The Greatest Experimental and Surrealism 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 488 '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
211 Franz Kafka Franz Kafka 1971 Czech Unknown
408 Hopscotch Julio Cortazar 1963 Argentinian Spanish
422 The Unnamable Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish French
549 Nadja André Breton 1928 French French
565 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
739 Moravagine Blaise Cendrars 1926 Swiss French
1210 The Street of Crocodiles Bruno Schulz 1934 Polish Polish
1260 Story of the Eye Georges Bataille 1928 French French
1300 Lanark Alasdair Gray 1981 Scottish English
1415 Locus Solus Raymond Roussel 1914 French French
1454 Blow Up And Other Stories Julio Cortazar 1968 Argentinian Spanish
1531 Sixty Stories Donald Barthelme 1981 American English
1670 The Infernal Desire Machines Of Doctor Hoffman Angela Carter 1972 British English
1698 Impressions of Africa Raymond Roussel 1910 French French
1698 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
1698 Arcanum 17 André Breton 1944 French French
1775 Blue of Noon Georges Bataille 1957 French French
1968 A School For Fools Sasha Sokolov 1976 Russian Russian
1969 Nostalgia Mircea Cărtărescu 1989 Romanian Romanian
1988 The Clay Machine-gun Victor Pelevin 1996 Russian Russian
1989 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
2059 The Prose Of The Trans Siberian Blaise Cendrars 1913 French French
2069 Pricksongs and Descants Robert Coover 1969 American English
2174 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
2174 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
2300 The Box Man Kobo Abé 1973 Japanese Japanese
2356 Life In The Folds Henri Michaux 1949 French French
2437 The Unconsoled Kazuo Ishiguro 1995 British English
2646 Kassandra And The Wolf Margarita Karapanou 1974 Greek Greek
2670 Satantango László Krasznahorkai 1985 Hungarian Hungarian
2905 Watt Samuel Beckett 1953 Irish English
3146 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
3296 The Luminous Novel Mario Levrero 2005 Uruguayan Spanish
3393 The Great Victorian Collection Brian Moore 1975 Canadian English
3557 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
3594 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3673 Miss Mac Intosh, My Darling Marguerite Young 1965 American English
3852 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
4046 Dreams And Stones Magdalena Tulli 1995 Polish Polish
4174 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
4239 Solenoid Mircea Cărtărescu 2015 Romanian Romanian
4402 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
4709 The Green Child Herbert Read 1935 British English
4709 The Supermale Alfred Jarry 1902 French French
4735 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
4763 B/Moondocks Arno Schmidt 1960 German Unknown
4825 Fantazius Mallare Ben Hecht 1922 American English
5081 Blue Lard Vladimir Sorokin 1999 Russian Russian
5125 The White Hotel D. M. Thomas 1981 British English
5339 Mount Analogue René Daumal 1952 French French
5669 Blinding Mircea Cărtărescu 1996 Romanian Romanian
5724 Frontier Can Xue 2008 Chinese Chinese
5787 Durcheinandertal Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1989 Swiss German
5794 Reveries Of The Wild Woman Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
6249 Event Factory Renee Gladman 2010 American English
6480 The Soft Machine William S. Burroughs 1961 American English
6549 Le Polygone Etoile Kateb Yacine 1961 French French
6597 F Dumitru Radu Popescu 2000 Romanian Unknown
6612 Ich Bin In Der Anstalt Friederike Mayröcker 2000 Austrian German
6672 Stupidity Rafael Spregelburd 2007 Argentinian Spanish
6927 Landscapes After the Battle Juan Goytisolo 1982 Spanish Spanish
6947 Heartsnatcher Boris Vian 1953 French French
7092 The Red Grass Boris Vian 1949 French French
7466 Liberty Or Love! Robert Desnos 1929 French French
7508 E. Luminata Diamela Eltit 1983 Chilean Spanish
7604 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
7638 Myths Of The Near Future J. G. Ballard 1982 British English
7939 The Fourth World Diamela Eltit 1988 Chilean Spanish
8527 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
8573 VALIS Philip K. Dick 1981 American English
8577 Igur Neblí Miquel de Palol 1994 Spanish Unknown
8723 Herscht 07769 László Krasznahorkai 2021 Hungarian Hungarian
9041 The Literary Conference César Aira 1997 Argentinian Spanish
9497 Nova Express William S. Burroughs 1964 American English
9592 The Ticket That Exploded William S. Burroughs 1962 American English
10527 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
10560 Die Inkommensurablen Raphaela Edelbauer 2021 Austrian German
10610 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
10801 Double Or Nothing Raymond Federman 1971 American English
10939 The Troika Stepan Chapman 1997 American English
10963 Doctor Pasavento Enrique Vila-Matas 2005 Spanish Spanish
11539 A Caso Tommaso Landolfi 1975 Italian Italian
11371 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
11820 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
11834 Birthday César Aira 2019 Argentinian Spanish
11943 Nog Rudy Wurlitzer 1969 American English
11966 The Stain Rikki Ducornet 1984 American English
12087 What Is This Buzzing, Do You Hear It Too? Luigi Malerba 1989 Italian Italian
12093 Entering Fire Rikki Ducornet 1986 American English
12163 The Invented Part Rodrigo Fresán 2014 Argentinian Spanish
12199 The Dada Painters and Poets Robert Motherwell 1978 American English
12279 Tadanori Yokoo Daido Moriyama 2006 Japanese Japanese
12354 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
12566 The Age of Wire and String Ben Marcus 1995 American English
12886 Роман Vladimir Sorokin 1998 Russian Russian
13497 Aurelia Gerard de Nerval 1855 French French
13497 Selected Works Alfred Jarry 1901 French French
13497 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
14018 Cronopios And Famas Julio Cortazar 1962 Cuban Spanish
13914 Man Of Smoke Aldo Palazzeschi 1911 Italian Italian
13914 Childhood Of Nivasio Dolcemare Alberto Savinio 1938 Italian Italian
14371 T Zero Italo Calvino 1967 Italian Italian
14371 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
14371 Poems Of André Breton André Breton 1948 French French
14371 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
14371 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
14371 The Baphomet Pierre Klossowski 1965 French French
14371 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
14371 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
14371 Project For A Revolution In New York Alain Robbe-Grillet 1970 French French
14371 Spanking The Maid Robert Coover 1982 American English
14371 The Windy City Moussa Ould Ebnou 1998 Unknown Unknown
14371 Les 1001 années de la nostalgie Rachid Boudjedra 1997 Algerian French
14371 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
14371 Omon Ra Victor Pelevin 1992 Russian Russian
14371 Le Avventure Di Guizzardi Gianni Celati 1973 Italian Italian
14371 Indian Nocturne Antonio Tabucchi 1984 Italian Italian
14371 Memoirs Of A Polar Bear Yoko Tawada 2011 German German
14371 The Vorrh Brian Catling 2012 British English