Books like Cocksure by Mordecai Richler

A sleep‑deprived narrator meets the enigmatic Tyler Durden, and together they form an underground club where men confront their aggression through secret hand‑to‑hand bouts.

A Christmas Carol is Charles Dickens’ allegorical novella about Ebenezer Scrooge, whose miserly ways are transformed through visits from Jacob Marley and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Candide: A Tale of Conviviality and Optimism in a Wretched World

In an elite New England college, a charismatic classics professor lures a group of eccentric students into obsessive study, leading them from intellectual curiosity to corruption, betrayal, and ultimately murder.

A novel about Emma Woodhouse, a young woman's struggles with matchmaking, misplaced pride, and the dangers of meddling in others' lives in 18th-century England.

The Bell Jar is the sole novel by Sylvia Plath, a psychologically intense and autobiographical look at a young woman’s decline into mental illness.

Philip Roth’s provocative comic novel follows a young Jewish American man’s sexual obsession and family turmoil, making it a landmark of twentieth‑century American fiction.

In early 1980s Los Angeles, a privileged youth returns home for Christmas, confronting a generation steeped in excess, drugs, and nihilism as he navigates love, friendship, and moral decay.

Lucky Jim is a biting satire of academic life, following a weary history lecturer at a provincial university as he navigates a dull marriage and the absurdities of university culture.

Two Jewish boys from opposing sects—one Hasidic, one secular—meet during a New York baseball game. A tragic accident binds them, sparking a lifelong friendship and a coming‑of‑age journey across divergent religious worlds.

First edition hardback

20s Young Woman’s Adventures in Old Edinburgh

Evelina is a comic novel of manners that follows a young London debutante as she navigates the social world of 18th‑century England, learning wit, confidence, and the subtleties of love.

A Texas-born writer, Danny Deck journeys from Houston to California in pursuit of literary success, discovering new friendships and complex relationships along the way.

A darkly humorous account of addiction and self-discovery.

The story of a young Jewish man from Montreal who learns lessons in life from a series of mentors, including his father and a man from his workplace.

A delight in Edinburgh, with witty dialogue and humor.

A party planner from Manhattan finds herself thrust into the spotlight and the heart of scandal as she navigates the social and professional challenges of high society.

A series of humorous short stories about the residents of a Georgian townhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, featuring the colorful characters of McCall Smith's beloved 44 Scotland Street series.

Barney Panofsky smokes too many cigars, drinks too much whiskey, and is obsessed with two things: the Montreal Canadiens hockey team and his ex-wife Miriam. An acquaintance from his youthful years in Paris, Terry McIver, is about to publish his autobiography. In its pages he accuses Barney of an assortment of sins, including murder. It's time, Barney decides, to present the world with his own version of events. Barney's Version is his memoir, a rambling, digressive rant, full of revisions and factual errors (corrected in footnotes written by his son) and enough insults for everyone, particularly vegetarians and Quebec separatists. But Barney does get around to telling his life story, a desperately funny but sad series of bungled relationships. His first wife, an artist and poet, commits suicide and becomes--a la Sylvia Plath--a feminist icon, and Barney is widely reviled for goading her toward death, if not actually murdering her. He marries the second Mrs. Panofsky, whom he calls a "Jewish-Canadian Princess," as an antidote to the first; it turns out to be a horrible mistake. The third, "Miriam, my heart's desire," is quite possibly his soul mate, but Barney botches this one, too. It's painful to watch him ruin everything, and even more painful to bear witness to his deteriorating memory. The mystery at the heart of Barney's story--did he or did he not kill his friend Boogie?

Released in USA as "Stick Your Neck Out".