25 acclaimed international writers choose 25 of the best books from the last 25 years

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

Wasafiri Magazine, 23 Books

The 25 books were chosen by 25 respected names in international writing, many of whom have contributed over the years to Wasafiri magazine, including Indra Sinha, Blake Morrison and Fred D’Aguiar.

Note: I don't think the voters understood "the last 25 years" bit. There are many books that are much much older. Also this list is 23 books and not 25, since 3 authors picked 100 Years of Solitude

This list was originally published in 2013 and was added to this site over 9 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
5 One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel García Márquez 1967 Colombian Spanish
1503 The Famished Road Ben Okri 1991 Nigerian English
576 Complete Poems Elizabeth Bishop 1969 American English
3913 Staying Power Peter Fryer 1984 British English
1307 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred D. Taylor 1976 American English
354 The Savage Detectives Roberto Bolaño 1998 Chilean Spanish
1311 The Stories of Raymond Carver Raymond Carver 1981 American English
3163 North Seamus Heaney 1975 Irish English
223 A House for Mr. Biswas V. S. Naipaul 1961 Trinidadian English
4071 Birthday Letters Ted Hughes 1998 British English
2871 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2870 River of Fire Qurratulain Hyder 1959 Indian Urdu
14 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 1955 American English
436 Philosophical Investigations Ludwig Wittgenstein 1953 Austrian German
64 Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie 1981 Indian English
259 Disgrace J. M. Coetzee 1999 South African English
2194 Dreams from My Father Barack Obama 1995 American English
651 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje 1992 Canadian English
3913 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
5728 Anil's Ghost Michael Ondaatje 2000 Canadian English
558 Sula Toni Morrison 1973 American English
6513 The Private Life of Chairman Mao Li Zhi-Sui 1994 Chinese English
534 Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie 1988 British English