The Greatest Experimental Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
4608 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4610 Here Richard McGuire 2014 American English
4622 Calligrammes Guillaume Apollinaire 1918 French French
4642 The Psychopathology Of Everyday Life Sigmund Freud 1901 German German
4646 The Face Of Another Kobo Abé 1964 Japanese Japanese
4662 The Complete Stories Clarice Lispector 2016 Brazilian Portuguese
4666 Building Stories Chris Ware 2012 American English
4664 The Fan Man William Kotzwinkle 1974 American English
4763 Vertigo W. G. Sebald 1990 German German
4784 Ice Anna Kavan 1967 British English
4794 Corporale Paolo Volponi 1974 Italian Italian
4804 Dictee Theresa Hak Kyung Cha 1982 American English
4810 Oktana Andreas Embiricos 1975 Greek Greek
4857 Zettels Traum Arno Schmidt 1970 German German
4879 To The End Of The World Blaise Cendrars 1957 French French
4879 L'instant Fatal Raymond Queneau 1948 French French
4879 The Wound Malick Fall 1967 Senegalese French
4942 Being Dead Jim Crace 1999 British English
4951 Paper Children Mariana Marin 1987 Romanian Romanian
4957 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
4957 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
4957 The Supermale Alfred Jarry 1902 French French
4989 Living In The Maniototo Janet Frame 1979 New Zealand English
4994 A Thousand Plateaus Gilles Deleuze 1980 French French
5015 The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride 2016 Irish English
5046 Fantazius Mallare Ben Hecht 1922 American English
5046 Devil's Tor David Lindsay 1932 British English
5046 Living Alone Stella Benson 1919 British English
5127 Maria Nephele Odysseas Elytis 1979 Greek Greek
5127 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5155 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5172 Omniumgathum Jonathan Bacon, Steve Troyanovich 1976 Unknown Unknown
5255 Geur der droefenis Alfred Kossmann 1980 Dutch Dutch
5285 από το στόμα της παλιάς Remington Giannis Panou 1981 Greek Greek
5285 Tratament Fabulatoriu Mircea Nedelciu 1986 Romanian Romanian
5292 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5338 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5362 Schilten Hermann Burger 1976 Swiss German
5386 The Other Place And Other Stories J. B. Priestley 1953 British English
5393 Personae Ezra Pound 1909 American English
5405 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
5418 A Dictionary Of Maqiao Han Shaogong 1996 Chinese Chinese
5435 A Journey Round My Skull Frigyes Karinthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
5463 The Animals In That Country Laura Jean McKay 2020 Australian English
5476 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5478 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5488 Body Rags Galway Kinnell 1968 American English
5488 The Voices of Marrakesh Elias Canetti 1968 Bulgarian German
5525 A Humument Tom Phillips 1970 British English
5531 Velbloud Uchem Jehl František Langer 1923 Czech Czech
5531 Summer Of Caprice Vladislav Vančura 1926 Czech Czech
5531 The Sufferings Of Prince Sternenhoch Ladislav Klíma 1928 Czech Czech
5531 Kohout Plaší Smrt František Halas 1930 Czech Czech
5531 Prométheova Játra Jiří Kolář 1950 Czech Czech
5531 Zimohrádek Ivan Wernisch 1965 Czech Czech
5582 This Is How You Lose The Time War Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone 2019 Multiple English
5583 Democracy Joan Didion 1984 American English
5624 Biography Of X Catherine Lacey 2023 American English
5631 Ego Monster Sayd Bahodine Majrouh 1985 Afghan French
5654 Reasons to Live Amy Hempel 1985 American English
5654 The Parable of the Blind Gert Hofmann 1985 German German
5668 A Wake For The Living Radmila Lazić 1996 Serbian Serbian
5684 Various Persons Named Kevin O'brien Alden Nowlan 1973 Canadian English
5686 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5693 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5709 Sertarul Cu Aplauze Ana Blandiana 1992 Romanian Romanian
5721 Warlight Michael Ondaatje 2018 Canadian English
5742 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5750 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5751 The Insult Rupert Thomson 1996 British English
5757 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5775 Χαιρε Ποτε Kiki Dimoula 1988 Greek Greek
5803 Kruso Lutz Seiler 2014 German German
5805 Martyr! Kaveh Akbar 2024 American English
5917 Our Lord Don Quixote Miguel de Unamuno 1935 Spanish Spanish
5931 Light M. John Harrison 2002 British English
5936 Look At Me Now And Here I Am Gertrude Stein 1967 American Unknown
5968 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
5994 Writing Degree Zero Roland Barthes 1953 French French
6001 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6005 Inner Experience Georges Bataille 1943 French French
6005 Waiting For Nothing And Other Writings Tom Kromer 1935 American English
6005 A Certain Plume Henri Michaux 1930 French English
6005 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6005 Die Niederschrift Des Gustav Anias Horn Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
6005 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6005 Divagations Stéphane Mallarmé 1897 French French
6005 Les Métamorphoses Du Cercle Georges Poulet 1961 Belgian French
6005 Madness Of The Day Maurice Blanchot 1949 French French
6005 Marginalia On Casanova Miklós Szentkuthy 1939 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 No One's Rose Paul Celan 1963 German German
6005 Poem Of The End Marina Tsvetaeva 1923 Russian Russian
6005 Pylon William Faulkner 1935 American English
6005 Quai Des Grands Augustins Jean Rhys 1930 Unknown French
6005 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6005 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6005 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6005 The Pine Wood Notebook Francis Ponge 1947 French French
6005 The Story Of My Wife Milán Füst 1942 Hungarian Hungarian
6005 Three Women Robert Musil 1924 Austrian German
6005 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6076 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6086 Sundog Jim Harrison 1984 American English
6106 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
6106 Het Boek Alfa Ivo Michiels 1963 Belgian Dutch
6125 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6144 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
6145 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6179 Geste Michelle Grangaud 1991 French French
6202 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6221 Chronicle of Feelings Alexander Kluge 2000 German German
6224 In Country Sleep Dylan Thomas 1952 Welsh English
6236 The Cannibal John Hawkes 1949 American English
6237 Petrolio Pier Paolo Pasolini 1992 Italian Italian
6257 Omensetter's Luck William H. Gass 1966 American English
6284 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6292 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6304 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6316 Comfort Me With Apples Peter De Vries 1956 American English
6356 Yes Thomas Bernhard 1978 Austrian German