The Greatest Experimental 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
3011 By Night in Chile Roberto Bolaño 2000 Chilean Spanish
3033 Novel on Yellow Paper Stevie Smith 1936 British English
3055 The Invention of Solitude Paul Auster 1982 American English
3056 The Enigma of Arrival V. S. Naipaul 1987 British English
3062 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
3073 Lunch Poems Frank O'Hara 1964 American English
3079 Los lanzallamas Roberto Arlt 1931 Argentinian Spanish
3096 Open City Teju Cole 2011 American English
3110 Anagrams Lorrie Moore 1986 American English
3116 The White Album Joan Didion 1979 American English
3120 The Possibility Of An Island Michel Houellebecq 2005 French French
3144 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany 1975 American English
3161 Natural Novel Georgi Gospodinov 1999 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3163 Dept. of Speculation Jenny Offill 2014 American English
3164 Gender Trouble Judith Butler 1990 American English
3174 Spring And All William Carlos Williams 1923 American English
3174 The Thirtieth Year Ingeborg Bachmann 1961 Austrian German
3185 The Quest For Corvo A. J. A. Symons 1934 British English
3187 City, Sister, Silver Jáchym Topol 1994 Czech Czech
3190 Trilce César Vallejo 1922 Peruvian Spanish
3192 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
3208 Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris May Lessing 1971 British English
3211 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3222 Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Lawrence Weschler 1995 American English
3259 The 42nd Parallel John Dos Passos 1930 American English
3274 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3308 The Theater and Its Double Antonin Artaud 1938 French French
3323 Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus Scriblerus Club 1741 British English
3323 Hell Henri Barbusse 1908 French French
3323 Impressions of Africa Raymond Roussel 1910 French French
3323 Tarr Wyndham Lewis 1918 British English
3323 The Apes of God Wyndham Lewis 1930 British English
3323 Monica Saunders Lewis 1930 British Welsh
3323 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
3323 Conversations in Sicily Elio Vittorini 1941 Italian Italian
3323 Arcanum 17 André Breton 1944 French French
3323 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3323 Asphodel Hilda Doolittle 1921 American English
3374 Juan De Mairena Antonio Machado 1936 Spanish Spanish
3395 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3403 The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson 1969 British English
3408 The Manila Rope Veijo Meri 1957 Finnish Finnish
3422 The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite 1978 Spanish Spanish
3427 Count Julian Juan Goytisolo 1970 Spanish Spanish
3431 Betrayed by Rita Hayworth Manuel Puig 1968 Argentinian Spanish
3435 On Wings Of Song Thomas M. Disch 1979 American English
3438 The Needle's Eye Fanny Howe 1970 American English
3469 Solar Bones Mike McCormack 2016 Irish English
3482 The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. Robert Coover 1968 American English
3525 Looking Back Norman Douglas 1933 British English
3534 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3539 C Tom McCarthy 2010 British English
3552 Log Of The S.S. The Mrs Unguentine Stanley Crawford 1972 American English
3558 Faces In The Water Janet Frame 1961 New Zealander English
3574 Horcynus Orca Stefano D'Arrigo 1975 Italian Italian
3603 A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing Eimear McBride 2013 Irish English
3606 A Throw Of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
3622 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3637 Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial Sir Thomas Browne 1658 British English
3637 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3637 Blasting And Bombardiering Wyndham Lewis 1937 British English
3801 A Imortalidade Milan Kundera 1990 Czech Czech
3806 Critique Of Cynical Reason Peter Sloterdijk 1983 German German
3833 Mannen utan väg Erik Lindegren 1942 Swedish Swedish
3839 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3848 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020 British English
3849 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3851 JR William Gaddis 1975 American English
3877 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3884 Mother London Michael Moorcock 1988 British English
3889 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3895 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3916 The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore Marianne Moore 1967 American English
3919 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
3934 One Hundred Poems Kenneth Slessor 1944 Australian English
3940 Landscapes With Absent Figures Philippe Jacottet 1970 French French
3946 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3954 Amorgos Nikos Gatsos 1943 Greek Greek
3954 Η κρύπτη Ε.Χ. Γονατάς 1963 Greek Greek
3954 Μπολιβαρ Nikos Engonopoulos 1944 Greek Greek
3954 The Axion Esti Odysseas Elytis 1959 Greek Greek
3954 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3954 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
3954 Νηπενθή Kostas Karyotakis 1921 Greek Greek
3954 Κατά Σαδδουκαίων Michalis Katsaros 1953 Greek Greek
3954 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
3954 Mythistorema George Seferis 1935 Greek Greek
3954 Pagini Bizare Urmuz 1930 Romanian Romanian
3954 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
3954 Ασκητική Nikos Kazantzakis 1927 Greek Greek
4116 For a New Novel Alain Robbe-Grillet 1963 French French
4117 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4136 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4137 The Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit 2013 American English
4146 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4153 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4172 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4228 Each Day Catches Fire Imants Ziedonis 1978 Latvian Latvian
4268 Cases Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4272 Zangezi Velimir Khlebnikov 1922 Russian Russian
4280 Christmas At The Ivanovs' Alexander Vvedensky 1938 Russian Russian
4282 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4282 Air Of Solitude Gustave Roud 1945 Swiss French
4287 In The Skin Of A Lion Michael Ondaatje 1987 Canadian English
4300 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4392 Crabwalk Günter Grass 2002 German German
4394 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4400 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4414 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4416 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4435 Verzameld Werk: Poëzie Paul van Ostaijen 1955 Belgian Dutch
4436 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4453 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4454 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4528 The Medium Is The Massage Marshall McLuhan 1967 Canadian English
4545 Η Σαρκοφαγος Giorgos Ioannou 1971 Greek Greek
4567 Mortal y rosa Francisco Umbral 1975 Spanish Spanish
4582 Laut Und Luise Ernst Jandl 1966 Austrian German
4598 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown
4607 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch