The Greatest Absurdist 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
5459 Angels And Spaceships Fredric Brown 1954 American English
5530 The Essential Kafka Franz Kafka 1913 Czech German
5530 Zimohrádek Ivan Wernisch 1965 Czech Czech
5629 Ego Monster Sayd Bahodine Majrouh 1985 Afghan French
5661 The Evolution Man Or How I Ate My Father Roy Lewis 1960 British English
5682 Various Persons Named Kevin O'brien Alden Nowlan 1973 Canadian English
5684 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5691 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5703 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
5755 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5781 Stories For A Year Luigi Pirandello 1959 Italian Italian
5781 Gente Nel Tempo Massimo Bontempelli 1937 Italian Italian
5781 Narrate, Uomini, La Vostra Storia Alberto Savinio 1942 Italian Italian
5781 The Serpent Luigi Malerba 1966 Italian Italian
5801 Kruso Lutz Seiler 2014 German German
5810 John Dies At The End David Wong 2007 American English
5899 Parables, Fragments, Aphorisms Franz Kafka 1935 Czech German
5966 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
5987 Twelfth Night William Shakespeare 1602 British English
5999 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6003 Collected Stories Franz Kafka 1931 Austrian German
6003 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6003 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6003 Madame Edwarda Unknown 1941 Unknown French
6003 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6003 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6003 The Burrow Franz Kafka 1924 Austrian German
6003 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6003 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6003 The Return Of Münchausen Sigismund Krzyzanowski 1927 Russian Russian
6003 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6084 Sundog Jim Harrison 1984 American English
6100 Life and a Half Sony Labou Tansi 1979 French French
6123 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6136 The Queen Of The South Arturo Pérez-Reverte 2002 Spanish Spanish
6142 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
6143 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6179 The John Collier Reader John Collier 1972 British English
6184 The Tunnel Of Love Peter De Vries 1954 American English
6197 Tóték István Örkény 1967 Hungarian Hungarian
6208 The Midnight Examiner William Kotzwinkle 1989 American English
6213 The Monkey Wrench Gang Edward Abbey 1975 American English
6242 Audience Vaclav Havel 1978 Czech Czech
6248 Great Apes Will Self 1997 British English
6302 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6314 Comfort Me With Apples Peter De Vries 1956 American English
6356 Heroes' Shrine For Sale or The Elegant Toilet Marios Hakkas 1993 Greek Greek
6378 Jumpers Tom Stoppard 1972 British English
6401 The Chairs Eugène Ionesco 1952 French French
6420 Typical Padgett Powell 1991 American English
6425 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6437 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6463 Comment S'en Sortir Sans Sortir Ghérasim Luca 1980 French French
6475 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6502 The End Of The Road John Barth 1958 American English
6566 Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming László Krasznahorkai 2016 Hungarian Hungarian
6580 So The Wind Won't Blow It All Away Richard Brautigan 1982 American English
6607 The Anomaly Hervé Le Tellier 2020 French French
6622 The Life of Insects Victor Pelevin 1993 Russian Russian
6628 No Man's Land Harold Pinter 1975 British English
6636 Autonauts Of The Cosmoroute Julio Cortazar 1983 Argentinian Spanish
6646 Simion Liftnicul Petru Cimpoeșu 2001 Romanian Romanian
6662 How It Is Samuel Beckett 1961 Irish French
6667 The Gashlycrumb Tinies Edward Gorey 1963 American English
6688 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6746 The Seven Solitudes Of Lorsa Lopez Sony Labou Tansi 1985 Congolese French
6759 The Light Fantastic Terry Pratchett 1986 British English
6800 Getting Into Death Thomas M. Disch 1973 American English
6806 Maudit Manège Philippe Djian 1986 French French
6821 Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography And First Romance Mark Twain 1871 American English
6865 Loupežník Karel Čapek 1988 Czech Czech
6913 With The Animals Noëlle Revaz 2002 Swiss French
6972 The Exquisite Corpse Alfred Chester 1967 American English
6974 The Good Life Elsewhere Vladimir Lorchenkov 2008 Russian Russian
6992 A Light Comedy Eduardo Mendoza 1996 Spanish Spanish
6996 Le Théâtre Des Paroles Valère Novarina 1989 French French
7056 Just The End Of The World Jean-Luc Lagarce 1990 French French
7062 Then We Came To The End Joshua Ferris 2007 American English
7070 Job Boj Bohumila Grögerová, Josef Hiršal 1991 Czech Czech
7080 The Blazing World Siri Hustvedt 2014 American English
7096 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7096 Guide Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7100 Les Guerilleres Monique Wittig 1969 French French
7103 Get In Trouble Kelly Link 2015 American English
7168 Julio Jurenito Ilya Ehrenburg 1921 Russian Russian
7176 The Asylum Seeker Arnon Grunberg 2003 Dutch Dutch
7185 A Funny Dirty Little War Osvaldo Soriano 1983 Argentinian Spanish
7215 Complete Works Lewis Carroll 1939 British English
7215 Naked Masks Luigi Pirandello 1922 Italian Italian
7215 Selected Works Alfred Jarry 1901 French French
7215 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
7215 Nervous People And Other Satires Mikhail Zoshchenko 1927 Russian Russian
7604 Mourir M'enrhume Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
7605 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7605 Les Praticiens De L'infernal Pierre La Police 1993 French French
7655 The Sunday Of Life Raymond Queneau 1952 French French
7716 Complete Nonsense Edward Lear 1947 British English
7725 Stupidity Rafael Spregelburd 2007 Argentinian Spanish
7732 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7830 The Blue Flowers Raymond Queneau 1965 French French
7896 Dangerous Laughter Steven Millhauser 2008 American English
7910 The Lesson Eugène Ionesco 1951 French French
7914 The Braindead Megaphone George Saunders 2007 American English
7923 Shatuny Yuri Mamleev 1966 Russian Russian
7941 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
7966 Balthazar Lawrence Durrell 1958 British English
8008 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8068 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8073 Chronic City Jonathan Lethem 2009 American English
8075 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8176 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8262 Rosie Carpe & Hilda Marie NDiaye 2001 French French
8296 Kokuhaku Kō Machida 2005 Japanese Japanese
8320 The Truth Terry Pratchett 2000 British English
8334 The Rebellion Of Yale Marrat Robert H. Rimmer 1964 American English
8343 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8347 Guards! Guards! Terry Pratchett 1989 British English
8433 Shadow Divers Robert Kurson 2004 American English
8471 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8605 Lyrical And Critical Essays Albert Camus 1968 French French