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
4606 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4608 Here Richard McGuire 2014 American English
4620 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
4640 The Psychopathology Of Everyday Life Sigmund Freud 1901 German German
4644 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
4660 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4664 Building Stories Chris Ware 2012 American English
4662 The Fan Man William Kotzwinkle 1974 American English
4761 Vertigo W. G. Sebald 1990 German German
4782 Ice Anna Kavan 1967 British English
4791 Corporale Paolo Volponi 1974 Italian Italian
4802 Dictee Theresa Hak Kyung Cha 1982 American English
4807 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4855 Zettels Traum Arno Schmidt 1970 German German
4877 To The End Of The World Blaise Cendrars 1957 French French
4877 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4877 The Wound Malick Fall 1967 Senegalese French
4939 Being Dead Jim Crace 1999 British English
4948 Paper Children Mariana Marin 1987 Romanian Romanian
4954 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
4954 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
4954 The Supermale Alfred Jarry 1902 French French
4985 Living In The Maniototo Janet Frame 1979 New Zealand English
4990 A Thousand Plateaus Gilles Deleuze 1980 French French
5011 The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride 2016 Irish English
5042 Fantazius Mallare Ben Hecht 1922 American English
5042 Devil's Tor David Lindsay 1932 British English
5042 Living Alone Stella Benson 1919 British English
5124 Maria Nephele Odysseas Elytis 1979 Greek Greek
5124 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5152 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5169 Omniumgathum Jonathan Bacon, Steve Troyanovich 1976 Unknown Unknown
5253 Geur der droefenis Alfred Kossmann 1980 Dutch Dutch
5283 από το στόμα της παλιάς Remington Giannis Panou 1981 Greek Greek
5283 Tratament Fabulatoriu Mircea Nedelciu 1986 Romanian Romanian
5290 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5336 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5360 Schilten Hermann Burger 1976 Swiss German
5383 The Other Place And Other Stories J. B. Priestley 1953 British English
5390 Personae Ezra Pound 1909 American English
5402 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
5415 A Dictionary Of Maqiao Han Shaogong 1996 Chinese Chinese
5432 A Journey Round My Skull Frigyes Karinthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
5460 The Animals In That Country Laura Jean McKay 2020 Australian English
5473 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5475 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5485 Body Rags Galway Kinnell 1968 American English
5485 The Voices of Marrakesh Elias Canetti 1968 Bulgarian German
5523 A Humument Tom Phillips 1970 British English
5529 Velbloud Uchem Jehl František Langer 1923 Czech Czech
5529 Summer Of Caprice Vladislav Vančura 1926 Czech Czech
5529 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5529 Kohout Plaší Smrt František Halas 1930 Czech Czech
5529 Prométheova Játra Jiří Kolář 1950 Czech Czech
5529 Zimohrádek Ivan Wernisch 1965 Czech Czech
5580 This Is How You Lose The Time War Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone 2019 Multiple English
5581 Democracy Joan Didion 1984 American English
5621 Biography Of X Catherine Lacey 2023 American English
5628 Ego Monster Sayd Bahodine Majrouh 1985 Afghan French
5651 Reasons to Live Amy Hempel 1985 American English
5651 The Parable of the Blind Gert Hofmann 1985 German German
5665 A Wake For The Living Radmila Lazić 1996 Serbian Serbian
5681 Various Persons Named Kevin O'brien Alden Nowlan 1973 Canadian English
5683 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5690 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5706 Sertarul Cu Aplauze Ana Blandiana 1992 Romanian Romanian
5718 Warlight Michael Ondaatje 2018 Canadian English
5739 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5747 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5748 The Insult Rupert Thomson 1996 British English
5754 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5772 Χαιρε Ποτε Kiki Dimoula 1988 Greek Greek
5800 Kruso Lutz Seiler 2014 German German
5802 Martyr! Kaveh Akbar 2024 American English
5912 Our Lord Don Quixote Miguel de Unamuno 1935 Spanish Spanish
5928 Light M. John Harrison 2002 British English
5932 Look At Me Now And Here I Am Gertrude Stein 1967 American Unknown
5964 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
5990 Writing Degree Zero Roland Barthes 1953 French French
5998 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6002 Inner Experience Georges Bataille 1943 French French
6002 Waiting For Nothing And Other Writings Tom Kromer 1935 American English
6002 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6002 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6002 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6002 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6002 Divagations Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
6002 Les Métamorphoses Du Cercle Georges Poulet 1961 Belgian French
6002 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6002 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6002 No One's Rose Paul Celan 1963 German German
6002 Poem Of The End Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6002 Pylon William Faulkner 1935 American English
6002 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6002 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6002 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6002 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6002 The Pine Wood Notebook Francis Ponge 1947 French French
6002 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6002 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6002 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6073 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6083 Sundog Jim Harrison 1984 American English
6103 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
6103 Het Boek Alfa Ivo Michiels 1963 Belgian Dutch
6122 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6141 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
6142 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6176 Geste Michelle Grangaud 1991 French French
6198 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6217 Chronicle of Feelings Alexander Kluge 2000 German German
6220 In Country Sleep Dylan Thomas 1952 Welsh English
6232 The Cannibal John Hawkes 1949 American English
6233 Petrolio Pier Paolo Pasolini 1992 Italian Italian
6254 Omensetter's Luck William H. Gass 1966 American English
6281 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6289 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6301 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6313 Comfort Me With Apples Peter De Vries 1956 American English
6353 Yes Thomas Bernhard 1978 Austrian German