Picaresque characters have been popping up in literature for hundreds of years. The beloved classics “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Pippi Longstocking” detail the exploits of the roguish title characters. The Spanish novel “Don Quixote” is an excellent example of picaresque fiction. (The word “quixotic,” meaning “impulsive or unpredictable,” was coined in honor of the title character.) For a more modern take on the picaresque novel, add “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Hunter S. Thompson to your reading list.