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
6852 Apeirogon Colum McCann 2020 Irish English
6855 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
6861 Meditations On The Tarot Unknown 1980 Unknown French
6873 Eustace Chisholm And The Works James Purdy 1967 American English
6902 Raymond And Hannah Stephen Marche 2005 Canadian English
6904 Selected Poems II Margaret Atwood 1987 Canadian English
6913 Herrumbrosas Lanzas Juan Benet 1983 Spanish Spanish
6925 Życie Jest Gdzie Indziej Milan Kundera 1989 Czech Czech
6948 Ducks, Newburyport Lucy Ellmann 2019 British English
6949 The Fantastic In Literature Eric S. Rabkin 1976 American English
6964 Sheeper Irving Rosenthal 1967 American English
6973 The Exquisite Corpse Alfred Chester 1967 American English
6982 Hawthorn & Child Keith Ridgway 2012 Irish English
6985 Sleeping It Off in Rapid City August Kleinzahler 2008 American English
6992 The Employees Olga Ravn 2018 Danish Danish
6997 You Don't Love Yourself Nathalie Sarraute 1989 French French
7002 Collected Poems Jack Gilbert 2012 American English
7039 The Afterlife Of George Cartwright John Steffler 1992 Canadian English
7057 Some Thing Black Jacques Roubaud 1990 French French
7081 The Blazing World Siri Hustvedt 2014 American English
7097 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7097 Guide Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7101 Les Guerilleres Monique Wittig 1969 French French
7104 Get In Trouble Kelly Link 2015 American English
7121 A Louis Zukofsky 1991 American English
7121 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7158 La Horde Du Contrevent Alain Damasio 2004 French French
7177 Out Of Sheer Rage Geoff Dyer 1997 British English
7201 The Language Of The Night Ursula K. Le Guin 1979 American English
7207 Animalinside László Krasznahorkai, Max Neumann 2010 Hungarian Hungarian
7215 Question 7 Richard Flanagan 2023 Unknown English
7218 Seven Dada Manifestoes Tristan Tzara 1924 French French
7218 The Use Of Speech Nathalie Sarraute 1933 French French
7218 The King Of Time Velimir Khlebnikov 1920 Russian Russian
7218 The Geographical History Of America Gertrude Stein 1936 American English
7218 The Journal Of Albion Moonlight Kenneth Patchen 1941 American English
7218 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7218 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7218 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7587 After Sappho Selby Wynn Schwartz 2023 Unknown English
7604 The Beginning Of Infinity David Deutsch 2011 British English
7606 Mourir M'enrhume Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
7607 L'interruption Dominique Noguez 1993 French French
7607 Writing Marguerite Duras 1993 French French
7613 Selected Poetry And Prose Stéphane Mallarmé 1945 French French
7627 Caietul Albastru Nicolae Balotă 2007 Romanian Romanian
7628 Whale Cheon Myeong-kwan 2004 Korean Korean
7633 Telephone Percival Everett 2020 American English
7636 The Big Music Kirsty Gunn 2012 New Zealander English
7665 Against Interpretation Susan Sontag 1966 American English
7657 Paterson William Carlos Williams 1946 American English
7684 Sophie Calle Sophie Calle 1994 French French
7692 Dark Gods T. E. D. Klein 1985 American English
7718 Selected Writings Antonin Artaud 1947 French French
7727 A Worldly Country John Ashbery 2007 American English
7738 The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel Amy Hempel 2006 American English
7745 My Life and My Life in the Nineties Lyn Hejinian 1980 American English
7748 Lifted Bill Manhire 2006 New Zealand English
7750 Geography Iii Elizabeth Bishop 1976 American English
7757 One Hundred and One Poems by Paul Verlaine Paul Verlaine 1948 French French
7755 Mr. Fox Helen Oyeyemi 2011 British English
7773 Poems Of André Breton André Breton 1948 French French
7821 Selected Writings Henri Michaux 1949 French French
7821 Five Novels Ronald Firbank 1949 British English
7829 Mezi Oknem, Stolem A Postelí Petr Borkovec 1996 Czech Czech
7820 Sister Gin June Arnold 1975 American English
7858 Autobiography Of Red Anne Carson 1998 Canadian English
7862 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
7898 Dangerous Laughter Steven Millhauser 2008 American English
7901 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7916 The Braindead Megaphone George Saunders 2007 American English
7941 The Fourth World Diamela Eltit 1988 Chilean Spanish
7943 Phantom Pain Wings Kim Hye-soon 2019 Korean Korean
7945 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7960 La Casa De La Fuerza Angélica Liddell 2009 Spanish Spanish
7968 Selected Writings Guillaume Apollinaire 1952 French French
7968 The Anathemata David Jones 1952 British English
8002 Fragmentos De Un Libro Futuro José Ángel Valente 2000 Spanish Spanish
8010 Victims Of Duty Eugène Ionesco 1953 French French
8026 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8033 A Barbarian In Asia Henri Michaux 1933 French French
8047 Masques J. N. Williamson 1984 American English
8047 Autumn Roses G. Sutton Breiding 1984 American Unknown
8055 The Delights Of Terror Terry Heller 1987 American English
8070 Minor Angels Antoine Volodine 1999 French French
8073 Taipei Tao Lin 2013 American English
8077 Amédée Eugène Ionesco 1954 French French
8077 The Seven Churches Miloš Urban 1999 Czech Czech
8145 Walker On Water Kristiina Ehin 2014 Estonian Estonian
8145 Alindarka’s Children Alhierld Bakharevich 2014 Belarusian Belarusian
8157 Crush Richard Siken 2005 American English
8168 In A State Of Memory Tununa Mercado 1990 Argentinian Spanish
8177 Saints And Strangers Angela Carter 1985 British English
8179 Three Novels Samuel Beckett 1955 Irish French
8194 The Order Of Time Carlo Rovelli 2017 Italian Italian
8204 4.48 Psychosis Sarah Kane 2000 British English
8204 Insomnia Drawings Louise Bourgeois 2000 Unknown English
8204 The Day I Wasn't There Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
8216 Stories In An Almost Classical Mode Harold Brodkey 1989 American English
8221 Rok Perel Zuzana Brabcová 2000 Czech Czech
8236 U and I Nicholson Baker 1991 American English
8245 19 Knives Mark Anthony Jarman 1997 Canadian English
8251 Always Unreliable Clive James 2001 British English
8282 The Wind Claude Simon 1957 French French
8300 Kokuhaku Kō Machida 2005 Japanese Japanese
8330 This All Happened Michael Winter 2000 Canadian English
8338 The Grass Claude Simon 1958 French French
8347 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8362 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8383 Towards Another Summer Janet Frame 2007 New Zealander English
8391 Poems Of Edmond Jabès Edmond Jabès 1959 French French
8391 In The Labyrinth Alain Robbe-Grillet 1959 French French
8404 About The Author John Colapinto 2001 American English
8428 Un Campeón Desparejo Adolfo Bioy Casares 1993 Argentinian Spanish
8445 Diaries 1959 1971 Alejandra Pizarnik 2003 Argentinian Spanish
8447 Panorama Dušan Šarotar 2016 Slovenian Slovene
8463 Headshot Rita Bullwinkel 2024 Unknown English
8475 Three Novels Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
8475 The Maximus Poems Charles Olson 1960 American English
8475 Textermination Christine Brooke-Rose 1992 British English