Books like 'The Extra Man'
Readers who enjoyed The Extra Man by Jonathan Ames also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary 20th century action / adventure urban new-york-state humor lgbtq literary-fiction realistic
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The Little Golden Calf by Ilya Ilf, Yevgeny Petrov
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe name The Little Golden Calf comes from the Bible, the Book of Exodus 32:1-4 Delighted applause from both sides of the Atlantic greeted the first publication of this comic clasic about Soviet life in the early years after the Revolution. Social changes then were so drastic and came so thick and fast that even most Russians were confused... -
![Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst]()
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 41 ratingsThe perennially popular tale of Alexander's worst day is a storybook that belongs on every child's bookshelf.Alexander knew it was going to be a terrible day when he woke up with gum in this hair.And it got worse...His best friend deserted him. There was no dessert in his lunch bag... -
![Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey]()
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsThis classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1942, Make Way for Ducklings has been described as "one of the merriest picture books ever" (The New York Times). Ideal for reading aloud, this book deserves a place of honor on every child's bookshelf...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic urban 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism audiobook -
![The Body by Robin Waterfield, Stephen King]()
The Body by Robin Waterfield, Stephen King
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 43 ratingsFrom Different Seasons The Body, as a media tie-in for the movie starring River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook bildungsroman book -
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![The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis]()
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Álvaro Mutis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMaqroll the Gaviero (the Lookout) is one of the most alluring and memorable characters in the fiction of the last twenty-five years...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies classics comedy -
![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... -
![Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar]()
Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 66 ratingsThere was a terrible mistake - Wayside School was built with one classroom on top of another, thirty stories high (The builder said he was sorry.) Maybe that's why all kinds of funny things happened at Wayside-especially on the thirteenth floor...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri]()
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 65 ratingsLibrarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found hereNavigating between the Indian traditions they've inherited and the baffling new world, the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri's elegant, touching stories seek love beyond the barriers of culture and generations...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic urban 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult anthologies -
![The Black Stallion Returns by Walter Farley]()
The Black Stallion Returns by Walter Farley
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this, the second book in the series, the heart-stopping adventures of the Black Stallion continue as Alec discovers that two men are after the Black. One claims to be the Black’s rightful owner and one is trying to kill the beautiful steed. An Arab chieftain proves his ownership of the Black and takes him away, but Alec is determined to find his horse again...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism audiobook book -
![Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume]()
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsLife with his little brother, Fudge, makes Peter Hatcher feel like a fourth grade nothing. Whether Fudge is throwing a temper tantrum in a shoe store, smearing mashed potatoes on the walls at Hamburger Heaven, or trying to fly, he's never far from trouble...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![Lullaby Town by Robert Crais]()
Lullaby Town by Robert Crais
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis Cole to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America... -
![Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry]()
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn Oscar-winning story of a memorable mother and her feisty daughter who find the courage and humor to live through life's hazards and to love each other as never before. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lonesome Dove created two characters who won the hearts of readers and moviegoers everywhere--Aurora Greenway and her daughter Emma... -
![Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan]()
Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsFour gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan’s centennialIntroducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India “the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children children-books classics -
![Monday Begins on Saturday by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky]()
Monday Begins on Saturday by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 38 ratingsWhen young programmer Aleksandr Ivanovich Privalov picks up two hitchhikers while driving in Karelia, he is drawn into the mysterious world of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry, where research into magic is serious business... -
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![Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThere's never been anyone quite like Ramona Geraldine Quimby! And now, the irresistible, irrepressible star of Beverly Cleary's best-loved and bestselling series is back -- in the paperback version of her first book in 15 years. Now, Ramona is a fourth grader, struggling with her spelling; feuding and flirting with her old nemesis, Yard Ape; and joyfully making her first real girlfriends...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![On the Road: the Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac]()
On the Road: the Original Scroll by Jack Kerouac
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published as Kerouac originally composed it IN THREE WEEKS in April of 1951, Jack Kerouac wrote his first full draft of On the Road—typed as a single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper, which he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll... -
![Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter]()
Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsDon Carpenter's Hard Rain Falling is a tough-as-nails account of being down and out, but never down for good?a Dostoyevskian tale of crime, punishment, and the pursuit of an ever-elusive redemption. The novel follows the adventures of Jack Levitt, an orphaned teenager living off his wits in the fleabag hotels and seedy pool halls of Portland, Oregon...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction realistic urban 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 34 ratingsThis is the second title in the hugely popular series about Ramona Quimby. Ramona doesn't think she's a pest - she knows that she isn't a pest on purpose...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond]()
The Room on the Roof by Ruskin Bond
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsThe Room on the Roof is a timeless coming-of-age novel that will resonate with a whole new generation of readers. Written by renowned author Ruskin Bond when he was just seventeen, it is the story of Rusty, a teenage Anglo-Indian boy who is orphaned and has to live with his English guardian in the stifling European quarter of Dehra Dun...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure bildungsroman book children classics -
![Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner]()
Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen they meet for the first time at summer camp, two ten-year-old girls discover they are twins and agree to exchange identities in an attempt to reconciliate their divorced parents... -
![LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White]()
LA Trompeta Del Cisne by E.B. White
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 57 ratingsLouis is a mute swan. His beloved Serena ignores him because of his handicap. To help him, his father steals a trumpet. Louis learns how to play it, not only to give his father the money to pay for the instrument, but also to win Serena's heart...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic urban 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism -
![What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges]()
What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsJust about everything in Endora, Iowa (pop. 1,091 and dwindling) is eating Gilbert Grape, a twenty-four-year-old grocery clerk who dreams only of leaving. His enormous mother, once the town sweetheart, has been eating nonstop ever since her husband's suicide, and the floor beneath her TV chair is threatening to cave in... -
![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... -
![Trout Fishing in America / The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster / In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan]()
Trout Fishing in America / The Pill vs. the Springhill Mine Disaster / In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsAn omnibus edition of three counterculture classics by Richard Brautigan that embody the spirit of the 1960s...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult anthologies classics contemporary -
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![How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior]()
How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins proves it's never too late to be the person you want to be in this rich, heartwarming story from the acclaimed author of Ellie and the Harpmaker.Eighty-five-year-old Veronica McCreedy is estranged from her family and wants to find a worthwhile cause to leave her fortune to... -
![First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton]()
First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsDarrell's off to her new school.But what has she packed?1. Tennis racket? Yes2. Pocket-money? Yes3. A lid for her temper? NoOh dear! Malory Towers has a whole trunkload of trouble to come!Darrell and her friends grow together as they share their school days. There are new students to induct, sporting matches to be won, tempers to control and tricks to play on teachers...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook boarding-school book -
![Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts]()
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsTalk about unlucky sevens. An hour ago, seventeen-year-old, seven months pregnant Novalee Nation was heading for California with her boyfriend. Now she finds herself stranded at a Wal-Mart in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, with just $7.77 in change...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure book classics coming-of-age -
![Rosy Is My Relative by Gerald Durrell]()
Rosy Is My Relative by Gerald Durrell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsRosy, the elephant bequeathed to young Adrian Rookwhistle by a reprobate relative, turned out to be a handful: not alone because of her size but also because of her fondness for strong drink. To Adrian she represented the chance to get away froma City shop and a suburban lodging by exploiting her theatrical talent and experience...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism book children -
![Lanark by Alasdair Gray]()
Lanark by Alasdair Gray
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis work, originally published in 1981, has been hailed as the most influential Scottish novel of the second half of the 20th century. Its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, personal and political, about humankind's inability to love and yet our compulsion to go on trying...Categorized as:
literary-fiction urban 20th-century action-adventure adult bildungsroman book classics -
![I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch]()
I'm Not Stiller by Max Frisch
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsArrested and imprisoned in a small Swiss town, a prisoner begins this book with an exclamation: "I'm not Stiller!" He claims that his name is Jim White, that he has been jailed under false charges and under the wrong identity...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics contemporary -
![The Risk Pool by Richard Russo]()
The Risk Pool by Richard Russo
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Risk Pool is a thirty-year journey through the lives of Sam Hall, a small-town gambling hellraiser, and his watchful, introspective son Ned...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure book comedy coming-of-age -
![Son of the Black Stallion by Walter Farley]()
Son of the Black Stallion by Walter Farley
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsWhen Alec receives the Black Stallion’s first son as a gift, he believes his dreams have come true, but Satan’s savage arrogance makes him dangerous and unpredictable. Still, Alec is resolved to gain the fiery colt’s trust, even if he must risk his life to do it...Categorized as:
literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthropomorphism book children -
![Hotel by Arthur Hailey]()
Hotel by Arthur Hailey
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDuring five days in the midst of a hot, steamy Louisiana summer, the lives of a colorful cast of characters intertwine in a series of public, private, and personal dramas at the famed St. Gregory luxury hotel... -
![The Summer Book by Tove Jansson]()
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAn elderly artist and her six-year-old granddaughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. Gradually, the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings for independence, and a fierce yet understated love emerges - one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the island itself, with its mossy rocks, windswept firs and unpredictable seas... -
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![Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray]()
Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary, Tracy Dockray
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsBeverly Cleary's Newbery Honor Book depicts an average middle-class family dealing with the realities of life. With the perfect mix of humor and warmth, Ramona Quimby shines as a spirited girl with her heart set on helping. This chapter book is an excellent choice to share during homeschooling, in particular for children ages 7 to 9 who are reading independently...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary]()
Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsGrowing up just wouldn't be the same without Ramona! Young readers delight in her trials and triumphs at home and at school...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook book children children-books -
![The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie]()
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsIn this darkly comic short story collection, Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, brilliantly weaves memory, fantasy, and stark realism to paint a complex, grimly ironic portrait of life in and around the Spoke Indian Reservation...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure anthologies children classics -
![The Gift of Numbers by Yōko Ogawa]()
The Gift of Numbers by Yōko Ogawa
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsWinner of the Yomiuri Literature PrizeWinner of the Honya Taisho (The Booksellers Prize)Winner of the Sugaku Shuppan-Sho (from the Japanese Academy of Mathematics)A Japan Foundation Selection A publishing phenomenon in Japan--and a heartwarming story that will change the way we all see math, baseball, memory, and each other She is a housekeeper by trade, a single mom by choice, shy, brilliant,...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century 21st-century action-adventure adult aging -
![Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer]()
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsThe conned: an Oxford don, a revered society physician, a chic French art dealer, and a charming English lord. They have one thing in common. Overnight, each novice investor lost his life's fortune to one man. The con: Harvey Metcalfe!!A brilliant, self-made guru of deceit. A very dangerous individual. And now, a hunted man... -
![Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver]()
Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 53 ratings"Animals dream about the things they do in the day time just like people do. If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life." So says Loyd Peregrina, a handsome Apache trainman and latter-day philosopher. But when Codi Noline returns to her hometown, Loyd's advice is painfully out of her reach...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure animals anthologies audiobook -
![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... -
![The Naughtiest Girl in the School by Enid Blyton]()
The Naughtiest Girl in the School by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsElizabeth Allen is spoilt and selfish. When she is sent away to boarding school she makes up her mind to be the naughtiest pupil there has ever been! But Elizabeth soon discovers that being bad isn't as simple as it seems...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure boarding-school book children children-books -
![Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx]()
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsAnnie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, "Brokeback Mountain" is her masterpiece. Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line...Categorized as:
lgbtq literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure adult angst anthologies -
![Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol]()
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA Civil War sword...A watermelon stabbing...Missing roller skates...A trapeze artist's inheritance...And an eyewitness who's legally blind!Theses are just some of the ten brain-twisting mysteries that Encyclopedia Brown must solve by using his famous computerlike brain...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure anthologies audiobook children children-books -
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![The Bone People by Keri Hulme]()
The Bone People by Keri Hulme
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 39 ratingsIntegrating both Maori myth and New Zealand reality, The Bone People became the most successful novel in New Zealand publishing history when it appeared in 1984. Set on the South Island beaches of New Zealand, a harsh environment, the novel chronicles the complicated relationships between three emotional outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage... -
![The Twins at St Clare's by Enid Blyton]()
The Twins at St Clare's by Enid Blyton
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsSchooldays at St Clare's are never dull for twins Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in Enid Blyton's much-loved boarding school series.In audiobook, one the twins is simply not having it. St Clare's is beneath them, and they're determined to cause a stir. But life at St Clare's is not as easy as they thought...Categorized as:
humor realistic 20th-century action-adventure boarding-school book children children-books -
![Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary]()
Henry and Ribsy by Beverly Cleary
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIn this humorous and heartfelt novel from Newbery Medal-winning author Beverly Cleary, the bond between a boy and his dog proves strong, as Henry vows to stick up for Ribsy…even if he is a trouble-maker!From the first moment Henry found Ribsy, the curious mutt was poking his nose into things he shouldn't be... -
![Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp, Book One by C.D. Payne]()
Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp, Book One by C.D. Payne
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsSix months in the life of the world's most dangerous teenager.Youth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction realistic 20th-century action-adventure audiobook bildungsroman book -
![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... -
![Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado]()
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt surprises no one that the charming but wayward Vadinho dos Guimaraes–a gambler notorious for never winning—dies during Carnival. His long suffering widow Dona Flor devotes herself to her cooking school and her friends, who urge her to remarry. She is soon drawn to a kind pharmacist who is everything Vadinho was not, and is altogether happy to marry him...Categorized as:
humor literary-fiction 20th-century action-adventure adult book classics contemporary
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