If you loved
Books like Pulp
A surreal, booze-soaked fever dream that wears the trench coat of a cheap detective novel while staring into the existential void. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Pulp.
- seedy
- surreal
- fatalistic
- grimy
- 01
The Last Night of the Earth Poems
Charles Bukowski
A late-night conversation in a dive bar with a world-weary friend who still manages to find flashes of beauty in the gutter.
- 02
War all the time
Charles Bukowski
An influential collection of contemporary American poetry that frames daily existence as an ongoing battle.
- 03
You get so alone at times that it just makes sense
Bukowski
A late-night, whiskey-soaked meditation on the quiet absurdity and profound isolation of modern life.
- 04
The Black Dahlia
James Ellroy
A feverish, pitch-black descent into mid-century Los Angeles where obsession rots the soul and justice is just another hustle.
- 05
The Killer Inside Me
Jim Thompson · 1952
A terrifyingly intimate descent into the mind of a folksy sociopath hiding in plain sight.
- 06
The Big Sleep
Raymond Chandler
A rain-slicked descent into a glamorous but rotting city, guided by a cynical knight in a trench coat.
- 07
Pimp
Iceberg Slim · 2000
A raw, unfiltered plunge into the brutal realities of the mid-century street hustle, told with kinetic, slang-soaked poetry.
- 08
The Long Goodbye
Raymond Chandler
A smoke-ringed, whiskey-soaked meditation on loyalty and betrayal in a corrupt, sun-bleached city.
- 09
The black ice
Michael Connelly
A gritty, sun-baked descent into the shadows of Los Angeles, guided by a detective who refuses to look away from the ugly truth.
- 10
Humboldt's Gift
Saul Bellow
A sprawling, comic, and deeply philosophical romp through the neuroses of midlife, the ghosts of literary genius, and the absurdities of modern America.
- 11
The Big Nowhere
James Ellroy
A relentless, jazz-fueled descent into the darkest, most corrupt corners of 1950s Los Angeles where every soul is for sale.
- 12
Dreams from Bunker Hill
John Fante · 1985
A manic, sun-baked hustle through 1930s Los Angeles, fueled by cheap diners, towering ego, and the desperate hunger to create.
