The Greatest Books of All Time on Addiction

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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
120 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 1939 American English
147 Confessions of Zeno Italo Svevo 1923 Italian Italian
218 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson 1886 British English
259 Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs 1959 American English
333 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace 1996 American English
393 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
421 A Visit From The Goon Squad Jennifer Egan 2010 American English
433 Play It As It Lays Joan Didion 1970 American English
587 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
741 The Goldfinch Donna Tartt 2013 American English
747 Blonde Joyce Carol Oates 2000 American English
750 Money Martin Amis 1984 British English
784 Rabbit at Rest John Updike 1990 American English
803 Sophie's Choice William Styron 1979 American English
888 Drunkard Émile Zola 1877 French Unknown
901 Last Exit to Brooklyn Hubert Selby 1964 American English
924 Where I'm Calling From Raymond Carver 1988 American English
968 Jesus' Son Denis Johnson 1992 American English
1306 Long Day's Journey Into Night Eugene O'Neill 1956 American English
1460 Never Mind Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
1650 Sing, Unburied, Sing Jesmyn Ward 2017 American English
1728 Requiem for a Dream Hubert Selby 1978 American English
1747 Twenty Four Hours In The Life Of A Woman Stefan Zweig 1927 Austrian German
1868 Junky William S. Burroughs 1953 American English
1896 Smoking and Health Surgeon General 1964 American English
1965 A Flag For Sunrise Robert Stone 1981 American English
2108 Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver 2022 American English
2209 Trainspotting Irvine Welsh 1993 Scottish English
2225 My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh 2018 American English
2338 There There Tommy Orange 2018 American English
2386 Less Than Zero Bret Easton Ellis 1985 American English
2418 Bright Lights, Big City Jay McInerney 1984 American English
2528 On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong 2019 American English
2608 Heavy Kiese Laymon 2018 American English
2609 The Gambler Fyodor Dostoevsky 1866 Russian Russian
2629 Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann 1966 American English
2633 AA Big Book Bill W 1939 American English
2690 Dependency Tove Ditlevsen 1971 Danish Danish
2823 The Damnation Game Clive Barker 1985 British English
2828 A Manual For Cleaning Women Lucia Berlin 2015 American English
2852 Bad News Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
2951 Some Hope Edward St Aubyn 1994 British English
2954 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
3136 Mother's Milk Edward St Aubyn 2005 British English
3540 C Tom McCarthy 2010 British English
3591 Do Everything in the Dark Gary Indiana 2003 American English
3600 Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor Jenkins Reid 2019 American English
3610 Winter's Bone Daniel Woodrell 2006 American English
3638 Confessions of an English Opium-Eater Thomas de Quincey 1821 British English
3827 Cloudstreet Tim Winton 1991 Australian English
3886 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
3927 The Poppy War R. F. Kuang 2018 Chinese English
4058 Bad Behavior Mary Gaitskill 1988 American English
4076 Travels With Lizbeth Lars Eighner 1993 American English
4117 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4271 Eight Million Ways To Die Lawrence Block 1982 American English
4367 Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain 2000 American English
4505 Osadeni Dushi Dimitar Dimov 1945 Bulgarian Bulgarian
4526 Falconer John Cheever 1977 American English
4592 Vurt Jeff Noon 1993 British English
4619 Deacon King Kong James McBride 2020 American English
4768 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
4815 Dreamland Sam Quinones 2015 American English
4825 Vernon Subutex Virginie Despentes 2015 French French
4829 The Largesse of the Sea Maiden Denis Johnson 2018 American English
5151 The Copenhagen Trilogy Tiina Nunnally, Michael Favala Goldman, Tove Ditlevsen 1967 Danish Danish
5158 Coleridge Richard Holmes 1989 British English
5281 At Last Edward St Aubyn 2011 British English
5931 Light M. John Harrison 2002 British English
6129 Three Day Road Joseph Boyden 2005 Canadian English
6320 The Power Of Habit Charles Duhigg 2012 American English
6407 The Seven Per Cent Solution Nicholas Meyer 1974 American English
6472 The Neon Rain James Lee Burke 1987 American English
6537 The Empathy Exams Leslie Jamison 2014 American English
6565 Candy Mian Mian 2000 Chinese Chinese
6578 Indian Horse Richard Wagamese 2012 Canadian English
6605 Hillbilly Elegy J. D. Vance 2016 American English
6748 Hoffman's Hunger Leon de Winter 1990 Dutch Dutch
6821 Let It Come Down Paul Bowles 1952 American English
6821 The Lost Weekend Charles Jackson 1944 American English
6854 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
7037 Bright Shiny Morning James Frey 2008 American English
7075 The Glorious Heresies Lisa McInerney 2015 Irish English
7164 A Million Little Pieces James Frey 2003 American English
7175 Wild Cheryl Strayed 2012 American English
7191 The Complete Plays Of Eugene O'neill Eugene O'Neill 1959 American English
7212 Boy Swallows Universe Trent Dalton 2018 Australian English
7216 The Collected Writings Of Thomas De Quincey Thomas de Quincey 1889 British English
7757 Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart 2020 Scottish English
7810 Bullet Park John Cheever 1969 American English
8022 Loved And Missed Susie Boyt 2023 British English
8059 The Dragon Republic R. F. Kuang 2019 American English
8174 Life Keith Richards 2010 British English
8299 Empire Of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe 2021 American English
8473 The Patrick Melrose Novels Edward St Aubyn 1992 British English
8493 Postcards From The Edge Carrie Fisher 1987 American English
8675 Marabou Stork Nightmares Irvine Welsh 1995 British English
8850 The Munch Mancini Mystery Series Barbara Seranella 1997 American English
8882 I'll Go To Bed At Noon Gerard Woodward 2004 British English
8955 Money To Burn Ricardo Piglia 1997 Argentinian Spanish
9192 Cost Roxana Robinson 2008 American English
9276 Angels Denis Johnson 1983 American English
9310 Down To The Dirt Joel Hynes 2004 Canadian English
9613 The Tin Roof Blowdown James Lee Burke 2007 American English
9679 Gone Baby Gone Dennis Lehane 1998 American English
9703 Extra Lives Tom Bissell 2010 American English
9888 Novel With Cocaine M. Ageyev 1934 Russian Russian
10002 Narcopolis Jeet Thayil 2012 Indian English
10057 Diablo Guardián Xavier Velasco 2003 Mexican Spanish
10093 Confessions Of A Shopaholic Sophie Kinsella 2000 British English
10383 Again, Rachel Marian Keyes 2022 Irish English
10405 Drama City George P. Pelecanos 2005 American English
10453 Dopesick Beth Macy 2018 American English
11075 Hit So Hard Patty Schemel 2017 Unknown English
11113 Slow River Nicola Griffith 1995 British English
11141 Ashes to Ashes Richard Kluger 1996 American English
11213 Based On A True Story Norm Macdonald 2016 Canadian English
11419 Winter Counts David Heska Wanbli Weiden 2020 American English
11615 Homesick for Another World Ottessa Moshfegh 2017 American English
11851 The Demon Hubert Selby 1976 American English