The Greatest Metafiction Books of All Time

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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
45 Fictions Jorge Luis Borges 1944 Argentinian Spanish
72 Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov 1962 American English
312 Labyrinths Jorge Luis Borges 1962 Argentinian Spanish
318 If on a Winter's Night a Traveller Italo Calvino 1979 Italian Italian
357 At Swim Two-Birds Flann O'Brien 1939 Irish English
441 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 1966 American English
607 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
676 The Princess Bride William Goldman 1973 American English
988 Flaubert's Parrot Julian Barnes 1984 British English
1386 Six Characters in Search of an Author Luigi Pirandello 1921 Italian Italian
1492 The Real Life of Sebastian Knight Vladimir Nabokov 1941 Russian English
1534 The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr E. T. A. Hoffmann 1819 German German
2024 Elizabeth Costello J. M. Coetzee 2003 South African English
2114 The Luminous Novel Mario Levrero 2005 Uruguayan Spanish
2361 Bartleby & Co Enrique Vila-Matas 2000 Spanish Spanish
2414 Loitering With Intent Muriel Spark 1981 British English
2497 The Garden Of Forking Paths Jorge Luis Borges 1941 Argentinian Spanish
2781 Mist Miguel de Unamuno 1914 Spanish English
2809 Summertime J. M. Coetzee 2009 South African English
2853 Dictionary of the Khazars Milorad Pavic 1984 Serbian Serbian
2855 The Counterlife Philip Roth 1986 American English
3011 Wittgenstein's Mistress David Markson 1988 American English
3162 Natural Novel Georgi Gospodinov 1999 Bulgarian Bulgarian
3182 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead Tom Stoppard 1966 British English
3184 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
4454 Gogol's Wife Tommaso Landolfi 1953 Italian Italian
4836 The Cream Of The Jest James Branch Cabell 1917 American English
5046 Typewriter In The Sky & Fear L. Ron Hubbard 1940 American English
5474 The Unicorn Iris Murdoch 1963 British English
5478 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5891 Sartor Resartus Thomas Carlyle 1836 British English
6237 The Affirmation Christopher Priest 1981 British English
6257 Omensetter's Luck William H. Gass 1966 American English
7216 Tamarisk Row Gerald Murnane 1974 Australian English
7216 The Empty Book Josefina Vicens 1958 Mexican English
7612 Aunt Julia And The Script Writer Mario Vargas Llosa 1977 Peruvian Spanish
7861 The Plains Gerald Murnane 1982 Australian English
8402 About The Author John Colapinto 2001 American English
8411 Lost In A Good Book Jasper Fforde 2002 British English
8473 Textermination Christine Brooke-Rose 1992 British English
8631 Vanishing Point David Markson 2004 American English
9022 Dark Back Of Time Javier Marias 1998 Spanish Spanish
9171 MetaHorror Dennis Etchison 1992 American English
9606 Meteor In The Madhouse Leon Forrest 2001 American English
9643 Time's Arrow Martin Amis 1991 British English
9961 On The Calculation Of Volume Solvej Balle 2025 Danish Danish
10192 City of Glass Paul Auster 1985 American English
10969 The Hair of Harold Roux Thomas Williams 1974 American English
11366 Complete Works Jorge Luis Borges Argentinian Spanish
11392 Marbot Wolfgang Hildesheimer 1981 German German
11601 The Dissertation R. M. Koster 1975 Unknown English
12047 Chimera John Barth 1972 American English
13321 Redshirts John Scalzi 2012 American English
13600 Dingley, L'illustre écrivain Jérôme Tharaud, Jean Tharaud 1902 French French
13600 The Roving Shadows Pascal Quignard 2002 French English
14435 Lost In The Funhouse John Barth 1968 American English
14947 Double Or Nothing Raymond Federman 1971 American English
14985 Poor Things Alasdair Gray 1992 Scottish English
14985 The Public Burning Robert Coover 1977 American English
14985 In The Night Room Peter Straub 2004 American English
15686 The Funnies J. Robert Lennon American English
16633 Morgenlandfahrt Hermann Hesse 1932 Swiss German
17162 George Mills Stanley Elkin 1982 American English
17162 Take It Or Leave It Raymond Federman 1976 American English
17162 Genoa Paul C. Metcalf 1965 American English
17162 Up Ronald Sukenick 1968 American English
17162 Mulligan Stew Gilbert Sorrentino 1979 American English
17162 The Invented Part Rodrigo Fresán 2014 Argentinian Spanish
17162 Such Christine Brooke-Rose 1966 British English
17162 Galaxies Barry N. Malzberg 1975 American English
17162 Metamagical Themas Douglas Hofstadter 1985 American English
17162 Stories Are Weapons Annalee Newitz 2024 Unknown English
17162 The Great American Novel Philip Roth 1973 American English
17162 Great Expectations Kathy Acker 1989 American English
17162 Aliens & Anorexia Chris Kraus 2000 American English
17162 The Book Of Sand And Shakespeare's Memory Jorge Luis Borges 1977 Argentinian Spanish
17162 Censoring An Iranian Love Story Shahriar Mandanipour 2009 Iranian Persian
17162 Artificial Amy Kurzweil 2023 Unknown English
17162 Landscape Painted With Tea Milorad Pavic 1988 Serbian Serbian
17162 Hhh H Laurent binet 2010 French French
17162 A Few Corrections Brad Leithauser 2001 American English
17162 The Last Voyage Of Somebody The Sailor John Barth 1991 American English
17162 Ratner's Star Don DeLillo 1976 American English
17162 空ろの箱と零のマリア 2 Eiji Mikage Japanese Japanese
17162 Die Insel Der Tausend Leuchttürme Walter Moers 2023 German German
17162 Focault's Pendulum Umberto Eco 1988 Italian Italian
17162 Red Side Story Jasper Fforde 2024 British English
17162 The Windup Bird Chronicle haruki murakami 1994 Japanese Japanese
17162 Melvill Rodrigo Fresán 2022 Argentine Spanish
17135 Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 1605 Spanish Spanish