The Greatest Experimental Books Since 1990

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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
10877 The Vitals Tracy Sorensen 2023 Unknown English
10877 The Pole And Other Stories J. M. Coetzee 2023 South African English
10890 Brand New Ancients Kae Tempest 2013 British English
10909 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
10909 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
10913 Роман Vladimir Sorokin 1998 Russian Russian
10938 The Art Of Cruelty Maggie Nelson 2011 American English
10967 That Time Of Year Marie NDiaye 2020 French French
11012 Birthday César Aira 2019 Argentinian Spanish
11023 Alphabetical Diaries Sheila Heti 2024 Unknown Unknown
11055 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11059 Look Solmaz Sharif 2016 American English
11074 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11074 About a Mountain John D'Agata 2010 American English
11135 An Arrow’s Flight Mark Merlis 1998 American English
11165 Scattered All Over The Earth Yoko Tawada 2018 Japanese Japanese
11181 In Every Moment We Still Are Alive Tom Malmquist 2015 Swedish Swedish
11207 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11253 Nobody Passes Matthew Bernstein Sycamore 2006 Unknown English
11270 Seiobo There Below László Krasznahorkai 2008 Hungarian Hungarian
11423 A Naked Singularity Sergio De La Pava 2008 American English
11438 Field Notes From A Catastrophe Elizabeth Kolbert 2006 American English
11492 Day In Day Out Terézia Mora 2004 German German
11507 The Coming Bad Days Sarah Bernstein 2021 Canadian English
11564 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11631 The Instructions Adam Levin 2010 American English
11638 On The Calculation Of Volume Ii Solvej Balle 2020 Unknown Danish
11660 Videogames For Humans Merritt Kopas 2015 Unknown English
11661 Checkout 19 Claire-Louise Bennett 2021 Irish English
11661 A Short History Of Women Kate Walbert 2009 American English
11661 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
11661 Pure Hollywood Christine Schutt 2018 American English
11661 Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg 2018 American English
11805 X, Y Michael Blumlein 1993 American English
11809 Little Labors Rivka Galchen 2016 American English
11824 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11869 Throat Sprockets Tim Lucas 1994 American English
11888 Flow Chart John Ashbery 1991 American English
11898 The Drama Of Doctrine Kevin Vanhoozer 2004 American English
11932 This Young Monster Charlie Fox 2017 British English
12021 The Off Season Jack Cady 1995 American English
12060 Cannonball Joseph McElroy 2013 American English
12112 Hotel Lautréamont John Ashbery 1992 American English
12111 Every Riven Thing Christian Wiman 2010 American English
12158 My Work Olga Ravn 2023 Danish Danish
12231 The Karnau Tapes Marcel Beyer 1995 German German
12241 Brother Brontë Fernando A. Flores 2023 Unknown English
12258 Through The Arc Of The Rain Forest Karen Tei Yamashita 1990 American English
12482 EEG Daša Drndić 2016 Croatian Croatian
12656 And The Stars Were Shining John Ashbery 1994 American English
12752 Border Districts Gerald Murnane 2017 Australian English
12755 Maidenhair Mikhail Shishkin 2005 Russian Russian
12764 Father's On The Phone With The Flies Herta Müller 2012 German German
12806 Ich Bin In Der Anstalt Friederike Mayröcker 2000 Austrian German
12833 The Straight Mind Monique Wittig 1992 French French
12865 The Extreme Self Douglas Coupland, Shumon Basar, Hans Ulrich Obrist 2021 Multiple English
13160 Lode Gillian Allnutt 2025 English English
13257 You Shall Know Our Velocity Dave Eggers 2002 American English
13285 How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe Charles Yu 2010 American English
13287 Nocilla Dream Agustín Fernández Mallo 2006 Spanish Spanish
13318 Brief Interviews With Hideous Men David Foster Wallace 1999 American English
13330 Wir Schlafen Nicht Kathrin Röggla 2004 Austrian German
13329 Olio Tyehimba Jess 2016 American English
13553 Tell The Machine Goodnight Katie Williams 2018 American English
13567 J Pod Douglas Coupland 2006 Canadian English
13600 The Roving Shadows Pascal Quignard 2002 French English
13711 The Fruit Thief Peter Handke 2017 Austrian German
13765 Anathem Neal Stephenson 2008 American English
13818 Nottetempo, Casa Per Casa Vincenzo Consolo 1992 Italian Italian
13941 The Story Of My Teeth Valeria Luiselli 2015 Mexican Spanish
13964 Arbeit Und Struktur Wolfgang Herrndorf 2013 German German
13971 Hotel World Ali Smith 2001 British English
14047 Whereas Layli Long Soldier 2017 American English
14063 The Troika Stepan Chapman 1997 American English
14070 Erste Erde Epos Raoul Schrott 2016 Austrian German
14113 The Man Who Saw Everything Deborah Levy 2019 British English
14164 Am Weltenrand Sitzen Die Menschen Und Lachen Philipp Weiss 2018 Austrian German
14232 Dart Alice Oswald 2002 British English
14232 In Ascension Martin MacInnes 2024 British English
14232 Memoirs Of A Polar Bear Yoko Tawada 2011 German German
14327 Shapes Of Native Nonfiction Elissa Washuta, Theresa Warburton 2019 Unknown English
14370 Aus Der Zuckerfabrik Dorothee Elmiger 2020 Swiss German
14404 Die Inkommensurablen Raphaela Edelbauer 2021 Austrian German
14431 American Innovations Rivka Galchen 2014 American English
14648 Wetlands Charlotte Roche 2008 German German
14649 Tadanori Yokoo Daido Moriyama 2006 Japanese Japanese
14984 Going Native Stephen Wright 1994 American English
14984 No One Belongs Here More Than You Miranda July 2007 American English
14984 On the Calculation Of Volume 2 Solvej Balle 2024 Danish Danish
14984 Tremor Teju Cole 2023 American Unknown
14984 The Vorrh Brian Catling 2012 British English
14984 Bury Your Gays Chuck Tingle 2024 Unknown English
14984 The Faculty of Dreams Sara Stridsberg 2006 Swedish Swedish
14984 Affinities Brian Dillon 2023 British English
14984 Siete Casas Vacías Samanta Schweblin 2015 Argentinian Spanish
15664 Oculus Sally Wen Mao 2019 American English
17150 The PowerBook Jeanette Winterson 2000 British English
17150 Hopeful Monsters Nicholas Mosley 1990 British English
17150 The Age of Wire and String Ben Marcus 1995 American English
17150 In Memoriam to Identity Kathy Acker 1990 American English
17150 Hogg Samuel R. Delany 1995 American English
17150 The Invented Part Rodrigo Fresán 2014 Argentinian Spanish
17150 Eucalyptus Murray Bail 1998 Australian English
17150 Red John Logan 2009 American English
17150 Heroines Kate Zambreno 2012 American English
17150 The Cosmic Landscape Leonard Susskind 2005 American English
17150 Medieval In La Jim Paul 1996 American English
17150 Artful Ali Smith 2012 British English
17150 A Moment's Liberty Virginia Woolf 1990 British English
17150 On Such A Full Sea Chang-rae Lee 2014 American English
17150 Great Mambo Chicken And The Transhuman Condition Ed Regis 1990 American English
17150 Man After Man Dougal Dixon 1990 British English
17150 Eunoia Christian Bök 2001 Canadian English
17150 The Middle Stories Sheila Heti 2001 Canadian English
17150 The Windy City Moussa Ould Ebnou 1998 Unknown Unknown
17150 Les 1001 années de la nostalgie Rachid Boudjedra 1997 Algerian French
17150 Leica Format Daša Drndić 2003 Croatian Croatian
17150 But Beautiful Geoff Dyer 1991 British English
17150 Woodworm Layla Martínez 2024 Spanish Unknown
17150 Invisible Monsters Chuck Palahniuk 1999 American English