The Greatest Experimental Books Since 1900

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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
6854 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
6860 Meditations On The Tarot Unknown 1980 Unknown French
6872 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6901 Raymond And Hannah Stephen Marche 2005 Canadian English
6903 Selected Poems II Margaret Atwood 1987 Canadian English
6912 Herrumbrosas Lanzas Juan Benet 1983 Spanish Spanish
6924 Życie Jest Gdzie Indziej Milan Kundera 1989 Czech Czech
6947 Ducks, Newburyport Lucy Ellmann 2019 British English
6948 The Fantastic In Literature Eric S. Rabkin 1976 American English
6963 Sheeper Irving Rosenthal 1967 American English
6972 The Exquisite Corpse Alfred Chester 1967 American English
6981 Hawthorn & Child Keith Ridgway 2012 Irish English
6984 Sleeping It Off in Rapid City August Kleinzahler 2008 American English
6991 The Employees Olga Ravn 2018 Danish Danish
6996 You Don't Love Yourself Nathalie Sarraute 1989 French French
7001 Collected Poems Jack Gilbert 2012 American English
7038 The Afterlife Of George Cartwright John Steffler 1992 Canadian English
7056 Some Thing Black Jacques Roubaud 1990 French French
7080 The Blazing World Siri Hustvedt 2014 American English
7096 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7096 Guide Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7100 Les Guerilleres Monique Wittig 1969 French French
7103 Get In Trouble Kelly Link 2015 American English
7120 A Louis Zukofsky 1991 American English
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7157 La Horde Du Contrevent Alain Damasio 2004 French French
7175 Out Of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer 1997 British English
7199 The Language Of The Night Ursula K. Le Guin 1979 American English
7205 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7212 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7215 Selected Works Alfred Jarry 1901 French French
7215 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
7215 The Use Of Speech Nathalie Sarraute 1933 French French
7215 The King Of Time Velimir Khlebnikov 1920 Russian Russian
7215 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7215 The Journal Of Albion Moonlight Kenneth Patchen 1941 American English
7215 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7215 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7215 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7585 After Sappho Selby Wynn Schwartz 2023 Unknown English
7602 The Beginning Of Infinity David Deutsch 2011 British English
7604 Mourir M'enrhume Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
7605 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7605 Writing Marguerite Duras 1993 French French
7611 Selected Poetry And Prose Stéphane Mallarmé 1945 French French
7625 Caietul Albastru Nicolae Balotă 2007 Romanian Romanian
7626 Whale Cheon Myeong-kwan 2004 Korean Korean
7631 Telephone Percival Everett 2020 American English
7634 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7663 Against Interpretation Susan Sontag 1966 American English
7655 Paterson William Carlos Williams 1946 American English
7682 Sophie Calle Sophie Calle 1994 French French
7690 Dark Gods T. E. D. Klein 1985 American English
7716 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7725 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7736 The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel 2006 American English
7743 My Life and My Life in the Nineties Lyn Hejinian 1980 American English
7746 Lifted Bill Manhire 2006 New Zealand English
7748 Geography Iii Elizabeth Bishop 1976 American English
7755 One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine Paul Verlaine 1948 French French
7753 Mr. Fox Helen Oyeyemi 2011 British English
7771 Poems Of André Breton André Breton 1948 French French
7819 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7819 Five Novels Ronald Firbank 1949 British English
7827 Mezi Oknem, Stolem A Postelí Petr Borkovec 1996 Czech Czech
7818 Sister Gin June Arnold 1975 American English
7856 Autobiography Of Red Anne Carson 1998 Canadian English
7860 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7896 Dangerous Laughter Steven Millhauser 2008 American English
7899 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7914 The Braindead Megaphone George Saunders 2007 American English
7939 The Fourth World Diamela Eltit 1988 Chilean Spanish
7941 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
7943 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7958 La Casa De La Fuerza Angélica Liddell 2009 Spanish Spanish
7966 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
7966 The Anathemata David Jones 1952 British English
8000 Fragmentos De Un Libro Futuro José Ángel Valente 2000 Spanish Spanish
8008 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8024 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8031 A Barbarian In Asia Henri Michaux 1933 French French
8045 Masques J. N. Williamson 1984 American English
8045 Autumn Roses G. Sutton Breiding 1984 American Unknown
8053 The Delights Of Terror Terry Heller 1987 American English
8068 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8071 Taipei Tao Lin 2013 American English
8075 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8075 The Seven Churches Miloš Urban 1999 Czech Czech
8143 Walker On Water Kristiina Ehin 2014 Estonian Estonian
8143 Alindarka’s Children Alhierld Bakharevich 2014 Belarusian Belarusian
8155 Crush Richard Siken 2005 American English
8166 In A State Of Memory Tununa Mercado 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8175 Saints And Strangers Angela Carter 1985 British English
8177 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8192 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
8202 4.48 Psychosis Sarah Kane 2000 British English
8202 Insomnia Drawings Louise Bourgeois 2000 Unknown English
8202 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8214 Stories In An Almost Classical Mode Harold Brodkey 1989 American English
8218 Rok Perel Zuzana Brabcová 2000 Czech Czech
8233 U and I Nicholson Baker 1991 American English
8242 19 Knives Mark Anthony Jarman 1997 Canadian English
8248 Always Unreliable Clive James 2001 British English
8279 The Wind Claude Simon 1957 French French
8297 Kokuhaku Kō Machida 2005 Japanese Japanese
8327 This All Happened Michael Winter 2000 Canadian English
8335 The Grass Claude Simon 1958 French French
8344 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8359 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8380 Towards Another Summer Janet Frame 2007 New Zealander English
8388 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8388 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
8401 About The Author John Colapinto 2001 American English
8425 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
8442 Diaries 1959 1971 Alejandra Pizarnik 2003 Argentinian Spanish
8444 Panorama Dušan Šarotar 2016 Slovenian Slovene
8460 Headshot Rita Bullwinkel 2024 Unknown English
8472 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8472 The Maximus Poems Charles Olson 1960 American English
8472 Textermination Christine Brooke-Rose 1992 British English