The Greatest Experimental Books Since 2000

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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
9137 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
9140 The Consequences Niña Weijers 2014 Dutch Dutch
9144 Can You Tolerate This? Ashleigh Young 2016 New Zealand English
9161 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9225 The Passenger Cormac McCarthy 2022 American English
9236 Panthers And The Museum Of Fire Jen Craig 2015 Australian English
9246 The Red Tree Caitlín R. Kiernan 2009 American English
9311 Down To The Dirt Joel Hynes 2004 Canadian English
9348 Hera Lindsay Bird Hera Lindsay Bird 2016 New Zealand English
9376 Their Brilliant Careers Ryan O’Neill 2016 Australian English
9607 Meteor In The Madhouse Leon Forrest 2001 American English
9644 Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 Congolese French
9659 Rachel, Monique… Sophie Calle 2012 French French
9661 F Letter Galina Rymbu, Eugene Ostashevsky, Ainsley Morse 2021 Russian Russian
9678 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9766 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9773 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9785 Dead Collections Isaac Fellman 2022 Unknown English
9811 Journal Julie Delporte 2013 Unknown French
9830 Tristano Dies Antonio Tabucchi 2004 Italian Italian
9852 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9963 On The Calculation Of Volume Solvej Balle 2025 Danish Danish
10015 Multiple Choice Alejandro Zambra 2014 Chilean Spanish
10065 Campo De Retamas Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio 2013 Spanish Spanish
10099 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10171 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10210 Peripathetic Cher Tan 2020 Unknown English
10211 Neuromaani Jaakko Yli-Juonikas 2012 Finnish Finnish
10226 Doctor Pasavento Enrique Vila-Matas 2005 Spanish Spanish
10298 April Fool's Day Josip Novakovich 2004 Croatian English
10361 Liars Sarah Manguso 2024 American English
10385 The Airways Jennifer Mills 2021 Unknown English
10385 Human Looking Andy Jackson 2021 Unknown English
10392 Spent Light Lara Pawson 2024 Unknown English
10440 Bluff Danez Smith 2024 American English
10454 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10526 Splinters Leslie Jamison 2024 Unknown English
10543 My Struggle: Book 6 Karl Ove Knausgård 2011 Norwegian Norwegian
10595 Varieties of Disturbance Lydia Davis 2007 American English
10600 Strange Sally Diamond Liz Nugent 2023 Irish English
10605 All Things Are Too Small Becca Rothfeld 2024 Unknown English
10670 36 Ways Of Writing A Vietnamese Poem Nam Le 2024 Multiple English
10698 Blue Ruin Hari Kunzru 2024 British English
10713 Hum Helen Phillips 2024 American English
10711 The Lodgers Holly Pester 2024 Unknown English
10828 Touching Feeling Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 2003 American English
10880 The Vitals Tracy Sorensen 2023 Unknown English
10880 The Pole And Other Stories J. M. Coetzee 2023 South African English
10893 Brand New Ancients Kae Tempest 2013 British English
10912 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
10912 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
10941 The Art Of Cruelty Maggie Nelson 2011 American English
10970 That Time Of Year Marie NDiaye 2020 French French
11015 Birthday César Aira 2019 Argentinian Spanish
11026 Alphabetical Diaries Sheila Heti 2024 Unknown Unknown
11058 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11062 Look Solmaz Sharif 2016 American English
11077 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11077 About a Mountain John D'Agata 2010 American English
11168 Scattered All Over The Earth Yoko Tawada 2018 Japanese Japanese
11184 In Every Moment We Still Are Alive Tom Malmquist 2015 Swedish Swedish
11210 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11256 Nobody Passes Matthew Bernstein Sycamore 2006 Unknown English
11273 Seiobo There Below László Krasznahorkai 2008 Hungarian Hungarian
11425 A Naked Singularity Sergio De La Pava 2008 American English
11440 Field Notes From A Catastrophe Elizabeth Kolbert 2006 American English
11493 Day In Day Out Terézia Mora 2004 German German
11508 The Coming Bad Days Sarah Bernstein 2021 Canadian English
11565 Nox Anne Carson 2010 Canadian English
11633 The Instructions Adam Levin 2010 American English
11640 On The Calculation Of Volume Ii Solvej Balle 2020 Unknown Danish
11662 Videogames For Humans Merritt Kopas 2015 Unknown English
11663 Checkout 19 Claire-Louise Bennett 2021 Irish English
11663 A Short History Of Women Kate Walbert 2009 American English
11663 Friday Black Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 2018 American English
11663 Pure Hollywood Christine Schutt 2018 American English
11663 Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg 2018 American English
11811 Little Labors Rivka Galchen 2016 American English
11826 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11900 The Drama Of Doctrine Kevin Vanhoozer 2004 American English
11934 This Young Monster Charlie Fox 2017 British English
12062 Cannonball Joseph McElroy 2013 American English
12112 Every Riven Thing Christian Wiman 2010 American English
12159 My Work Olga Ravn 2023 Danish Danish
12242 Brother Brontë Fernando A. Flores 2023 Unknown English
12483 EEG Daša Drndić 2016 Croatian Croatian
12753 Border Districts Gerald Murnane 2017 Australian English
12756 Maidenhair Mikhail Shishkin 2005 Russian Russian
12765 Father's On The Phone With The Flies Herta Müller 2012 German German
12807 Ich Bin In Der Anstalt Friederike Mayröcker 2000 Austrian German
12866 The Extreme Self Douglas Coupland, Shumon Basar, Hans Ulrich Obrist 2021 Multiple English
13161 Lode Gillian Allnutt 2025 English English
13258 You Shall Know Our Velocity Dave Eggers 2002 American English
13286 How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe Charles Yu 2010 American English
13288 Nocilla Dream Agustín Fernández Mallo 2006 Spanish Spanish
13331 Wir Schlafen Nicht Kathrin Röggla 2004 Austrian German
13330 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
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
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
14328 Shapes Of Native Nonfiction Elissa Washuta, Theresa Warburton 2019 Unknown English
14371 Aus Der Zuckerfabrik Dorothee Elmiger 2020 Swiss German
14405 Die Inkommensurablen Raphaela Edelbauer 2021 Austrian German
14432 American Innovations Rivka Galchen 2014 American English
14649 Wetlands Charlotte Roche 2008 German German
14650 Tadanori Yokoo Daido Moriyama 2006 Japanese Japanese
14985 No One Belongs Here More Than You Miranda July 2007 American English
14985 On the Calculation Of Volume 2 Solvej Balle 2024 Danish Danish