Madonna in a Fur Coat, by Sahabattin Ali - a short Turkish novel published in 1943, sad and charming, reminds me of Somerset Maugham. The Blood Oranges, by Joh

Madonna in a Fur Coat, by Sahabattin Ali - a short Turkish novel published in 1943, sad and charming, reminds me of Somerset Maugham. The Blood Oranges, by John Hawkes - he's a postmodern writer, but this short novel is pretty straightforward. The narrator is the best-written hedonist Casanova I've ever read, and the novel explores both the perks and the fallout of this outlook on life. Maybe read alongside The Girl in a Swing by Richard Adams, which explores similar issues and is also extremely good.