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
5125 Maria Nephele Odysseas Elytis 1979 Greek Greek
5125 Ο Εχθρός του Ποιητή Giorgos Heimonas 1979 Greek Greek
5153 Cursed Bunny Bora Chung 2021 Korean Korean
5170 Omniumgathum Jonathan Bacon, Steve Troyanovich 1976 Unknown Unknown
5254 Geur der droefenis Alfred Kossmann 1980 Dutch Dutch
5284 από το στόμα της παλιάς Remington Giannis Panou 1981 Greek Greek
5284 Tratament Fabulatoriu Mircea Nedelciu 1986 Romanian Romanian
5291 Notes On The Cinematographer Robert Bresson 1975 French French
5337 Ellis Island Georges Perec 1980 French French
5361 Schilten Hermann Burger 1976 Swiss German
5385 The Other Place And Other Stories J. B. Priestley 1953 British English
5404 Our Sister Killjoy Ama Ata Aidoo 1977 Ghanaian English
5417 A Dictionary Of Maqiao Han Shaogong 1996 Chinese Chinese
5462 The Animals In That Country Laura Jean McKay 2020 Australian English
5475 Zero Ignácio De Loyola Brandão 1974 Brazilian Portuguese
5477 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5487 Body Rags Galway Kinnell 1968 American English
5487 The Voices of Marrakesh Elias Canetti 1968 Bulgarian German
5524 A Humument Tom Phillips 1970 British English
5530 Prométheova Játra Jiří Kolář 1950 Czech Czech
5530 Zimohrádek Ivan Wernisch 1965 Czech Czech
5581 This Is How You Lose The Time War Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone 2019 Multiple English
5582 Democracy Joan Didion 1984 American English
5623 Biography Of X Catherine Lacey 2023 American English
5630 Ego Monster Sayd Bahodine Majrouh 1985 Afghan French
5653 Reasons to Live Amy Hempel 1985 American English
5653 The Parable of the Blind Gert Hofmann 1985 German German
5667 A Wake For The Living Radmila Lazić 1996 Serbian Serbian
5683 Various Persons Named Kevin O'brien Alden Nowlan 1973 Canadian English
5685 Big Blondes Jean Echenoz 1995 French French
5692 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5708 Sertarul Cu Aplauze Ana Blandiana 1992 Romanian Romanian
5720 Warlight Michael Ondaatje 2018 Canadian English
5749 The Message In the Bottle Walker Percy 1975 American English
5750 The Insult Rupert Thomson 1996 British English
5774 Χαιρε Ποτε Kiki Dimoula 1988 Greek Greek
5802 Kruso Lutz Seiler 2014 German German
5804 Martyr! Kaveh Akbar 2024 American English
5930 Light M. John Harrison 2002 British English
5935 Look At Me Now And Here I Am Gertrude Stein 1967 American Unknown
5967 Pornografia Witold Gombrowicz 1960 Polish Polish
5993 Writing Degree Zero Roland Barthes 1953 French French
6000 The Cipher Kathe Koja 1991 American English
6004 An Anecdoted Topography Of Chance Daniel Spoerri 1962 Multiple French
6004 Dire I–Ii Danielle Collobert 1972 French French
6004 Les Métamorphoses Du Cercle Georges Poulet 1961 Belgian French
6004 No One's Rose Paul Celan 1963 German German
6004 Someone Robert Pinget 1965 French French
6004 The Golden Fruits Nathalie Sarraute 1963 French French
6004 The Motorcycle André Pieyre de Mandiargues 1963 French French
6004 Which Moped With Chrome Plated Handlebars At The Back Of The Yard? Georges Perec 1966 French French
6075 The Voyeur Alain Robbe-Grillet 1955 French French
6085 Sundog Jim Harrison 1984 American English
6105 Apocrief De Analphabetische Naam Lucebert 1952 Dutch Dutch
6105 Het Boek Alfa Ivo Michiels 1963 Belgian Dutch
6124 Inland Gerald Murnane 1988 Australian English
6143 The Time Ludmila Petrushevskaya 1992 Russian Russian
6144 Oreille Rouge Eric Chevillard 1993 French French
6178 Geste Michelle Grangaud 1991 French French
6200 The Elegies Of Oxopetra Odysseas Elytis 1991 Greek Greek
6219 Chronicle of Feelings Alexander Kluge 2000 German German
6222 In Country Sleep Dylan Thomas 1952 Welsh English
6235 Petrolio Pier Paolo Pasolini 1992 Italian Italian
6256 Omensetter's Luck William H. Gass 1966 American English
6283 Sur La Scène Intérieure Marcel Cohen 2013 French French
6291 Amers Saint-John Perse 1957 French French
6303 Dreaming Of Babylon Richard Brautigan 1977 American English
6315 Comfort Me With Apples Peter De Vries 1956 American English
6355 Yes Thomas Bernhard 1978 Austrian German
6410 Bluets Maggie Nelson 2009 American English
6426 Le Pays Où Tout Est Permis Sophie Podolski 1979 Unknown French
6438 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6458 The Essential Ellison Harlan Ellison 1987 American English
6461 Never Did The Fire Diamela Eltit 2022 Chilean Spanish
6472 The Sound Of My Voice Ron Butlin 1987 British English
6476 War & War László Krasznahorkai 1999 Hungarian Hungarian
6486 The Philosopher's Stone Colin Wilson 1969 British English
6503 The End Of The Road John Barth 1958 American English
6517 Ghost Image Hervé Guibert 1981 French French
6542 F Dumitru Radu Popescu 2000 Romanian Unknown
6567 Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming László Krasznahorkai 2016 Hungarian Hungarian
6594 Centuria Giorgio Manganelli 1979 Italian Italian
6608 The Anomaly Hervé Le Tellier 2020 French French
6616 The Poetics Of Space Gaston Bachelard 1958 French French
6621 Zone Mathias Enard 2008 French French
6633 Reveries Of The Wild Woman Hélène Cixous 2000 French French
6637 The Curse Of Lono Hunter S. Thompson 1983 American English
6637 The Opoponax Monique Wittig 1983 French French
6637 The Ruin Of Kasch Roberto Calasso 1983 Italian Italian
6637 The Stadium Of Wimbledon Daniele del Giudice 1983 Italian Italian
6688 Le Drame De La Vie & Le Discours Aux Animaux Valère Novarina 1984 French French
6698 Landscapes After the Battle Juan Goytisolo 1982 Spanish Spanish
6709 Knížka S červeným Obalem Alexandra Berková 1986 Czech Czech
6715 The Origin Of Consciousness In The Breakdown Of The Bicameral Mind Julian Jaynes 1976 American English
6737 Emergence Steven Johnson 2001 American English
6787 Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments Saidiya Hartman 2019 American English
6811 Écrits Jacques Lacan 1966 French French
6846 Three Georges Perec 1991 French French
6851 Apeirogon Colum McCann 2020 Irish English
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