriller crime noir humor literary-fiction
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The BFG by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 79 ratingsCaptured by a giant! But the BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants—rather than the BFG—she would have soon become breakfast...Categorized as:
classics humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book british-isles -
![The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster]()
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 46 ratingsLibrarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.This beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond. For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different... -
![Hogfather by Terry Pratchett]()
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 64 ratingsSusan had never hung up a stocking . She'd never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn't that her parents didn't believe in such things. They didn't need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn't.There are those who believe and those who don't. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses... -
![Four to Score by Janet Evanovich]()
Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsNabbing Maxine Nowicki, thief and extortionist, would be the answer to Stephanie’s prayers and monetary woes. The only trouble is that Maxine is no where to be found, and her friends have been mysteriously turning up dead. To make matters worse, Stephanie’s arch nemesis since grade school is also looking for Nowicki, hoping to cash in first.Stephanie’s mentor and tormentor, Ranger, needs her... -
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![From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg]()
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsWhen Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort-she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because be was a miser and would have money...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book -
![Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich]()
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsAlso see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE] ACE #1 - ACE #2 - ACE #3 Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum debuted in Janet Evanovich's award-winning "One for the Money". Now she's back, packing a whole lot of attitude -- not to mention stun guns, defense sprays, killer flashlights and a... -
![The Witches by Roald Dahl]()
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 73 ratingsThis is not a fairy-tale. This is about real witches. Real witches don't ride around on broomsticks. They don't even wear black cloaks and hats. They are vile, cunning, detestable creatures who disguise themselves as nice, ordinary ladies... -
![Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich]()
Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsStephanie Plum, the brassy babe in the powder blue Buick is back and she's having a bad hair day -- for the whole month of January. She's been given the unpopular task of finding Mo Bedemier, Trenton's most beloved citizen, arrested for carrying concealed, gone no-show for his court appearance... -
![The Golden Apple by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson]()
The Golden Apple by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNausea, then microamnesia, then the laughing jag, then sex. Be patient. The clear light comes next. Then we can discuss Truth. As if we haven't been discussing it all along. -Hagbard Celine, The Golden Apple Illuminatus! Part II, from the original and genuine trilogy of conspiracies, is performed in all its unabridged brilliance by a full ensemble cast...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor postmodernism satire 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Stranger by Max Frei]()
The Stranger by Max Frei
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe millions-selling fantasy epic of the new Russian literary icon-a freeloading freebooter who finds a new home in a magical world Max Frei's novels have been a literary sensation in Russia since their debut in 1996, and have swept the fantasy world over. Presented here in English for the first time, The Stranger will strike a chord with readers of all stripes...Categorized as:
humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-universe audiobook book -
![Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh]()
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsBrace yourself, America, for Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting—the novel and the film that became the cult sensations of Britain. Trainspotting is the novel that first launched Irvine Welsh's spectacular career—an authentic, unrelenting, and strangely exhilarating episodic group portrait of blasted lives. It accomplished for its own time and place what Hubert Selby, Jr... -
![Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl]()
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsA wine connoisseur with an infallible palate and a sinister taste in wagers. A decrepit old man with a masterpiece tattooed on his back. A voracious adventuress, a gentle cuckold, and a garden sculpture that becomes an instrument of sadistic vengeance. Social climbers who climb a bit too quickly. Philanderers whose deceptions are a trifle too ornate... -
![The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey]()
The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsEd Abbey called The Monkey Wrench Gang, his 1975 novel, a "comic extravaganza." Some readers have remarked that the book is more a comic book than a real novel, and it's true that reading this incendiary call to protect the American wilderness requires more than a little of the old willing suspension of disbelief...Categorized as:
classics crime historical-fiction humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams]()
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsWhen a passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport disappears in a ball of orange flame, the explosion is deemed an act of God... -
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![The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket]()
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 52 ratingsDear Reader,I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe... -
![Leviathan by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson]()
Leviathan by Robert Shea, Robert Anton Wilson
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe ultimate weapon isn't this plague out in Vegas, or any new super H-bomb. The ultimate weapon has always existed. Every man, every woman, and every child owns it. It's the ability to say No and take the consequences. - Hagbard Celine, LeviathanIlluminatus! Part III cheerfully ushers in the apocalyptic high-camp conclusion of the Illuminatus! Trilogy...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction humor postmodernism satire 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint]()
Memoirs of an Invisible Man by H.F. Saint
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA freak accident renders an ordinary stock analyst invisible, and though invisibility has its pitfalls, he is able to eavesdrop his way into amassing a fortune in this side-splitting, tear-jerking mixture of fantasy and nightmare... -
![Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones]()
Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsRupert Venables is a Magid.It's a Magid's job to oversee what goes on in the vast Multiverse. Actually, Rupert is really only a junior Magid. But he's got a king-sized problem. Rupert's territory includes Earth and the Empire of Korfyros. When his mentor dies Rupert must find a replacement. But there are hundreds of candidates...Categorized as:
humor 20th-century action-adventure alternate-universe audiobook book children comedy -
![Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones]()
Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe trouble started when Howard Sykes came home from school and found the "goon" sitting in the kitchen. He said he'd been sent by Archer. But who was Archer? It had to do with the 2,000 words that Howard's author father had failed to deliver...Categorized as:
humor law-enforcement 20th-century action-adventure book children children-books comedy -
![If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino]()
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsItalo Calvino's masterpiece combines a love story and a detective story into an exhilarating allegory of reading, in which the reader of the book becomes the book's central character...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor literary-fiction postmodernism satire 20th-century -
![Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins]()
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 44 ratingsThis is a gutsy, fun-loving, and provocative novel in which a bean can philosophises, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine...Categorized as:
classics humor literary-fiction postmodernism satire 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![One for the Money by Janet Evanovich]()
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 4.01 of 5 stars · 81 ratingsYou've lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car's been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month's rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?If you're Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money... -
![The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket]()
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 45 ratingsDear Reader,If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled... -
![Sure of You by Armistead Maupin]()
Sure of You by Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn this, the sixth and final self-contained volume of Armistead Maupin's epic chronicle of modern life, a fiercely ambitious TV talk show host finds she must choose between national stardom in New York and a husband and child in San Francisco...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century action-adventure -
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![Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins]()
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 38 ratings"As clever and witty a novel as anyone has written in a long time . . . Robbins takes readers on a wild, delightful ride. . . . A delight from beginning to end...Categorized as:
drama humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century 21st-century absurdism action-adventure -
![Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk]()
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsShe's a catwalk model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden motor 'accident' leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she goes from being the beautiful centre of attention to being an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge she exists... -
![Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen]()
Stormy Weather by Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTwo honeymooners wake up early, make love twice, and brace themselves for a spectacle they won't be watching from the sidelines. A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery. A shotgun-toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster... -
![The Bounty by Janet Evanovich]()
The Bounty by Janet Evanovich
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFBI agent Kate O’Hare and charming con man Nicholas Fox race against time to uncover a buried train filled with Nazi gold.Straight as an arrow special agent Kate O’Hare and international con man Nick Fox have brought down some of the biggest criminals out there. But now they face their most dangerous foe yet—a vast, shadowy international organization known only as the Brotherhood...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction humor law-enforcement thriller 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Holes by Louis Sachar]()
Holes by Louis Sachar
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 92 ratings(Librarian's Note: Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN 9780440414803)Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnatses...Categorized as:
classics crime drama historical-fiction humor season-summer 20th-century action-adventure -
![The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien]()
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Rated: 3.99 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThe Third Policeman is Flann O'Brien's brilliantly dark comic novel about the nature of time, death, and existence... -
![Factotum by Charles Bukowski]()
Factotum by Charles Bukowski
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsOne of Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to another, always needing money but never badly enough to keep a job... -
![Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore]()
Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 54 ratingsThere is an alternate cover edition here.Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching neck, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her... -
![Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard]()
Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsMob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind—plus his “friends” have a bad habit of dying there. So when he chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood, Chili figures he might like to stay... -
![Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl]()
Switch Bitch by Roald Dahl
Rated: 3.97 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsIn Switch Bitch four tales of seduction and suspense are told by the grand master of the short story, Roald Dahl.Topping and tailing this collection are The Visitor and Bitch, stories featuring Dahl's notorious hedonist Oswald Hendryks Cornelius (or plain old Uncle Oswald) whose exploits are frequently as extraordinary as they are scandalous... -
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![Bellwether by Connie Willis]()
Bellwether by Connie Willis
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsConnie Willis has won more Hugo and Nebula awards than any other science fiction author. Now, with her trademark wit and inventiveness, she explores the intimate relationship between science, pop culture, and the arcane secrets of the heart.Sandra Foster studies fads - from Barbie dolls to the grunge look - how they start and what they mean...Categorized as:
historical-fiction humor literary-fiction satire 20th-century action-adventure animals audiobook -
![Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh]()
Harriet The Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsAlternate Cover Edition here. First published by HarperCollinsUS in 1964, this classic children's novel has sold over 4 million copies and was awarded the New York Times Outstanding Book Award. Sixth-grader Harriet attends school on the New York's Upper East Side along with her two best pals, Sport, the jock, and Janie, the mad scientist... -
![The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson]()
The Scarecrow by Ronald Hugh Morrieson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings'The same week our fowls were stolen, Daphne Moran had her throat cut.' The greatest opening line in New Zealand literature opens this hilarious Gothic melodrama. Klynham is a sleepy little New Zealand town in which not a lot happens. But then one moonlit night the Scarecrow arrives, swilling brandies and looking for victims. Something sordid and even macrabre lies ahead... -
![Rum Punch: A Novel by Elmore Leonard]()
Rum Punch: A Novel by Elmore Leonard
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 20 ratings“Powerful…clever…astonishing…a delicious read.”—Detroit Free PressRum Punch is classic Elmore Leonard—the electrifying thriller that served as the basis for the acclaimed film Jackie Brown by director Quentin Tarantino, starring Pam Grier, Robert DeNiro, and Samuel L. Jackson... -
![Fletch by Gregory McDonald]()
Fletch by Gregory McDonald
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFletch: He’s an investigative reporter whose methods are a little unorthodox. Currently he’s living on the beach with the strung-out trying to find to the source of the drugs they live for. FletchHe’s taking more than a little flack from his editor. She doesn’t appreciate his style. Or the expense account items he’s racking up. Or his definition of the word deadline... -
![Swag by Elmore Leonard]()
Swag by Elmore Leonard
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis "brilliant caper" (New York Times) from bestselling author Elmore Leonard is a rollicking tale of modern urban crime featuring a cast of small-time criminals with big-time dreams.Ernest Stickley Jr. figures his luck's about to change when Detroit used-car salesman Frank Ryan catches him trying to boost a ride from Ryan's lot... -
![Flowers For Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico]()
Flowers For Mrs Harris by Paul Gallico
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsLoving her employer's haute couture dresses, London cleaner Ada Harris decides to go to the Dior fashion house in Paris to buy one for herself.Flowers for Mrs Harris was the title given to the first UK edition of Mrs 'Arris Goes To Paris, published by Michael Joseph, and the first Penguin paperback published in the same year, 1958. More recent UK editions have tended to use the American title...Categorized as:
classics drama historical-fiction humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Bunnicula by Deborah Howe, James Howe]()
Bunnicula by Deborah Howe, James Howe
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsBEWARE THE HARE!Is he or isn't he a vampire? Before it's too late, Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household -- a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits..Categorized as:
classics humor 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism audiobook book -
![Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk]()
Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsFrom the author of the underground sensation Fight Club comes this wickedly incisive second novel, a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious vision of cult and post-cult life.Tender Branson—last surviving member of the so-called Creedish Death Cult—is dictating his life story into the flight recorder of Flight 2039, cruising on autopilot at 39,000 feet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean... -
![Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones]()
Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsThere are good witches and bad witches, but the law says that all witches must be burned at the stake. So when an anonymous note warns, "Someone in this class is a witch," the students in 6B are nervous -- especially the boy who's just discovered that he can cast spells and the girl who was named after the most famous witch of all... -
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![Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold by Terry Brooks]()
Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold by Terry Brooks
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsLandover was a genuine magic kingdom, complete with fairy folk and wizardry, just as the advertisement had promised. But after he purchased it for a million dollars, Ben Holiday discovered that there were a few details the ad had failed to mention. Such as the fact that the kingdom was falling into ruin. The barons refused to recognize a king and taxes hadn't been collected for years...Categorized as:
humor 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children-books comedy contemporary -
![Trust Me on This by Donald E. Westlake]()
Trust Me on This by Donald E. Westlake
Rated: 3.75 of 5 stars · 8 ratings“A boffo performance” of crime, romance, and tabloid journalism from the three-time Edgar Award–winning author of Baby, Would I Lie? (Publishers Weekly). Sara Joslyn is fresh from journalism school and ready to take on the world... -
![Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard]()
Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNow that his mom's gravy train has derailed, gambling, debt-ridden Palm Beach playboy Warren "Chip" Ganz has decided to take somebody rich hostagewith the help of a Bahamian ex-con, a psycho gardener/enforcer, and the beautiful, if underfed, psychic Reverend Dawn. The trouble is they choose bookmaker Harry Arno as their victim, and Harry can scam with the best. The BIG trouble is ace manhunter U... -
![Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson]()
Dial-a-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson
Rated: 3.81 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe Dial-a-Ghost Agency finds good homes for ghosts. And Fulton and Frieda Snodde-Brittle are looking for a few frightening ghosts to "accidentally" scare their young cousin and heir, Oliver, to death. The ladies at the Dial-a-Ghost Agency have the perfect match: the Shriekers, two bloodstained and bickering horrors... -
![The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western by Richard Brautigan]()
The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western by Richard Brautigan
Rated: 3.87 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsThe time is 1902, the setting eastern Oregon. Magic Child, a fifteen-year-old Indian girl, wanders into the wrong whorehouse looking for the right men to kill the monster that lives in the ice caves under the basement of Miss Hawkline's yellow house. What follows is a series of wild, witty, and bizarre encounters. The book was originally published in 1974... -
![Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen]()
Lucky You by Carl Hiaasen
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA Florida woman wins millions in the lottery only to have her ticket stolen...
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