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
9134 The Last Lover Can Xue 2005 Chinese Chinese
9137 The Consequences Niña Weijers 2014 Dutch Dutch
9141 Can You Tolerate This? Ashleigh Young 2016 New Zealand English
9158 Correspondance Avec Le Mur Hélène Cixous 2009 French French
9223 The Passenger Cormac McCarthy 2022 American English
9234 Panthers And The Museum Of Fire Jen Craig 2015 Australian English
9244 The Red Tree Caitlín R. Kiernan 2009 American English
9308 Down To The Dirt Joel Hynes 2004 Canadian English
9345 Hera Lindsay Bird Hera Lindsay Bird 2016 New Zealand English
9373 Their Brilliant Careers Ryan O’Neill 2016 Australian English
9604 Meteor In The Madhouse Leon Forrest 2001 American English
9640 Tram 83 Fiston Mwanza Mujila 2014 Congolese French
9655 Rachel, Monique… Sophie Calle 2012 French French
9657 F Letter Galina Rymbu, Eugene Ostashevsky, Ainsley Morse 2021 Russian Russian
9674 Easy Reading Cristina Morales 2018 Spanish Spanish
9762 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9769 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9781 Dead Collections Isaac Fellman 2022 Unknown English
9807 Journal Julie Delporte 2013 Unknown French
9826 Tristano Dies Antonio Tabucchi 2004 Italian Italian
9848 Entre Les Deux Il N’y A Rien Mathieu Riboulet 2006 French French
9958 On The Calculation Of Volume Solvej Balle 2025 Danish Danish
10010 Multiple Choice Alejandro Zambra 2014 Chilean Spanish
10060 Campo De Retamas Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio 2013 Spanish Spanish
10094 écrits 2003 2014 Angélica Liddell 2015 Spanish Spanish
10167 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10205 Peripathetic Cher Tan 2020 Unknown English
10206 Neuromaani Jaakko Yli-Juonikas 2012 Finnish Finnish
10221 Doctor Pasavento Enrique Vila-Matas 2005 Spanish Spanish
10294 April Fool's Day Josip Novakovich 2004 Croatian English
10357 Liars Sarah Manguso 2024 American English
10381 The Airways Jennifer Mills 2021 Unknown English
10381 Human Looking Andy Jackson 2021 Unknown English
10388 Spent Light Lara Pawson 2024 Unknown English
10436 Bluff Danez Smith 2024 American English
10450 Why Does The World Exist? An Existential Detective Story Jim Holt 2012 American English
10523 Splinters Leslie Jamison 2024 Unknown English
10540 My Struggle: Book 6 Karl Ove Knausgård 2011 Norwegian Norwegian
10592 Varieties of Disturbance Lydia Davis 2007 American English
10597 Strange Sally Diamond Liz Nugent 2023 Irish English
10602 All Things Are Too Small Becca Rothfeld 2024 Unknown English
10666 36 Ways Of Writing A Vietnamese Poem Nam Le 2024 Multiple English
10694 Blue Ruin Hari Kunzru 2024 British English
10709 Hum Helen Phillips 2024 American English
10707 The Lodgers Holly Pester 2024 Unknown English
10823 Touching Feeling Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 2003 American English
10876 The Vitals Tracy Sorensen 2023 Unknown English
10876 The Pole And Other Stories J. M. Coetzee 2023 South African English
10889 Brand New Ancients Kae Tempest 2013 British English
10908 Samedi The Deafness Jesse Ball 2007 American English
10908 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
10937 The Art Of Cruelty Maggie Nelson 2011 American English
10966 That Time Of Year Marie NDiaye 2020 French French
11011 Birthday César Aira 2019 Argentinian Spanish
11022 Alphabetical Diaries Sheila Heti 2024 Unknown Unknown
11054 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11058 Look Solmaz Sharif 2016 American English
11073 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11073 About a Mountain John D'Agata 2010 American English
11164 Scattered All Over The Earth Yoko Tawada 2018 Japanese Japanese
11180 In Every Moment We Still Are Alive Tom Malmquist 2015 Swedish Swedish
11206 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11252 Nobody Passes Matthew Bernstein Sycamore 2006 Unknown English
11269 Seiobo There Below László Krasznahorkai 2008 Hungarian Hungarian
11422 A Naked Singularity Sergio De La Pava 2008 American English
11437 Field Notes From A Catastrophe Elizabeth Kolbert 2006 American English
11491 Day In Day Out Terézia Mora 2004 German German
11506 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
11809 Little Labors Rivka Galchen 2016 American English
11824 The Wax Child Olga Ravn, Martin Aitken 2023 Danish English
11898 The Drama Of Doctrine Kevin Vanhoozer 2004 American English
11932 This Young Monster Charlie Fox 2017 British English
12060 Cannonball Joseph McElroy 2013 American English
12111 Every Riven Thing Christian Wiman 2010 American English
12158 My Work Olga Ravn 2023 Danish Danish
12241 Brother Brontë Fernando A. Flores 2023 Unknown English
12481 EEG Daša Drndić 2016 Croatian Croatian
12751 Border Districts Gerald Murnane 2017 Australian English
12754 Maidenhair Mikhail Shishkin 2005 Russian Russian
12763 Father's On The Phone With The Flies Herta Müller 2012 German German
12805 Ich Bin In Der Anstalt Friederike Mayröcker 2000 Austrian German
12864 The Extreme Self Douglas Coupland, Shumon Basar, Hans Ulrich Obrist 2021 Multiple English
13158 Lode Gillian Allnutt 2025 English English
13255 You Shall Know Our Velocity Dave Eggers 2002 American English
13283 How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe Charles Yu 2010 American English
13285 Nocilla Dream Agustín Fernández Mallo 2006 Spanish Spanish
13328 Wir Schlafen Nicht Kathrin Röggla 2004 Austrian German
13327 Olio Tyehimba Jess 2016 American English
13552 Tell The Machine Goodnight Katie Williams 2018 American English
13566 J Pod Douglas Coupland 2006 Canadian English
13599 The Roving Shadows Pascal Quignard 2002 French English
13710 The Fruit Thief Peter Handke 2017 Austrian German
13764 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
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 No One Belongs Here More Than You Miranda July 2007 American English
14984 On the Calculation Of Volume 2 Solvej Balle 2024 Danish Danish