Books like 'Want Not'
Readers who enjoyed Want Not by Jonathan Miles also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological humor literary-fiction social-commentary urban satire
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Collected Stories by Raymond Carver
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRaymond Carver’s spare dramas of loneliness, despair, and troubled relationships breathed new life into the American short story of the 1970s and ’80s. In collections such as Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Carver wrote with unflinching exactness about men and women enduring lives on the knife-edge of poverty and other deprivations... -
![Another Day in Winter: NEW from the No1 Bestselling Author. A perfect winter treat! (A Winter Day Book) by Shari Low]()
Another Day in Winter: NEW from the No1 Bestselling Author. A perfect winter treat! (A Winter Day Book) by Shari Low
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsOne day, four lives, and a wintery web of secrets and lies. On a chilly morning in December forever friends Shauna and Lulu touch down at Glasgow Airport on a quest to find answers from the past... -
![Good Old Neon by David Foster Wallace]()
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![Life Goes On by Kelly Moore]()
Life Goes On by Kelly Moore
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHappy go lucky Olivia McDill adores her fairy-tale life, married to the man of her dreams. It’s a love that should’ve lasted a lifetime…then in the blink of an eye, everything changed. She learns too quickly that life can be unfair, and she’s left trying to pick up the pieces and make sense of things on her own... -
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![New Hope for the Little Cornish Farmhouse by Nancy Barone]()
New Hope for the Little Cornish Farmhouse by Nancy Barone
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNina Conte has written three novels and lives in a rambling farmhouse on the outskirts of a beautiful Cornish seaside village with her family and German Shepherd Minnie.Nina's life sounds great on paper. Or, more precisely, in her author bio... -
![Erasure by Percival Everett]()
Erasure by Percival Everett
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings"Thelonious (Monk) Ellison has never allowed race to define his identity. But as both a writer and an African American, he is offended and angered by the success of We's Lives in Da Ghetto, the exploitative debut novel of a young, middle-class black woman who once visited "some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days... -
![Night in Question by Tobias Wolff]()
Night in Question by Tobias Wolff
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAuthor most recently of a stunningly clear-eyed memoir, This Boy's Life, Tobias Wolff's new collection of short stories maintains a similar steady gaze on his fictional creations. The author steels himself with a fine sense of irony and an awareness of moral ambiguity against the unjust suffering that is part of life... -
![Running the Light by Sam Tallent, Doug Stanhope]()
Running the Light by Sam Tallent, Doug Stanhope
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA bona fide “instant classic” (Doug Stanhope) novel that tells the story of a road comic crashing and burning by acclaimed comedian Sam TallentBilly Ray Schafer stepped off the plane in Amarillo, Texas, with twenty-six hundred dollars tucked down the leg of his black ostrich-skin cowboy boot... -
![Torture the Artist by Joey Goebel]()
Torture the Artist by Joey Goebel
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsVincent Spinetti is an archetypal tortured artist ? a sensitive young writer who falls victim to alienation, parental neglect, poverty, depression, alcoholism, illness, nervous breakdowns, and unrequited love... -
![What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg]()
What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhat Makes Sammy Run?Everyone of us knows someone who runs. He is one of the symp-toms of our times—from the little man who shoves you out of the way on the street to the go-getter who shoves you out of a job in the office to the Fuehrer who shoves you out of the world. And all of us have stopped to wonder, at some time or another, what it is that makes these people tick... -
![With or Without You by Shari Low]()
With or Without You by Shari Low
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsHave you ever made a life-changing decision and then wondered if you made the right one...? A clever, captivating and bitterweet story of what might have been. Perfect for the fans of Jojo Moyes and Marian Keyes. When Liv and Nate walked up the aisle, Liv knew she was marrying the one, her soul mate and her best friend... -
![The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill]()
The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsOh, would that all bullying problems could be solved so easily! Mean Jean is the reigning Recess Queen, pushing and smooshing, hammering and slammering the other kids whenever they cross her. And then one day a puny new girl shows up on the playground and catches Mean Jean completely off-guard...Categorized as:
humor social-commentary bullying children children-books contemporary fiction friendship -
![Saint Richard Parker by Merlin Franco]()
Saint Richard Parker by Merlin Franco
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHis search for love and enlightenment across India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia...Ace businessman, writer, and investigative journalist Richard Parker loses his job when he exposes the vegetarian CEO of his newspaper as a beef exporter. Accused of misconduct and forced to dissolve his company, he retreats to his wretched little village... -
![The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth]()
The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis novel in verse about a group of California yuppies was one of the most highly praised books of 1986 and a bestseller on both coasts... -
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![The Vegas Accident: An Age Gap Surprise Pregnancy Romance (Forbidden Temptations) by Sofia T Summers]()
The Vegas Accident: An Age Gap Surprise Pregnancy Romance (Forbidden Temptations) by Sofia T Summers
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s hard to keep an accidental marriage a secret when you end up pregnant.Yes, we were stupid in Vegas.But the stupidity didn’t just end there.It continued after the trip was over and Luke became my temporary roommate.Luke… as in my brother’s best friend.As in my new husband.My accidental husband.Did I say baby daddy yet?Luke is way older than me.Basically, he’s everything he shouldn’t be... -
![Surprise Marriage: An Enemies to Lovers Accidental Marriage Romance by R S Elliot]()
Surprise Marriage: An Enemies to Lovers Accidental Marriage Romance by R S Elliot
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe plan was to fly to Vegas for my best friend's wedding, It was not to accidentally get married myself, end up with a fake boyfriend, and to fall in love with the enemy. Where do I even start....Sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming because this absolutely couldn't be true.After Luke broke my heart and left six years ago, I never thought I'd give him another chance... -
![Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad]()
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... -
![A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley]()
A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrederick Exley's inimitable "fictional memoir" A Fan's Notes has assumed the status of a classic since its first publication in 1968. Mordantly and poignantly, Exley describes the profound failures of his life; professional, sexual, and personal... -
![Like Life by Lorrie Moore]()
Like Life by Lorrie Moore
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn Like Life's eight exquisite stories, Lorrie Moore's characters stumble through their daily existence. These men and women, unsettled and adrift and often frightened, can't quite understand how they arrived at their present situations. Harry has been reworking a play for years in his apartment near Times Square in New York. Jane is biding her time at a cheese shop in a Midwest mall... -
![Dreams from Bunker Hill by John Fante]()
Dreams from Bunker Hill by John Fante
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMy first collision with fame was hardly memorable. I was a busboy at Marx's Deli. The year was 1934. The place was Third and Hill, Los Angeles. I was twenty-one years old, living in a world bounded on the west by Bunker Hill, on the east by Los Angeles Street, on the south by Pershing Square, and on the north by Civic Center... -
![The Joke by Milan Kundera]()
The Joke by Milan Kundera
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThe authoritative version of the brilliant first novel by the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being. A great novel of thwarted love and revenge miscarried, in a completely revised translation that is nothing less than the restoration of a classic... -
![Among the Missing by Dan Chaon]()
Among the Missing by Dan Chaon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this haunting, bracing new collection, Dan Chaon shares stories of men, women, and children who live far outside the American Dream, while wondering which decision, which path, or which accident brought them to this place. Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion... -
![20 Minutes On The Tube by Daniel Hurst]()
20 Minutes On The Tube by Daniel Hurst
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe first book in the bestselling 20 Minute Series... "Original and addictive, I read it in a day!" 20 Minutes. 20 People. 20 different reasons to be underground... Louise didn't plan on stealing until she realised she could get away with it. Anke gave her husband a second chance but now she wants revenge. Valentin has an urge to kill and is using his commute to find his first victim...Categorized as:
urban literary-fiction fiction suspense contemporary 21st-century personal-growth psychological -
![Scouting for the Reaper by Jacob M. Appel]()
Scouting for the Reaper by Jacob M. Appel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEach of the characters in Scouting for the Reaper faces an unanticipated challenge: transporting a truckload of penguins across the country, arranging a proper Jewish burial for the remains of Gregor Samsa, selling tombstones dressed as a Girl Scout. These stories explore the domestic and professional adventures of people in over their heads, while leavening their struggles with humor.Jacob M... -
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![When Alice met Danny by T.A. Williams]()
When Alice met Danny by T.A. Williams
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat's in a name? Devastated after losing her job, eternal pragmatist Alice leaves London for a new start in Devon. It’s there that she meets Danny. Then she meets another Danny... -
![You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett]()
You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn his bestselling and lavishly praised first book of stories, Adam Haslett explores lives that appear shuttered by loss and discovers entire worlds hidden inside them. The impact is at once harrowing and thrilling.An elderly inventor, burning with manic creativity, tries to reconcile with his estranged gay son...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction satire 21st-century adult anthologies audiobook coming-of-age -
![Autumn in Peking by Boris Vian]()
Autumn in Peking by Boris Vian
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsBoris Vian was a jack of all trades - although unfortunately his name was Boris and "Boris of all trades" never took off as a turn of phrase. But nevertheless Vian was a great songwriter, playwright, singer, jazz critic and, of course novelist so it should have been Boris instead of Jack... -
![The Woman with the Bouquet by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Alison Anderson]()
The Woman with the Bouquet by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Alison Anderson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn his new collection of stories, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, author of The Most Beautiful Book in the World, probes the paradox that the events that shape our lives are often the stuff of dreams, yet nonetheless true. Humor, tenderness, irony and exquisite writing have always been the hallmarks of Schmitt’s work. Here, he adds a pinch of philosophy... -
![Gargoyles by Thomas Bernhard]()
Gargoyles by Thomas Bernhard
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe playwright and novelist Thomas Bernhard was one of the most widely translated and admired writers of his generation, winner of the three most coveted literary prizes in Germany. Gargoyles, one of his earliest novels, is a singular, surreal study of the nature of humanity. One morning a doctor and his son set out on daily rounds through the grim mountainous Austrian countryside... -
![The Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis Wallant]()
The Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis Wallant
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNorman Moonbloom is a loser, a drop-out who can't even make it as a deadbeat. His brother, a slumlord, hires him to collect rent in the buildings he owns in Manhattan... -
![Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike]()
Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWinner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award The hero of John Updike’s Rabbit, Run, ten years after the events of Rabbit Redux, has come to enjoy considerable prosperity as the chief sales representative of Springer Motors, a Toyota agency in Brewer, Pennsylvania... -
![Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley]()
Thank You for Smoking by Christopher Buckley
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNick Naylor likes his job. In the neo-puritanical nineties, it's a challenge to defend the rights of smokers and a privilege to promote their liberty. Sure, it hurts a little when you're compared to Nazi war criminals, but Nick says he's just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage and put his son through Washington's elite private school St. Euthanasius... -
![Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper]()
Everything Changes by Jonathan Tropper
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsJonathan Tropper’s novel The Book of Joe dazzled critics and readers alike with its heartfelt blend of humor and pathos. Now Tropper brings all that—and more—to an irresistible new novel. In Everything Changes , Tropper delivers a touching, wickedly funny new tale about love, loss, and the perils of a well-planned life. To all appearances, Zachary King is a man with luck on his side... -
![I Regret Everything: A Love Story by Seth Greenland]()
I Regret Everything: A Love Story by Seth Greenland
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA modern love story, I Regret Everything confronts the oceanic uncertainty of what it means to be alive, and in love. Jeremy Best, a Manhattan-based trusts and estates lawyer, leads a second life as published poet Jinx Bell. To his boss’s daughter, Spaulding Simonson, at 33 years old, Jeremy is already halfway to dead. When Spaulding, an aspiring 19-year-old writer, discovers Mr... -
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![The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán]()
The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“A kaleidoscopic, open-hearted, shamelessly polymathic storyteller, the kind who brings a blast of oxygen into the room... -
![The Allegations by Mark Lawson]()
The Allegations by Mark Lawson
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOn the morning after he has celebrated his 60th birthday party at a celebrity-filled party, Ned Marriott is in bed with his partner, Emma, when there's a knock on the door. Detectives from the London police force's 'Operation Millpond' have come to arrest him over an allegation of sexual assault... -
![A Billionaire's First Love by Mya Grey]()
A Billionaire's First Love by Mya Grey
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA Mya Grey's short story packed with travel, mixed martial arts, and contemporary romance."Tap if you don't want to get hurt!" he hears as he opens his eyes to see her beautiful face close to his as he lay flat on his back on the mat.The last thing he remembered was his face between her thighs as she cut off his circulation... -
![Me, Myself and Them by Dan Mooney]()
Me, Myself and Them by Dan Mooney
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA heart-wrenching, funny and fresh debut about human connection and the power of friendshipStruggling to cope with a tragic loss, Denis Murphy has, for the past seven years, learned to live differently. His friends are used to his strict routines, like ironing his socks and lighting his fireplace every Sunday (even in the summer)...Categorized as:
social-commentary literary-fiction humor fiction mental-illness contemporary realistic audiobook -
![Spadework for a Palace by László Krasznahorkai]()
Spadework for a Palace by László Krasznahorkai
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSpadework for a Palace bears the subtitle “Entering the Madness of Others” and offers an epigraph: “Reality is no obstacle.” Indeed...Categorized as:
literary-fiction humor urban fiction contemporary philosophy existentialism psychological -
![The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke]()
The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsOver the last decade, Yan Lianke has been continually heralded as one of the "best contemporary Chinese writers" (The Independent) and "one of the country's fiercest satirists" (The Guardian). Among many awards and honors, he has been twice a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize and he was awarded the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize for his impressive body of work...Categorized as:
satire humor literary-fiction fiction magical-realism contemporary journey historical-fiction -
![A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen]()
A Terrible Country by Keith Gessen
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA New York Times Editors' Choice Named a Best Book of 2018 by Bookforum, Nylon, Esquire, and Vulture"This artful and autumnal novel, published in high summer, is a gift to those who wish to receive it."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times"Hilarious, heartbreaking . . . A Terrible Country may be one of the best books you'll read this year... -
![Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet]()
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Rated: 3.89 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA man named Gil walks from New York to Arizona to recover from a failed love. After he arrives, new neighbors move into the glass-walled house next door, and his life begins to mesh with theirs... -
![A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories by Amy Bloom]()
A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories by Amy Bloom
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA great short story has the emotional depth and intensity of a poem and the wholeness and breadth of a novel. Amy Bloom writes great short stories. Her first collection, Come to Me, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and here she deepens and extends her mastery of the form... -
![A Cornish Summer by Catherine Alliott]()
A Cornish Summer by Catherine Alliott
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratings**PRE-ORDER NOW - the hilarious new romantic comedy from the Number One bestselling author of About Last Night and Wish You Were Here** Praise for Catherine Alliott: 'Irresistible' Daily Mail 'Compulsively readable' The Times 'Possibly my favourite writer' Marian... -
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![Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken]()
Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken
Rated: 3.86 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsFrom the author of the beloved novel The Giant’s House comes a beautiful new story collection. In “Property,” a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish a rental house by removing his landlord’s possessions... -
![The Way Through Doors by Jesse Ball]()
The Way Through Doors by Jesse Ball
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWith his debut novel, Samedi the Deafness, Jesse Ball emerged as one of our most extraordinary new writers. Now, Ball returns with this haunting tale of love and storytelling, hope and identity.When Selah Morse sees a young woman get hit by a speeding taxicab, he rushes her to the hospital. The girl has lost her memory; she is delirious and has no identification, so Selah poses as her boyfriend... -
![The Carousel of Desire by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt]()
The Carousel of Desire by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsCelebrated short-story writer, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's ("The Most Beautiful Book in the World") first full-length novel to appear in English is a literary tour de force, a magnificent cathedral of contemporary eroticism...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction adult anthologies contemporary fiction industrial-era psychological -
![Things that Fall from the Sky by Kevin Brockmeier]()
Things that Fall from the Sky by Kevin Brockmeier
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWeaving together loss and anxiety with fantastic elements and literary sleight-of-hand, Kevin Brockmeier’s richly imagined Things That Fall from the Sky views the nagging realities of the world through a hopeful lens. In the deftly told “These Hands,” a man named Lewis recounts his time babysitting a young girl and his inconsolable sense of loss after she is wrenched away... -
![Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth]()
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth
Rated: 3.85 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWinner of the National Book Award for FictionSabbath's Theater is a comic creation of epic proportions, and Mickey Sabbath is its gargantuan hero. At sixty-four Sabbath is still defiantly antagonistic and exceedingly libidinous; sex is an obsession and a principle, an instrument of perpetual misrule in his daily existence... -
![The Other Shulman by Alan Zweibel]()
The Other Shulman by Alan Zweibel
Rated: 3.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShulman, a chubby, middle-aged stationery-store owner from New Jersey, has always claimed that he's been gaining and losing the same thirty-five pounds since junior high-and that if you added all of that discarded weight together, he had lost an entire person. Another Shulman. A Shulman he never really cared for. A Shulman he'd always tried to lose by dieting and exercising...
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