If you enjoyed the biting satire and clever humor in The Sellout, you'll love White Teeth. Zadie Smith's debut novel is full of sharp wit and hilarious observations about multicultural London, weaving together the stories of Archie, Samad, and their families as they navigate the absurdities of identity, history, and assimilation. Smith’s playful narrative voice and razor-sharp dialogue will instantly resonate with fans of Paul Beatty’s irreverent style.

If you were drawn to the morally complex and hilarious protagonist of The Sellout, Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces will be your next favorite anti-hero. Ignatius’s outrageous antics, dubious morality, and bizarre worldview create a comedic masterpiece that skewers societal norms, much like Beatty’s work. The novel’s irreverence and unforgettable main character make for a wild ride.

If the sharp social critique and symbolic depth of The Sellout resonated with you, Invisible Man is essential reading. Ralph Ellison’s classic follows an unnamed Black narrator through surreal and often satirical encounters with American society, unpacking themes of identity, invisibility, and race with layers of allegory and irony. The novel combines biting social commentary with inventive narrative techniques.

If you appreciated the rich, authentic portrayal of Black life and culture in The Sellout, you’ll find Their Eyes Were Watching God deeply rewarding. Through Janie Crawford’s journey towards self-realization in the early 20th-century South, Hurston crafts a vibrant, nuanced depiction of community, identity, and resilience, imbued with the rhythms and dialects of Black American life.

If you liked the way The Sellout used a dystopian lens to satirize and critique society, American War offers a powerful, unsettling vision of a future America torn by civil conflict. Omar El Akkad’s novel explores race, politics, and the consequences of division, blending grim humor and sharp insight as the character Sarat navigates a world shaped by prejudice and violence.