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
10014 Multiple Choice Alejandro Zambra 2014 Chilean Spanish
10042 Poems Of John Ashbery John Ashbery 1977 American English
10065 Campo De Retamas Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio 2013 Spanish Spanish
10077 Prufrock and Other Observations T. S. Eliot 1917 British English
10099 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10140 Maitreya Severo Sarduy 1978 Cuban Spanish
10140 Nocturnes For The King Of Naples Edmund White 1978 American English
10171 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10184 Insane Rainald Goetz 1983 German German
10185 Harmada João Gilberto Noll 1993 Brazilian Portuguese
10205 Monsieur, Or The Prince Of Darkness Lawrence Durrell 1974 British English
10210 Peripathetic Cher Tan 2020 Unknown English
10211 Neuromaani Jaakko Yli-Juonikas 2012 Finnish Finnish
10212 The Pegnitz Junction Mavis Gallant 1973 Canadian English
10218 Prisoner Of Love Jean Genet 1986 French French
10226 Doctor Pasavento Enrique Vila-Matas 2005 Spanish Spanish
10298 April Fool's Day Josip Novakovich 2004 Croatian English
10309 The Secret Life Of Salvador Dali Salvador Dali 1942 Spanish Spanish
10309 What Is Called Thinking? Martin Heidegger 1954 German German
10309 Sense And Non Sense Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1948 French French
10309 The Course In General Linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure 1916 Swiss French
10361 Liars Sarah Manguso 2024 American English
10385 The Airways Jennifer Mills 2021 Unknown English
10385 Human Looking Andy Jackson 2021 Unknown English
10392 Spent Light Lara Pawson 2024 Unknown English
10440 Bluff Danez Smith 2024 American English
10454 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10454 Mr. Palomar Italo Calvino 1983 Italian Italian
10510 Skin Kathe Koja 1993 American English
10526 Splinters Leslie Jamison 2024 Unknown English
10543 My Struggle: Book 6 Karl Ove Knausgård 2011 Norwegian Norwegian
10595 Varieties of Disturbance Lydia Davis 2007 American English
10600 Strange Sally Diamond Liz Nugent 2023 Irish English
10605 All Things Are Too Small Becca Rothfeld 2024 Unknown English
10670 36 Ways Of Writing A Vietnamese Poem Nam Le 2024 Multiple English
10698 Blue Ruin Hari Kunzru 2024 British English
10713 Hum Helen Phillips 2024 American English
10711 The Lodgers Holly Pester 2024 Unknown English
10735 What Is This Buzzing, Do You Hear It Too? Luigi Malerba 1989 Italian Italian
10737 The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Nabokov 1995 Russian English
10736 Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, And General Tales Of Ordinary Madness Charles Bukowski 1972 American English
10752 Spanking The Maid Robert Coover 1982 American English
10752 The Changing Light At Sandover James Merrill 1982 American English
10821 Montauk Max Frisch 1975 Swiss German
10828 Touching Feeling Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 2003 American English
10832 A Weave Of Women E. M. Broner 1978 American English
10880 The Vitals Tracy Sorensen 2023 Unknown English
10880 The Pole And Other Stories J. M. Coetzee 2023 South African English
10893 Brand New Ancients Kae Tempest 2013 British English
10902 Hotel Splendid Marie Redonnet 1986 French French
10912 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
10912 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
10915 Gaspard De La Nuit Aloysius Bertrand 1842 French French
10916 Роман Vladimir Sorokin 1998 Russian Russian
10939 Langrishe, Go Down Aidan Higgins 1966 Irish English
10941 The Art Of Cruelty Maggie Nelson 2011 American English
10949 The Event Juan José Saer 1988 Argentinian Spanish
10970 That Time Of Year Marie NDiaye 2020 French French
11000 The History Of Sexuality Michel Foucault 1976 French French
11015 Birthday César Aira 2019 Argentinian Spanish
11026 Alphabetical Diaries Sheila Heti 2024 Unknown Unknown
11036 This Sex Which Is Not One Luce Irigary 1977 French French
11058 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11062 Look Solmaz Sharif 2016 American English
11064 The Red Grass Boris Vian 1949 French French
11077 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11077 About a Mountain John D'Agata 2010 American English
11093 Perrudja Hans Henny Jahnn 1929 German German
11093 Murke's Collected Silences Heinrich Böll 1955 German German
11093 B/Moondocks Arno Schmidt 1960 German Unknown
11093 Der Weg Nach Oobliadooh Fritz Rudolf Fries 1966 German German
11093 Die Palette Hubert Fichte 1968 German German
11113 Limb A Jiné Básně Jiří Kolář Czech Czech
11138 An Arrow’s Flight Mark Merlis 1998 American English
11177 Philosophy In The Boudoir Marquis de Sade 1795 French French
11168 Scattered All Over The Earth Yoko Tawada 2018 Japanese Japanese
11184 In Every Moment We Still Are Alive Tom Malmquist 2015 Swedish Swedish
11210 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11248 Another Roadside Attraction Tom Robbins 1971 American English
11256 Nobody Passes Matthew Bernstein Sycamore 2006 Unknown English
11273 Seiobo There Below László Krasznahorkai 2008 Hungarian Hungarian
11278 Space In Motion Juan Goytisolo 1987 Spanish Unknown
11339 The Notes: Or On Non Premature Reconciliation Ludwig Hohl 1980 Swiss German
11357 Solange Willy Kyrklund 1951 Swedish Swedish
11366 Against Poets Witold Gombrowicz Polish Polish
11366 La Fin D'amor Jean-Claude Marol French Unknown
11366 La Patrie Empaillée Jacques Izoard Belgian French
11366 Où Sont Ils Maintenant. Anthologie Personnelle Laura Kasischke Unknown French
11366 Un Feu Au Cœur Du Vent Zéno Bianu French French
11393 Always Astonished Fernando Pessoa 1988 Portuguese Portuguese
11392 Marbot Wolfgang Hildesheimer 1981 German German
11425 A Naked Singularity Sergio De La Pava 2008 American English
11434 Vor Feuerschlünden. Erfahrung Mit Georg Trakls Gedicht Franz Fühmann 1982 German German
11434 Midwinter Day Bernadette Mayer 1982 American English
11440 Field Notes From A Catastrophe Elizabeth Kolbert 2006 American English
11493 Day In Day Out Terézia Mora 2004 German German
11508 The Coming Bad Days Sarah Bernstein 2021 Canadian English
11547 Beautiful Losers Leonard Cohen 1966 Canadian English
11565 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11564 Hinze Kunze Roman Volker Braun 1985 German German
11633 The Instructions Adam Levin 2010 American English
11640 On The Calculation Of Volume Ii Solvej Balle 2020 Unknown Danish
11662 Videogames For Humans Merritt Kopas 2015 Unknown English
11663 Checkout 19 Claire-Louise Bennett 2021 Irish English
11663 A Short History Of Women Kate Walbert 2009 American English
11663 Philosophical Explanations Robert Nozick 1981 American English
11663 An Arrow In The Wall Andrey Voznesensky 1987 Russian Russian
11663 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
11663 Pure Hollywood Christine Schutt 2018 American English
11663 Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg 2018 American English
11807 X, Y Michael Blumlein 1993 American English
11811 Little Labors Rivka Galchen 2016 American English
11826 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11840 In Bluebeard's Castle George Steiner 1971 British English
11871 Throat Sprockets Tim Lucas 1994 American English
11890 Flow Chart John Ashbery 1991 American English
11897 Ekkehard Joseph Victor von Scheffel 1855 German German
11901 A War Of Eyes And Other Stories Wanda Coleman 1988 American English
11901 The Woman Who Was Not All There Paula Sharp 1988 American English
11900 The Drama Of Doctrine Kevin Vanhoozer 2004 American English