The Greatest Experimental Books Since 1950

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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
2582 Scenes From The Life Of A Faun Arno Schmidt 1953 German German
2588 Red Shift Alan Garner 1973 British English
2600 Almost Transparent Blue Ryū Murakami 1976 Japanese Japanese
2641 The Palm At The End Of The Mind Wallace Stevens 1971 American English
2653 Sleepless Nights Elizabeth Hardwick 1979 American English
2657 Ariel Sylvia Plath 1965 American English
2667 The Songlines Bruce Chatwin 1987 British English
2708 A Lover's Discourse Roland Barthes 1977 French French
2725 The Book Of Questions Edmond Jabès 1963 French French
2806 James Percival Everett 2024 American English
2843 10:04 Ben Lerner 2014 American English
2847 The Museum of Unconditional Surrender Dubravka Ugrešić 1997 Croatian Croatian
2877 Palace of the Peacock Wilson Harris 1960 Guyanese English
2960 A Poem Without A Hero Anna Akhmatova 1960 Russian Russian
2965 The Erasers Alain Robbe-Grillet 1953 French French
2975 The Female Man Joanna Russ 1975 American English
2995 The Doors Of Perception Aldous Huxley 1954 British English
3008 Camera Lucida Roland Barthes 1980 French French
3009 Labyrinths Christopher Okigbo 1971 Nigerian English
3012 By Night in Chile Roberto Bolaño 2000 Chilean Spanish
3056 The Invention of Solitude Paul Auster 1982 American English
3057 The Enigma of Arrival V. S. Naipaul 1987 British English
3063 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
3074 Lunch Poems Frank O'Hara 1964 American English
3097 Open City Teju Cole 2011 American English
3111 Anagrams Lorrie Moore 1986 American English
3117 The White Album Joan Didion 1979 American English
3121 The Possibility Of An Island Michel Houellebecq 2005 French French
3145 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany 1975 American English
3162 Natural Novel Georgi Gospodinov 1999 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3164 Dept. of Speculation Jenny Offill 2014 American English
3165 Gender Trouble Judith Butler 1990 American English
3175 The Thirtieth Year Ingeborg Bachmann 1961 Austrian German
3188 City, Sister, Silver Jáchym Topol 1994 Czech Czech
3193 The Aesthetics Of Resistance Peter Weiss 1975 German German
3209 Briefing For A Descent Into Hell Doris May Lessing 1971 British English
3212 Betty Blue Philippe Djian 1985 French French
3223 Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder Lawrence Weschler 1995 American English
3275 The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis 1993 Colombian Spanish
3324 L'Abbé C Georges Bataille 1950 French French
3396 Cities of the Red Night William S. Burroughs 1981 American English
3404 The Unfortunates B. S. Johnson 1969 British English
3409 The Manila Rope Veijo Meri 1957 Finnish Finnish
3423 The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite 1978 Spanish Spanish
3428 Count Julian Juan Goytisolo 1970 Spanish Spanish
3432 Betrayed by Rita Hayworth Manuel Puig 1968 Argentinian Spanish
3435 On Wings Of Song Thomas M. Disch 1979 American English
3438 The Needle's Eye Fanny Howe 1970 American English
3469 Solar Bones Mike McCormack 2016 Irish English
3482 The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. Robert Coover 1968 American English
3534 The Obscene Madame D Hilda Hilst 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
3539 C Tom McCarthy 2010 British English
3552 Log Of The S.S. The Mrs Unguentine Stanley Crawford 1972 American English
3558 Faces In The Water Janet Frame 1961 New Zealander English
3574 Horcynus Orca Stefano D'Arrigo 1975 Italian Italian
3603 A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing Eimear McBride 2013 Irish English
3622 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3637 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3801 A Imortalidade Milan Kundera 1990 Czech Czech
3806 Critique Of Cynical Reason Peter Sloterdijk 1983 German German
3839 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3848 Piranesi Susanna Clarke 2020 British English
3849 The Unlimited Dream Company J. G. Ballard 1979 British English
3851 JR William Gaddis 1975 American English
3877 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3884 Mother London Michael Moorcock 1988 British English
3889 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3895 The Planetarium Nathalie Sarraute 1959 French French
3916 The Complete Poems of Marianne Moore Marianne Moore 1967 American English
3919 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
3938 Landscapes With Absent Figures Philippe Jacottet 1970 French French
3944 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3952 Η κρύπτη Ε.Χ. Γονατάς 1963 Greek Greek
3952 The Axion Esti Odysseas Elytis 1959 Greek Greek
3952 Κατά Σαδδουκαίων Michalis Katsaros 1953 Greek Greek
4114 For a New Novel Alain Robbe-Grillet 1963 French French
4115 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4134 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4135 The Faraway Nearby Rebecca Solnit 2013 American English
4144 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4151 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4170 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4226 Each Day Catches Fire Imants Ziedonis 1978 Latvian Latvian
4280 The Spirits Of The Earth Catherine Colomb 1962 Swiss French
4285 In The Skin Of A Lion Michael Ondaatje 1987 Canadian English
4298 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4390 Crabwalk Günter Grass 2002 German German
4392 The Friend Sigrid Nunez 2018 American English
4398 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4412 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4414 Diary Witold Gombrowicz 1986 Polish Polish
4433 Verzameld Werk: Poëzie Paul van Ostaijen 1955 Belgian Dutch
4434 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4451 Zurita Raul Zurita 1979 Chilean Spanish
4452 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4526 The Medium Is The Massage Marshall McLuhan 1967 Canadian English
4543 Η Σαρκοφαγος Giorgos Ioannou 1971 Greek Greek
4565 Mortal y rosa Francisco Umbral 1975 Spanish Spanish
4580 Laut Und Luise Ernst Jandl 1966 Austrian German
4596 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown
4605 Verzamelde Gedichten Lucebert 1957 Dutch Dutch
4606 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart 1971 American English
4608 Here Richard McGuire 2014 American English
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 The Wound Malick Fall 1967 Senegalese French
4940 Being Dead Jim Crace 1999 British English
4949 Paper Children Mariana Marin 1987 Romanian Romanian
4986 Living In The Maniototo Janet Frame 1979 New Zealand English
4991 A Thousand Plateaus Gilles Deleuze 1980 French French
5012 The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride 2016 Irish English