18 books like Portnoy's Complaint

Cover of The green years
The green years A. J. Cronin · 1944 · ★ 4.1 · 329p · ≈ 10h · Moderate This is a precursor of Shannon's Way , detailing the struggles of the orphaned Robert Shannon to obtain education with the ultimate aim of becoming a medical researcher. A little long for a rather slight plot Shares Coming of age in fiction, Young men in fiction, Young men, Coming-of-age
Cover of Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve (Library of Wales)
Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve (Library of Wales) Dannie Abse · 1969 · ★ 4.0 · 198p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Shares Jewish families, Young men, Coming-of-age with this book.
Cover of Windy McPherson's son
Windy McPherson's son Sherwood Anderson · 1916 · ★ 3.5 · 330p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Shares Young men, Coming-of-age with this book.
Cover of His Whole Life
His Whole Life Elizabeth Hay · 2015 · 352p · ≈ 11h · Moderate 1 volume ; 20 cm Shares Mothers and sons, Families
Cover of The last Puritan
The last Puritan George Santayana · 1935 · 602p · ≈ 20h · Challenging "Published in 1935, George Santayana's The Last Puritan was the American philosopher's only novel and it became an instant best seller, immediately linked in its painful voyage of self-discovery to The Education of Henry Adams. It is essentially a novel of ideas expressed in the birth, life, and early death of Oliver Alden. Oliver escapes puritanical self-destruction, the inability to celebrate… Shares Young men, Coming-of-age
Cover of Bearstone
Bearstone Will Hobbs · 1989 · 154p · ≈ 5h · Moderate A DRAMATIC TALE OF GRIZZLIES AND GOLD Fourteen-year-old Cloyd Atcitty has been skipping school for years. He's run away from a group home for Native American boys, and is now being sent to work for Walter Landis, an old rancher on an isolated Colorado farm. In a cave above the ranch, Cloyd finds a turquoise carving of a bear. Knowing that his people, the Utes, have a special relationship with… Shares Coming of age in fiction, Coming-of-age
Cover of Andy Grant's pluck
Andy Grant's pluck Horatio Alger, Jr. · 1900 · 268p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Shares Coming of age in fiction, Coming-of-age with this book.
Cover of Of time and the river
Of time and the river Thomas Wolfe · 1935 · ★ 4.2 · 912p · ≈ 30h · Challenging This book continues the story of Eugene Gant, the protagonist in Look Homeward Angel. If you have read and liked Angel you should definitely follow through and read this(vol 1 and 2). Autobiographical in nature.. Shares Young men
Cover of Everything Is Illuminated
Everything Is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer · 2002 · ★ 3.9 · 288p · ≈ 9h · Moderate A young man arrives in the Ukraine, clutching in his hand a tattered photograph. He is searching for the woman who fifty years ago saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Unfortunately, however, he is aided in his quest by Alex, a translator with an uncanny ability to mangle English into new forms; a 'blind' old man haunted by memories of the war; and an undersexed guide dog named Sammy Davis, Jr,… Shares Jewish families, Young men
Cover of M.C. Higgins, the Great
M.C. Higgins, the Great Virginia Hamilton · 1974 · ★ 3.1 · 238p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Hamilton’s classic coming-of-age tale: The National Book Award– and Newbery Award–winning novel about a young man who must choose between supporting his tight-knit family and pursuing his own dreams Mayo Cornelius Higgins perches on top of a homemade forty-foot tower, considering two destinies. Behind him is his family’s beloved house at the foot of a mountain that strip mining has reduced… Shares Coming of age in fiction, Coming-of-age, Families
Cover of 金閣寺
金閣寺 三島由紀夫 · 1956 · ★ 4.5 · 262p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The son of a poor rural priest becomes an acolyte at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. Mizoguchi had built up an image of ideal beauty in his mind based on this Golden Pavilion; this ideal image causes him to feel disappointed in any supposed form of beauty, even the actual physical Golden Pavilion. He comes under the influence of Kashiwagi, a fellow student with a very bitter view of life. Shares Young men in fiction, Young men
Cover of Brighton Beach memoirs
Brighton Beach memoirs Neil Simon · 1743 · ★ 3.9 · 130p · ≈ 4h · Challenging A comedy built around the Jerome family during the Depression and focusing on fifteen-year-old, Eugene, preoccupied with sex and the Yankees. Shares Jewish families, Coming-of-age
Cover of The Good Luck Of Right Now
The Good Luck Of Right Now Matthew Quick · 2014 · ★ 3.6 · 284p · ≈ 9h · Moderate When his mother dies, 38-year-old Bartholomew Neil, who doesn't know how to be on his own, discovers a letter in his mother's underwear drawer that causes him to write a series of highly intimate letters to actor Richard Gere, while embarking on a quest to find out where he belongs. Shares Mothers and sons, Coming-of-age, Families
Cover of The secret wisdom of the earth
The secret wisdom of the earth Christopher Scotton · 2014 · ★ 4.1 · 480p · ≈ 16h · Moderate "After witnessing the death of his younger brother in a terrible home accident, 14-year-old Kevin and his grieving mother are sent for the summer to live with Kevin's grandfather. In this peeled-paint coal town deep in Appalachia, Kevin quickly falls in with a half-wild hollow kid named Buzzy Fink who schools him in the mysteries and magnificence of the woods. The events of this fateful summer… Shares Mothers and sons, Coming-of-age, Families
Cover of Směšné lásky
Směšné lásky Milan Kundera · 1965 · ★ 3.8 · 257p · ≈ 8h · Moderate "In one of these stories a young man and his girlfriend pretend that she is a stranger he picked up on the road - only to become strangers to each other in reality as their game proceeds. In another a teacher fakes piety in order to seduce a devout girl, then jilts her and yearns for God. In yet another girls wait in bars, on beaches, and on station platforms for the same lover, a middle-aged Don… Shares Czech fiction
Cover of Twilight's Child
Twilight's Child V. C. Andrews · 1991 · ★ 4.3 · 410p · ≈ 13h · Moderate **As Mrs. James Gary Longchamp, Dawn is blissfully happy. But a legacy of deceit and betrayal still haunts her...** At last, Dawn can create a haven of warmth and love for her beautiful baby girl, Christie, and her darling Jimmy. Dawn is a huge success as the new owner of the Cutler's Cove hotel... and soon she and Jimmy will be blessed with a child of their own. Yet Dawn cannot quell her… Shares Families
Cover of Továrna na absolutno
Továrna na absolutno Karel Čapek · 1922 · ★ 4.6 · 228p · ≈ 7h · Moderate The Czech writer Karel Čapek wrote his novel Továrna na absolutno in 1922. It was translated into English and published by Macmillan in 1927 as The Absolute at Large. The novel is a satirical piece of science fiction, and starts with the invention of an “atomic engine” in the future year 1943 which can convert matter directly into energy. Such engines can operate machinery for months from a… Shares Czech fiction
Cover of The Last Samurai
The Last Samurai Helen Dewitt · 2000 · ★ 4.5 · 530p · ≈ 17h · Moderate "Ludo, age six, is a prodigy. His mother, Sibylla, raises him alone and tries hard to keep his voracious intellect satisfied, while she struggles to make ends meet. With her exasperated guidance, he teaches himself Greek, so that he can read The Odyssey, before moving on to study Hebrew, Arabic, Inuit, and Japanese. And both Sibylla and Ludo share a passion for Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which… Shares Mothers and sons, Coming-of-age

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