The Greatest Books of All Time on Failure

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 401 '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
200 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 1980 American English
220 Of Human Bondage W. Somerset Maugham 1915 British English
417 The Fountainhead Ayn Rand 1943 American English
428 Bouvard et PĂ©cuchet Gustave Flaubert 1881 French French
464 The Day of the Locust Nathanael West 1939 American English
516 New Grub Street George Gissing 1891 British English
589 Lost Illusions Honoré de Balzac 1837 French French
825 Death Of A Salesman Arthur Miller 1949 American English
964 Cheese Willem Elsschot 1933 Belgian Dutch
1329 The Wapshot Chronicle John Cheever 1957 American English
1345 The Fortunes Of Richard Mahony Henry Handel Richardson 1917 Australian English
1675 Concrete Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
1959 Balzac Stefan Zweig 1946 Austrian German
2224 Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain 2000 American English
3763 Spoon River Anthology Edgar Lee Masters 1915 American English
4024 The War Of Art Steven Pressfield 2002 American English
4026 Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture Apostolos Doxiadis 1992 Greek Greek
4211 Home Land Sam Lipsyte 2004 American English
4250 The Emperor's Children Claire Messud 2006 American English
4409 The Complete Works of Nathanael West Nathanael West 1957 American English
4437 The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach 2011 American English
4595 The Pat Hobby Stories F. Scott Fitzgerald 1962 American English
5145 Rich Man, Poor Man Irwin Shaw 1969 American English
5610 Broken Glass Alain Mabanckou 2005 Congolese French
5759 Open Andre Agassi 2009 American English
5966 The Information Martin Amis 1995 British English
7007 A Hologram For The King Dave Eggers 2012 American English
7119 Small Fry Lisa Brennan-Jobs 2018 American English
7119 Penelope Fitzgerald Hermione Lee 2013 British English
7119 Raymond Carver Carol Sklenicka 2009 American English
7706 The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*Ck Mark Manson 2016 American English
7780 The Loser Thomas Bernhard 1983 Austrian German
7785 Bad Land Jonathan Raban 1996 British English
8095 A Fan's Notes Frederick Exley 1968 American English
8144 Enemies of Promise Cyril Connolly 1938 British English
8326 The New Science Of Strong Materials J. E. Gordon 1968 British English
8725 Johann Holtrop Rainald Goetz 2012 German German
8837 Balzac Graham Robb 1994 British English
9686 The Franchiser Stanley Elkin 1976 American English
9811 The Damned Utd David Peace 2006 British English
9840 Mulligan Stew Gilbert Sorrentino 1979 American English
9846 Poor Charlie's Almanack Charlie Munger 2005 American English
9992 Journey in the Dark Martin Flavin 1943 American English
9992 Martin Dressler Steven Millhauser 1996 American English
9872 Inseparabili Alessandro Piperno 2012 Italian Italian
10057 Mindset Carol S. Dweck 2006 American English
10143 The Interestings Meg Wolitzer 2013 American English
10158 A Champion's Mind Pete Sampras 2008 American English
10284 Steve Jobs Walter Isaacson 2011 American English
10441 Becoming Steve Jobs Brent Schlender 2015 American English
10481 Shoe Dog Phil Knight 2016 American English
10508 Principles Ray Dalio 2017 American English
10708 Broken Genius Joel N. Shurkin 2020 American English
11378 Seize The Day Saul Bellow 1956 American English
11378 In Custody Anita Desai 1984 Indian English
11378 The Imperfectionists Tom Rachman 2010 British English
11896 The Crack-Up F. Scott Fitzgerald 1945 American English
11519 Poems Of Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson 1897 American English
12404 Sweet Bird Of Youth Tennessee Williams 1959 American English
12494 Jackson Pollock Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith 1989 American English
12494 The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald 1989 American English
12494 Collected Stories John O'Hara 1984 American English
12494 Master Class Terrence McNally 1995 American English
12439 The Entertainer John Osborne 1957 British English
12494 Absurd Person Singular Alan Ayckbourn 1972 British English
12494 Mister Monkey Francine Prose 2016 American English
12494 Almayer's Folly Joseph Conrad 1895 British English
12494 A False Spring Pat Jordan 1975 American English
12494 The Cliff Dwellers Henry Blake Fuller 1893 American English
12494 The Cannibal Galaxy Cynthia Ozick 1983 American English
12494 Fat City Leonard Gardner 1969 American English