The Greatest Books of All Time on Artistry

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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
240 Death in Venice Thomas Mann 1912 German German
511 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
1554 The Unconsoled Kazuo Ishiguro 1995 British English
1935 Autobiography Benvenuto Cellini 1728 Italian Italian
2214 Mozart On His Way To Prague Eduard Mörike 1856 German German
2395 Maurice Guest Henry Handel Richardson 1908 Australian English
2858 A Ballad for Georg Henig Viktor Paskov 1987 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3221 Ecce Homo Friedrich Nietzsche 1908 German German
3587 The Complete Writings of Alfred de Musset Alfred de Musset 1907 French French
3638 The Poor Musician Franz Grillparzer 1848 Austrian German
3638 The Golden Pot E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
3810 The Writing Life Annie Dillard 1989 American English
3833 Stories Of Three Decades Thomas Mann 1936 German German
4436 Native Funk & Flash Alexandra Jacopetti 1974 American English
4461 Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay 1956 American English
4586 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
4668 Beethoven's Letters Ludwig van Beethoven 1866 German German
4759 Amiria Amiria Manutahi Stirling, Anne Salmond 1976 New Zealand English
4855 The Gift Horse Hildegard Knef 1970 German German
5290 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5744 Největší Z Pierotů František Kožík 1972 Czech Czech
5826 On The Sublime Longinus -50 Greek Greek
5904 Death In The Afternoon Ernest Hemingway 1932 American English
6002 My Feminine Brother Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6002 The Pine Wood Notebook Francis Ponge 1947 French French
6079 Essential Cuisine Michel Bras 1996 French French
6747 Psalm At Journey's End Erik Fosnes Hansen 1990 Norwegian Norwegian
6790 The True Deceiver Tove Jansson 1982 Finnish Swedish
6872 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6924 Życie Jest Gdzie Indziej Milan Kundera 1989 Czech Czech
7086 The Virtuoso Margriet de Moor 1993 Dutch Dutch
7101 The Glenn Gould Reader Glenn Gould 1984 Canadian English
7215 Poems, Plays, And Masques Ben Jonson 1601 British English
7215 The Art Of Poetry Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux 1674 French French
7731 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
8888 Chronicles Bob Dylan 2004 American English
9050 Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes Billy Collins 2000 American English
9644 Sentinel Syd Mead 1979 Unknown English
9985 Ravel Jean Echenoz 2006 French French
10448 Finishing The Hat Stephen Sondheim 2010 American English
11360 Notes Boulet French Unknown
11650 American Musicians Ii Whitney Balliett 1996 American English
13256 The Spoken Word Revolution Mark Eleveld 2003 Unknown English
13599 Sang Et Lumières Joseph Peyre French French
13971 Doonesbury And The Art Of G.B. Trudeau Brian Walker 2010 American English
14122 The Mask Of Apollo Mary Renault 1966 British English
14368 The Beloved Vagabond William John Locke 1906 British English
15634 Surrender Bono 2022 Irish English
15897 Above The Dark Circus Hugh Walpole 1931 British English
15897 Journal Of Katherine Mansfield Katherine Mansfield 1927 New Zealand English
17117 The Bear Comes Home Rafi Zabor 1997 American English
17117 Ma Rainey's Black Bottom August Wilson 1984 American English
17117 Beyond The Story BTS, Myeongseok Kang 2021 South Korean Korean
17117 Conversations With Glenn Gould Jonathan Cott 1983 Canadian English
17117 The Art Of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Helen Vendler 1997 American English
17117 The Perfume Collector Kathleen Tessaro 2013 Unknown English
17117 A Breath Of Life Clarice Lispector 1978 Brazilian Portuguese
17117 Heavier Than Heaven Charles R. Cross 2001 American English
17117 Born Standing Up Steve Martin 2007 American English
17117 The Great Movies Roger Ebert 2003 American English
17117 Zen In The Art Of Writing Ray Bradbury 1990 American English
17117 On Becoming A Novelist John Gardner 1983 American English
17117 Writing Down The Bones Natalie Goldberg 1986 American English
17117 The Art Of Fiction John Gardner 1983 American English
17117 Graven Images Paul Fleischman 1982 American English
17064 Victoria Knut Hamsun 1898 Norwegian Norwegian
17117 On Bullfighting AL Kennedy 1999 British English
17117 The Praise Singer Mary Renault 1978 British English
17117 My Name Is Sappho Martha Rofheart 1974 Unknown English
17117 Nicholas Cooke Stephanie Cowell 1993 Unknown English
17117 Rhythm Man Stephanie Stein Crease 2023 Unknown English
17117 Mozart In Motion Patrick Mackie 2023 Unknown English
17117 Holding The Note David Remnick 2023 American English
17117 To Anyone Who Ever Asks Howard Fishman 2023 Unknown English
17117 The Real Work Adam Gopnik 2023 American English
17117 Brooklyn’s Last Secret Leslie Stein 2023 Unknown English
17117 Lou Reed Will Hermes 2023 Unknown English
17117 Pentimento Lillian Hellman 1973 American English
17117 The Path To Paradise Sam Wasson 2023 Unknown English
17117 Savage Beauty Nancy Milford 2001 American English
17117 The Master Puppeteer Katherine Paterson 1975 American English
17117 Selected Translations 1948–1968 W. S. Merwin 1969 American English
17117 Rip It Up And Start Again. Post Punk 1978 1984 Simon Reynolds 2005 British English