The best fictional characters are complex and authentic, which means they’re not 100% mean or 100% nice all of the time. In fact, sometimes they’re extremely problematic.
One great example is Bojack from the Netflix series, Bojack Horseman. Like me, fans of the show are often searching for more content with realistic characters who teach us a lot about life. One Redditor asked r/suggestmeabook for “Books that are like Bojack Horseman as in they have a s****y protagonist?”
They clarified that they weren’t after books with a bad protagonist, but “someone that is an a****** yet somehow makes you wanna root for them.”
Fans of books with flawed and complex anti-heroes flooded the thread’s comments. Besides David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, here are a few other Bojack-esque titles.
1: Any of Charles Bukowski’s Novels
Charles Bukowski was a German-American novelist who is famous for his flawed yet lovable protagonists.
“Charles Bukowski’s novels have become favorites of mine. It is painfully obvious that he sees the darkness in himself and the world, yet incapable of escaping either. In my view it gives a picture of a character flawed to the bone as a result of it being the only way for him to cope with life and himself. His novels are hauntingly beautiful.”
Some of Bukowski’s most famous novels include Women, Ham on Rye, and Love is a Dog from Hell, among others.
2: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
It’s the year 2000 and all the main character of Otessa Moshfedgh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation wants to do is exactly that: spend the entire year relaxing. Rather, she’d like to spend it sleeping and is doing what she can to take advantage of every connection to make this happen. Caught between wanting to heal and giving up hope, fans of Bojack Horseman will love this book for it’s dark, existential humor.
3: Rabbit, Run by John Updike
Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom is stuck in a boring, normal life after a brief stint of basketball stardom in his teenage years. Now, as a 26 year old with a family, he tries with all of his might to escape the monotony of his everyday life.
u/maybeoncemaybe_twice compared the story to Bojack Horseman: “I feel like you go through the same feeling of empathizing with/sort of rooting for a character who you know is making irresponsible and sometimes immoral choices. Also similar themes of a washed up former “star” trying to relive his glory days and resisting growing up.”
4: All’s Well by Mona Awad
“I would say maybe All’s Well by Mona Awad because you want the MC to both get worse and also get better,” suggested u/covetsubjugation.
5: Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
If you’re looking for a story of karma and searching for redemption, Spirit Bear is a must-read.
“MC is a teen thug and a bully, but goes too far one day when he beats another teen, resulting in brain damage,” shared u/YourCharacterHere.
“Instead of being tried as an adult and going to prison, they sign him up for an experimental rehab program which sentences him to a year of isolation on a remote Alaskan island, where he promptly gets karma’d by a bear. Thus begins his journey to and struggles with self betterment.”