seeking fiction books with quirky neurotic main characters

[``Laurie]

The Nutmeg Tree by Margery Sharp is one of my favorites and the MC is definitely quirky.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Definitely quirky and neurotic characters, whether in a good way might be arguable.

Cold Comfort Farm

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

I haven't read it but Super Sad True Love Story probably fits.

[``Laurie]

The Eight by Katherine Neville had quite a few quirky characters and one or 2 might have been neurotic as well.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

The Wapshot Chronicle. An old classic.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Two by Mark Helprin:

Freddy and Fredericka
Memoir from Antproof Case

[Rachel]

Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway by Sara Gran. One of the most unusual private detective heroines I have ever come across.

[Jaye]

600 Hours of Edward
byCraig Lancaster

definately neurotic in a good way.
excellent book.

[Rachel]

Claire DeWitt is interesting to me because in some ways she is the female equivalent of a hard boiled, Raymond Chandler style detective (she is a sarcastic loner with few personal attachments) but she is also very vulnerable and has issues with substance abuse among other things. There is also a kind of spiritual element to the books, in that Claire is very superstitious and relies on her intuition, and is into homeopathy and alternative therapies which seems at odds with her skeptical nature.

Bohemian Highway is actually the second Claire DeWitt book, the first is Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead . I read them in the wrong order but found myself preferring the second book anyway as I thought it was better written and you find out more of Claire's back story. They are both worth reading in my opinion though.

[Rosana]

I recently read History of the Rain and loved it. I think it would fit your request.

[Michele]

My favorite humorous neurotic main characters are Bridget Jones's Diary and The Adrian Mole Diaries. For a darker neurosis, try The Secret History.

[Michele]

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "that is such a cool cover for The Adrian Mole Diaries -- and it seems like this is part of a series?"

The one I linked to is a combination edition of Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4, The and The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, which are the first two in the series.

There are later books that follow Adrian on into his 20s, but I think the first two are the funniest. They include his girlfriend Pandora (nicknamed "Box"), his amazingly resilient Grandma (who gets his "menaces money" back from bully Barry Kent -- she reminds me of Neville Longbottom's Aunt Augusta), a brief foray into the gang life (with Baz, Maz, Daz, Chaz et al.), his parents' divorce, a visit by his over-psychoanalyzed American pen-friend Hamish Mancini, and one or two poignant scenes with old age pensioner Bert Baxter whom Adrian gets saddled with but comes to like very much.

[Railyn]

I've recommended this book before when people are looking for quirky funny characters, and it's chock full of them. Forget the movie that came out later with Chevy Chase - the book runs circles around it and made me laugh so hard a few times that people thought I was nuts.

Funny Farm: A Sweeping Epic Of The Sticks

[Railyn]

I don't believe so, but Amazon has copies for really cheap - that's why I mentioned it. It's about a sports writer and his wife who leave New York City for a tiny New England town. They think it will be awesome. He's going to write a book. But from the get-go, nothing goes as planned. The house has problems (I hesitate to say because it would ruin some of the book). The townspeople are completely odd and rather than a welcome, the townspeople want them gone. The sheriff lost his drivers license, so he goes on calls in a taxi. The postman is drunk on his run every day and tries to run them over. Their idyllic fantasy dissolves quickly, and it just gets funnier. The best part is when some crazy brothers try to rig a BINGO game. I can't say any more, but it was so funny.

[Railyn]

Open Library has a link that you can use to borrow the book locally, based on your location. Maybe you can get lucky - it really is a fun read:

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25523...

[Railyn]

Yeah, and I lost my copy years ago. :(

[Melanti]

Possibly The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan?

I can't really tell from your bookshelf if you'd like it or not but it's worth mentioning. It's technically a horror novel but it's not really scary. At least, I didn't think so.

[Melanti]

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "I'm intrigued and will consider adding it to my wishlist.

I general do not read horror books at all because they freak me out! But if say it's not scary..... I hope it isn't!"

It's eerie in places especially since you don't know exactly what's real and what isn't. What Imp calls "hauntings" are generally things she's unreasonably obsessed with.

[Michele]

Beth Sniffs Books wrote: "bummer that it's still not in print as it sounds like something I'd enjoy reading. I'm not an amazon member so buying a used book from them isn't an option..."

Try abebooks.com. They have hundreds of thousands of used books from sellers all over the US and Europe.

[jaewolff]

You might want to try "Castle of Eyes" by Penelope Love. It was published by Chaosium Books. Strange and unsettling. The main character wakes up and finds herself without arms. Lots of peculiar other-worldly folks in this book. There are usually copies on Ebay.

[Yuckamashe]

The Claire DeWitt series came to mind the minute I read your post. Sara Gran is the author and ther are two books so far. Claire Dewitt and the Bohemian Highway and Claire Dewitt and the City of the Dead. I loved both books. Most interesting and fucked up main character ever.

[Angharad]

For neurotic characters, you won't do much better than Bridget Jones' Diary (sorry--it drove me nuts and not in a good way because I didn't find her funny or even quirky, just desperate and needy--I wanted to slap her so she would get her act together) or the Stephanie Plum series ("One for the Money", "Two for the Dough", etc.) by Janet Evanovich. There are plenty of neurotic characters in Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I think she is up to 21 now. I'd start with the earlier ones, but in other ways, it doesn't matter because Stephanie doesn't seem to have learned much despite her mistakes and neuroses.

[Joshua]

The first main character that came to mind for me was The Bell Jar
I also liked The Almost Moon

[Anna]

You might want to check out Elizabeth Is Missing however the main character isn't neurotic but suffers from Alzheimer's.

[Jaye]

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
I also enjoyed the 2nd Edward book:
Edward Adrift
by Craig Lancaster

I asked the author if he is going to continue Edward in a 3rd book and he said probably.

He does have a new book that just came out (not Edward). I haven't read it yet.

[Jaye]

I thought of another "quirky" character you might enjoy.
Actually, after just looking at it again, it says "quirky" right in the blurb !

I loved this book and wish I could find similar ones.
A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman

[KC]

The Catcher in the Rye this book is awesome. Its a classic for a reason and Holden is the most misunderstood and ignored person in the world, but has a strange mind and way of interpreting/saying/understanding things. I mean, the man calls himself sexy.

[Hillary]

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry has a quirky neurotic bookseller as the main character and is charming. I know you want stand alone books, but you can try The Baker Street Letters about a pair of brothers - the responsible one and the quirky one. It has sequels, but is a great stand alone and can be read by itself.

[MJ]

Playing for Keeps... and all other R.L. Mathewson books

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Beth has requested the thread be closed, so closing.