The Greatest Latin American Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
45 Fictions Jorge Luis Borges 1944 Argentinian Spanish
124 Pedro Páramo Juan Rulfo 1955 Mexican Spanish
166 Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel García Márquez 1985 Colombian Spanish
232 2666 Roberto Bolaño 2004 Chilean Spanish
272 The Devil to Pay in the Backlands Joao Guimaraes Rosa 1956 Brazilian Portuguese
291 The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende 1982 Chilean Spanish
301 The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas Machado de Assis 1881 Brazilian Portuguese
312 Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges 1962 Argentinian Spanish
354 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
355 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
389 The Alchemist Paulo Coelho 1988 Brazilian Portuguese
396 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz 2007 Dominican English
436 El Aleph Jorge Luis Borges 1949 Argentinian Spanish
532 The Passion According to G.H. Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
608 Canto General Pablo Neruda 1950 Chilean Spanish
614 Facundo Domingo Faustino Sarmiento 1845 Argentinian Spanish
632 Dom Casmurro Machado de Assis 1899 Brazilian Portuguese
672 Three Trapped Tigers Guillermo Cabrera Infante 1965 Cuban Spanish
687 The Time of the Hero Mario Vargas Llosa 1963 Peruvian Spanish
701 The Feast of the Goat Mario Vargas Llosa 2000 Peruvian Spanish
725 The Kingdom of This World Alejo Carpentier 1949 Cuban Spanish
756 The Labyrinth of Solitude Octavio Paz 1950 Mexican Spanish
833 The Lost Steps Alejo Carpentier 1953 Cuban Spanish
856 Conversation in the Cathedral Mario Vargas Llosa 1969 Peruvian Spanish
882 The Hour of the Star Clarice Lispector 1977 Brazilian Portuguese
930 The Seven Madmen Roberto Arlt 1929 Argentinian Spanish
973 The Burning Plain and Other Stories Juan Rulfo 1953 Mexican Spanish
991 Macunaíma Mario de Andrade 1928 Brazilian Portuguese
1029 Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon Jorge Amado 1958 Brazilian Portuguese
1081 The War of the End of the World Mario Vargas Llosa 1981 Peruvian Spanish
1135 The Tunnel Ernesto Sábato 1948 Argentinian Spanish
1171 Residence on Earth Pablo Neruda 1933 Chilean Spanish
1191 Blow Up And Other Stories Julio Cortazar 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1215 Explosion In A Cathedral Alejo Carpentier 1962 Cuban Spanish
1260 The President Miguel Angel Asturias 1946 Guatemalan Spanish
1280 The Death of Artemio Cruz Carlos Fuentes 1962 Mexican Spanish
1286 The Invention Of Morel Adolfo Bioy Casares 1940 Argentinian Spanish
1335 Kiss of the Spider Woman Manuel Puig 1976 Argentinian Spanish
1367 Like Water For Chocolate Laura Esquivel 1989 Mexican Spanish
1478 The Shipyard Juan Carlos Onetti 1961 Uruguayan Spanish
1497 How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents Julia Alvarez 1991 Dominican English
1533 Dreamtigers Jorge Luis Borges 1960 Argentinian Spanish
1577 Deep Rivers José María Arguedas 1958 Peruvian Spanish
1635 The Autumn of the Patriarch Gabriel García Márquez 1975 Colombian Spanish
1669 The Underdogs Mariano Azuela 1915 Mexican Spanish
1781 Poems of Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda 1970 Chilean Spanish
1804 Cartucho And My Mother's Hands Nellie Campobello 1931 Mexican Spanish
1832 Paradiso José Lezama Lima 1966 Cuban Spanish
1917 In the Time of the Butterflies Julia Alvarez 1994 Dominican English
2000 Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter Mario Vargas Llosa 1977 Peruvian Spanish
2014 Poems Of César Vallejo César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
2054 Spain, Take This Chalice from Me César Vallejo 1939 Peruvian Spanish
2076 The Memory of Fire Trilogy Eduardo Galeano 1982 Uruguayan Spanish
2083 Santa Evita Tomás Eloy Martínez 1995 Argentinian Spanish
2106 Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel García Márquez 1981 Colombian Spanish
2114 The Luminous Novel Mario Levrero 2005 Uruguayan Spanish
2170 Terra Nostra Carlos Fuentes 1975 Mexican Spanish
2188 No One Writes to the Colonel Gabriel García Márquez 1961 Colombian Spanish
2198 Veronika Decides to Die Paulo Coelho 1998 Brazilian Portuguese
2232 Mafalda Quino 1978 Argentinian Spanish
2385 Don Segundo Sombra Ricardo Güiraldes 1926 Argentinian Spanish
2497 The Garden Of Forking Paths Jorge Luis Borges 1941 Argentinian Spanish
2502 Rebellion In The Backlands Euclides da Cunha 1902 Brazilian Portuguese
2548 Martín Fierro José Hernández 1872 Argentinian Spanish
2580 A Cup Of Rage Raduan Nassar 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
2599 The Witness Juan José Saer 1983 Argentinian Spanish
2647 Hurricane Season Fernanda Melchor 2017 Mexican Spanish
2661 The Years with Laura Diaz Carlos Fuentes 1999 Mexican Spanish
2693 Near To The Wild Heart Clarice Lispector 1943 Brazilian Portuguese
2706 Lost Children Archive Valeria Luiselli 2019 Mexican English
2878 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2892 Distant Star Roberto Bolaño 1996 Chilean Spanish
2983 Tent of Miracles Jorge Amado 1969 Brazilian Portuguese
3012 By Night in Chile Roberto Bolaño 2000 Chilean Spanish
3049 Fever Dream Samanta Schweblin 2014 Argentinian Spanish
3050 A World for Julius Alfredo Bryce Echenique 1970 Peruvian Spanish
3060 Trust Hernan Díaz 2022 Argentinian English
3080 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3089 I, Rigoberta Menchú Rigoberta Menchú Tum 1983 Guatemalan Spanish
3118 The Nine Guardians Rosario Castellanos 1957 Mexican Spanish
3132 The Man Who Loved Dogs Leonardo Padura 2009 Cuban Spanish
3191 Trilce César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
3205 When We Cease To Understand The World Adrian Nathan West, Benjamin Labatut 2020 Chilean Spanish
3268 Sóngoro cosongo Nicolás Guillén 1931 Cuban Spanish
3275 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3280 Before Night Falls Reinaldo Arenas 1992 Cuban Spanish
3320 Our Lady of the Assassins Fernando Vallejo 1994 Colombian Spanish
3324 Broad and Alien is the World Ciro Alegría 1941 Peruvian Spanish
3387 Human Poems César Vallejo 1939 Peruvian Spanish
3391 Bomarzo Manuel Mujica Lainez 1962 Argentinian Spanish
3432 Betrayed by Rita Hayworth Manuel Puig 1968 Argentinian Spanish
3460 Captain Pantoja And The Special Service Mario Vargas Llosa 1973 Peruvian Spanish
3535 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3914 Sudden Death Alvaro Enrigue 2013 Mexican Spanish
3917 January Sara Gallardo 1971 Argentinian Spanish
3943 Of Love and Shadows Isabel Allende 1984 Chilean Spanish
3945 Doña Bárbara Rómulo Gallegos 1929 Venezuelan Spanish
4208 Heartbreak Tango Manuel Puig 1969 Argentinian Spanish
4208 Here's to You, Jesusa! Elena Poniatowska 1969 Mexican Spanish
4366 América Hispánica Guillermo Céspedes del Castillo 1983 Peruvian Spanish
4400 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4443 Oblivion Héctor Abad Faciolince 2006 Colombian Spanish
4453 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4557 Os Nacionalismos Africanos Mario de Andrade 1961 Brazilian Portuguese
4582 The Autobiography Of A Runaway Slave Miguel Barnet 1966 Cuban Spanish
4625 The Abyss Fernando Vallejo 2001 Colombian Spanish
4662 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4679 Of Love And Other Demons Gabriel García Márquez 1994 Colombian Spanish
4720 The Old Man Who Read Love Stories Luis Sepúlveda 1989 Chilean Spanish
4741 Tell Me How It Ends Valeria Luiselli 2017 Mexican English
4879 Heroes And Tombs Ernesto Sábato 1961 Argentinian Spanish
4938 Dreaming in Cuban Cristina García 1992 Cuban English
4951 Sergeant Getúlio João Ubaldo Ribeiro 1971 Brazilian Portuguese
5242 Concierto Barroco Alejo Carpentier 1974 Cuban Spanish
5374 A Hen Clarice Lispector 1964 Brazilian Portuguese
5393 Poems Of Juana Inés De La Cruz Juana Inés de la Cruz 1689 Mexican Spanish
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5588 América y otros poemas Raúl Otero Reiche 1977 Bolivian Spanish
5597 The Sound Of Things Falling Juan Gabriel Vásquez 2011 Colombian Spanish