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
3031 Novel on Yellow Paper Stevie Smith 1936 British English
3050 By Night in Chile Roberto Bolaño 2000 Chilean Spanish
3054 The Invention of Solitude Paul Auster 1982 American English
3055 The Enigma of Arrival V. S. Naipaul 1987 British English
3061 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
3072 Lunch Poems Frank O'Hara 1964 American English
3078 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
3309 The Theater and Its Double Antonin Artaud 1938 French French
3324 Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus Scriblerus Club 1741 British English
3324 Hell Henri Barbusse 1908 French French
3324 Impressions of Africa Raymond Roussel 1910 French French
3324 Tarr Wyndham Lewis 1918 British English
3324 The Apes of God Wyndham Lewis 1930 British English
3324 Monica Saunders Lewis 1930 British Welsh
3324 Insatiability Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz 1930 Polish Polish
3324 Conversations in Sicily Elio Vittorini 1941 Italian Italian
3324 Arcanum 17 André Breton 1944 French French
3324 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3324 Asphodel Hilda Doolittle 1921 American English
3375 Juan De Mairena Antonio Machado 1936 Spanish Spanish
3396 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3404 The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson 1969 British English
3409 The Manila Rope Veijo Meri 1957 Finnish Finnish
3423 The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite 1978 Spanish Spanish
3428 Count Julian Juan Goytisolo 1970 Spanish Spanish
3432 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
3470 Solar Bones Mike McCormack 2016 Irish English
3483 The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. Robert Coover 1968 American English
3526 Looking Back Norman Douglas 1933 British English
3535 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3540 C Tom McCarthy 2010 British English
3553 Log Of The S.S. The Mrs Unguentine Stanley Crawford 1972 American English
3559 Faces In The Water Janet Frame 1961 New Zealander English
3575 Horcynus Orca Stefano D'Arrigo 1975 Italian Italian
3604 A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing Eimear McBride 2013 Irish English
3607 A Throw Of The Dice Will Never Abolish Chance Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
3623 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3638 Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial Sir Thomas Browne 1658 British English
3638 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3638 Blasting And Bombardiering Wyndham Lewis 1937 British English
3802 A Imortalidade Milan Kundera 1990 Czech Czech
3807 Critique Of Cynical Reason Peter Sloterdijk 1983 German German
3834 Mannen utan väg Erik Lindegren 1942 Swedish Swedish
3840 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3849 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020 British English
3850 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3852 JR William Gaddis 1975 American English
3878 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3885 Mother London Michael Moorcock 1988 British English
3890 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3896 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3917 The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore Marianne Moore 1967 American English
3920 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
3934 One Hundred Poems Kenneth Slessor 1944 Australian English
3939 Landscapes With Absent Figures Philippe Jacottet 1970 French French
3945 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3953 Amorgos Nikos Gatsos 1943 Greek Greek
3953 Η κρύπτη Ε.Χ. Γονατάς 1963 Greek Greek
3953 Μπολιβαρ Nikos Engonopoulos 1944 Greek Greek
3953 The Axion Esti Odysseas Elytis 1959 Greek Greek
3953 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3953 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
3953 Νηπενθή Kostas Karyotakis 1921 Greek Greek
3953 Κατά Σαδδουκαίων Michalis Katsaros 1953 Greek Greek
3953 Ποιήματα Α' και Β' Miltos Sachtouris 1945 Greek Greek
3953 Mythistorema George Seferis 1935 Greek Greek
3953 Pagini Bizare Urmuz 1930 Romanian Romanian
3953 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
3953 Ασκητική Nikos Kazantzakis 1927 Greek Greek
4115 For a New Novel Alain Robbe-Grillet 1963 French French
4116 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4135 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4136 The Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit 2013 American English
4145 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4152 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4171 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4227 Each Day Catches Fire Imants Ziedonis 1978 Latvian Latvian
4267 Cases Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4271 Zangezi Velimir Khlebnikov 1922 Russian Russian
4279 Christmas At The Ivanovs' Alexander Vvedensky 1938 Russian Russian
4281 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4281 Air Of Solitude Gustave Roud 1945 Swiss French
4286 In The Skin Of A Lion Michael Ondaatje 1987 Canadian English
4299 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4391 Crabwalk Günter Grass 2002 German German
4393 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4399 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4413 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4415 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4434 Verzameld Werk: Poëzie Paul van Ostaijen 1955 Belgian Dutch
4435 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4452 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4453 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4526 The Medium Is The Massage Marshall McLuhan 1967 Canadian English
4543 Η Σαρκοφαγος Giorgos Ioannou 1971 Greek Greek
4565 Mortal y rosa Francisco Umbral 1975 Spanish Spanish
4580 Laut Und Luise Ernst Jandl 1966 Austrian German
4596 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown
4605 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch