Books Like Infinite Jest

by David Foster Wallace · about this book

Loved Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace? If its dense prose, literary fiction and sprawling epic hooked you, these 20 books hit the same notes — starting with The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild, Martyr! and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Every pick is matched by what’s actually inside the book, not just its genre, and we skip other books by the same author so you find someone new.

What’s inside Infinite Jest: Dense Prose · Literary Fiction · Sprawling Epic · Substance Abuse · Ensemble Cast

The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers' Guild
Mathias Énard

Satirical Humor · Satire · Literary Fiction · Dense Prose · Absurdist Humor

Buy Libby Hoopla
Martyr!
Kaveh Akbar

Recovery Journey · Addiction · Substance Abuse · Depression · Literary Fiction

Buy Libby Hoopla
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hunter S. Thompson

Substance Abuse · Satire · Dark Comedy · Addiction · Nonlinear Narrative

Buy Libby Hoopla
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir
Matthew Perry

Substance Abuse · Addiction · Recovery Journey · Nonlinear Narrative · Depression

Buy Libby Hoopla
Fight Club
Chuck Palahniuk

Satire · Satirical Humor · Dark Comedy · Literary Fiction · Nonlinear Narrative

Buy Libby Hoopla
Titus Groan
Mervyn Peake

Dense Prose · Literary Fiction · Ensemble Cast · Absurdist Humor · Dark Comedy

Buy Libby Hoopla
Daisy Jones & the Six
Taylor Jenkins Reid

Substance Abuse · Addiction · Recovery Journey · Ensemble Cast · Multiple POV

Buy Libby Hoopla
Interior Chinatown
Charles Yu

Satire · Satirical Humor · Literary Fiction · Absurdist Humor · Dark Comedy

Buy Libby Hoopla
The Butcher's Masquerade
Matt Dinniman

Dark Comedy · Satire · Absurdist Humor · Sprawling Epic · Character-Driven

Buy Libby Hoopla
Anna Karenina
Leo Tolstoy

Literary Fiction · Sprawling Epic · Slow-Paced · Dense Prose · Substance Abuse

Buy Libby Hoopla
The Future
Naomi Alderman

Satire · Satirical Humor · Near Future · Technology and Society · Multiple POV

Buy Libby Hoopla
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 2
Garth Ennis

Satire · Satirical Humor · Dark Comedy · Ensemble Cast · Substance Abuse

Buy Libby Hoopla
The Dark Forest
Liu Cixin

Near Future · Technology and Society · Sprawling Epic · Dense Prose · Ensemble Cast

Buy Libby Hoopla
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner

Literary Fiction · Dense Prose · Dark Comedy · Nonlinear Narrative · Multiple POV

Buy Libby Hoopla
Speaking Bones
Ken Liu

Sprawling Epic · Ensemble Cast · Technology and Society · Dense Prose · Multiple POV

Buy Libby Hoopla
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Anthony Doerr

Nonlinear Narrative · Literary Fiction · Sprawling Epic · Near Future · Multiple POV

Buy Libby Hoopla
Candide
Voltaire

Satire · Satirical Humor · Dark Comedy · Absurdist Humor · Literary Fiction

Buy Libby Hoopla
I See You've Called in Dead
John Kenney

Satire · Dark Comedy · Substance Abuse · Addiction · Character-Driven

Buy Libby Hoopla
Post Office
Charles Bukowski

Substance Abuse · Dark Comedy · Literary Fiction · Addiction · Funny

Buy Libby Hoopla
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Rebecca Wells

Nonlinear Narrative · Depression · Substance Abuse · Literary Fiction · Addiction

Buy Libby Hoopla