15 Best fiction books like Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek

Cover of Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek

Bitter Water Opera

By: Nicolette Polek

4.03

Format: 128 pages, Paperback

An electrifying debut novel about art, solitude, family, and faith in a world without it In 1967, …

If you liked the fiction plot in Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek , here is a list of 15 books like this:

Cover of Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen by Suzanne Scanlon

1. Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

By: Suzanne Scanlon

4.22

Format: 368 pages, Paperback

A raw and masterful memoir about becoming a woman and going mad—and doing both at once.   When Su… read more

Similar categories in Suzanne Scanlon's Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

"Only in retrospect might I say I loved it there. I didn't love it. It became familiar. I got used to it. I became dependent upon it. This is not love."

-Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

"I became a writer because I believe in that part of me who is not limited by age or gender or time or disability - yet still I am afraid to say it. Yes, I was ill."

-Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

"I myself have internalized the self-loathing that at times can make me feel ashamed to be writing this book. But I also believe that, as my heroes have shown me, this is where a writer must go."

-Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

"What if, instead of being diagnosed—being called mentally ill—what if I had been able to receive care for its own sake. To be in distress, to ask for care, to receive it. What if there were space in …"

-Suzanne Scanlon, Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen

Cover of Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm by Emmeline Clein

2. Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm

By: Emmeline Clein

3.86

Format: 288 pages, Hardcover

A personal and cultural look at the dark underbelly of Western beauty standards and the lethal cult… read more

Similar categories in Emmeline Clein's Dead Weight: Essays on Hunger and Harm book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

Cover of All Fours by Miranda July

3. All Fours

By: Miranda July

3.81

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

The New York Times–bestselling author of The First Bad Man returns with an irreverently sexy, tende… read more

Similar categories in Miranda July's All Fours book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"But maybe the road split between: a life spent longing vs. a life that was continually surprising"

-Miranda July, All Fours

"Maybe we shouldn't do that," Jordi said. "Flatten ourselves like that. Erratic doesn't have to mean crazy or irresponsible. Shouldn't we be normalizing change?"

-Miranda July, All Fours

"I guess any calling, no mater what it is, is a kind of unresolved ache," I said, giving in to knowing more than him. "It's a problem that you can't fix, but there is some relief in knowing you will c…"

-Miranda July, All Fours

"For me lying created just the right amount of problems and what you saw was just one of my four or five faces- each real, each with different needs. The only dangerous lie was one that asked me to co…"

-Miranda July, All Fours

Cover of Earth Angel by Madeline Cash

4. Earth Angel

By: Madeline Cash

4.05

Format: 130 pages, Paperback

In her electric debut, Madeline Cash synthesizes the godlessness of a digital age into a glimmering… read more

Similar categories in Madeline Cash's Earth Angel book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literature
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of My First Book by Honor Levy

5. My First Book

By: Honor Levy

3.27

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

From groundbreaking debut author Honor Levy, stories to delight and ensnare Walking the wire betwe… read more

Similar categories in Honor Levy's My First Book book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literature
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"I HAV3 CHOS3N T3H WAY OF FA3THFUL3SS"

-Honor Levy, My First Book

"Nerf is a verb now. I'm gonna nerf all you faggots, give me that grenade."

-Honor Levy, My First Book

"1 like = 1 prayer. 1 like = 1 prayer. 1 like = 1 prayer. 1 like = 1 prayer. 1 like = 1 prayer."

-Honor Levy, My First Book

"Zoe laughs like Tinkerbell, the air whistling between the gaps in her teeth. She’s definitely not a dog."

-Honor Levy, My First Book

Cover of Parade by Rachel Cusk

6. Parade

By: Rachel Cusk

3.70

Format: 198 pages, Hardcover

From the exhilarating mind of Rachel Cusk, author of the Outline trilogy, Parade disturbs and defin… read more

Similar categories in Rachel Cusk's Parade book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • art
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
"He knew that [his work] embodied change, and he wasn’t interested in change. He was interested in the fragments that change leaves behind in its storming passage toward the future."

-Rachel Cusk, Parade

"Not to be understood is effectively to be silenced, but not understanding can in its turn legitimise that silence, can illuminate one’s own unknowability. Art is the pact of individuals denying socie…"

-Rachel Cusk, Parade

"Sanity and insanity were not opposites but rather were the two faces of inanimate matter, the point at which the existence of consciousness can get no further in breaking down the existence of substa…"

-Rachel Cusk, Parade

"The impulse to have a child is very often a response to the woman’s own childhood, as though her childhood has left her incomplete, or has taken a part of her that she is driven to find again. The st…"

-Rachel Cusk, Parade

Cover of My Death by Lisa Tuttle

7. My Death

By: Lisa Tuttle

3.98

Format: 93 pages, Paperback

A widowed writer begins to work on a biography of a novelist and artist—and soon uncovers bizarre p… read more

Similar categories in Lisa Tuttle's My Death book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Alphabetical Diaries by Sheila Heti

8. Alphabetical Diaries

By: Sheila Heti

4.02

Format: 224 pages, Hardcover

A thrilling confessional from the award-winning, beloved author of Pure Colour. Sheila Heti kept a… read more

Similar categories in Sheila Heti's Alphabetical Diaries book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

Cover of Molly by Blake Butler

9. Molly

By: Blake Butler

3.66

Format: 320 pages, Paperback

A gripping, unforgettable memoir from one of the best, most original writers of the 21st century. … read more

Similar categories in Blake Butler's Molly book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

Cover of It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken

10. It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over

By: Anne de Marcken

3.82

Format: 128 pages, Paperback

Co-winner of the 2022 Novel Prize, this incredible life-after-death novel asks us to consider how m… read more

Similar categories in Anne de Marcken's It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"Fasting makes sense of the hunger. The constant internal grasping. The only sensible answer to this is to always withdraw the thing after which I grasp. To subvert. To thwart. To deny. It closes the …"

-Anne de Marcken, It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over

Cover of Kittentits by Holly    Wilson

11. Kittentits

By: Holly Wilson

3.19

Format: 368 pages, Hardcover

A feral, heart-busting, absurdist debut about Molly, a rambunctious and bawdy ten-year-old searchin… read more

Similar categories in Holly Wilson's Kittentits book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • contemporary
  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
Cover of Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek

12. Bitter Water Opera

By: Nicolette Polek

4.03

Format: 128 pages, Paperback

An electrifying debut novel about art, solitude, family, and faith in a world without it In 1967, … read more

Similar categories in Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • art
  • literary fiction
  • literature
  • fiction
  • historical fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
  • speculative fiction
Cover of Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other by Danielle Dutton

13. Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other

By: Danielle Dutton

4.05

Format: 176 pages, Paperback

From the "strikingly smart and daringly feminist" (Jenny Offill) author of Margaret the First and S… read more

Similar categories in Danielle Dutton's Prairie, Dresses, Art, Other book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • art
  • contemporary
Cover of Brat by Gabriel Smith

14. Brat

By: Gabriel Smith

3.53

Format: 320 pages, Hardcover

From a provocative new literary talent, a hilarious and haunted novel featuring an unlikable protag… read more

Similar categories in Gabriel Smith's Brat book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"I chose this one. This is the one I care about."

-Gabriel Smith, Brat

Cover of The Skunks by Fiona Warnick

15. The Skunks

By: Fiona Warnick

3.75

Format: 240 pages, Paperback

Reminiscent of Elif Batuman and Sally Rooney, Fiona Warnick’s precise and tender prose captures the… read more

Similar categories in Fiona Warnick's The Skunks book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of Role Play by Clara Drummond

16. Role Play

By: Clara Drummond

3.48

Format: 128 pages, Paperback

Role Play is a fresh satire narrated by a wealthy young woman in Rio on the verge of a class-consci… read more

Similar categories in Clara Drummond's Role Play book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • literature
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
Cover of The Anthropologists by Aysegül Savas

17. The Anthropologists

By: Aysegül Savas

4.05

Format: 192 pages, Hardcover

Asya and Manu are looking at apartments, envisioning their future in a foreign city. What should th… read more

Similar categories in Aysegül Savas's The Anthropologists book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • literature
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels
Cover of The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

18. The Coin

By: Yasmin Zaher

3.55

Format: 240 pages, Hardcover

A bold and unabashed novel about a young Palestinian woman's unraveling, far from home, as she gets… read more

Similar categories in Yasmin Zaher's The Coin book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • fiction
  • contemporary
"And the poet, he asked, who was it again? Aisha didn't know him, neither did Matthew. But, of course, Gregory did. He asked if he was the 9/11 denier. No, definitely not a denier, but very vocal when…"

-Yasmin Zaher, The Coin

Cover of Cecilia by K-Ming Chang

19. Cecilia

By: K-Ming Chang

3.32

Format: 145 pages, Paperback

A surreal novella about the intensity and eroticism of girlhood friendships, the ecstasy of desire … read more

Similar categories in K-Ming Chang's Cecilia book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • novels
  • fiction
  • contemporary
Cover of SILLYBOY by Peter Vack

20. SILLYBOY

By: Peter Vack

3.72

Format: 202 pages, Kindle Edition

A classic love story between a meme-lord edgeboy and a tattoo artist e-girl. read more

Similar categories in Peter Vack's SILLYBOY book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

Cover of Banal Nightmare by Halle Butler

21. Banal Nightmare

By: Halle Butler

3.64

Format: 336 pages, Hardcover

A ferocious novel by one of the boldest voices in American fiction and the author of The New Me, th… read more

Similar categories in Halle Butler's Banal Nightmare book and Nicolette Polek's Bitter Water Opera

  • literary fiction
  • literature
  • fiction
  • contemporary
  • novels

16 Top contemporary books like Bitter Water Opera by Nicolette Polek

Transform Your Habits

All Fours

Miranda July

3.81

Transform Your Habits

Earth Angel

Madeline Cash

4.05

Transform Your Habits

My First Book

Honor Levy

3.27

Transform Your Habits

Parade

Rachel Cusk

3.70

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20 must-read fiction books like The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

Transform Your Habits

All Fours

Miranda July

3.81

Transform Your Habits

Exhibit

R.O. Kwon

3.24

Transform Your Habits

Worry

Alexandra Tanner

3.36

Transform Your Habits

Headshot

Rita Bullwinkel

3.63

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