The Greatest Postmodern 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
9731 Europe Central William T. Vollmann 2005 American English
9741 Tatlin! Guy Davenport 1974 American English
9761 Show Them A Good Time Nicole Flattery 2019 Irish English
9762 When The Earth Was Flat Raymond Fraser 2007 Canadian English
9764 Call Me Ishmael Charles Olson 1947 American English
9769 Animal Money Michael Cisco 2015 American English
9779 Autumn In Peking Boris Vian 1947 French French
9793 Crossings Chuang Hua 1968 American English
9807 The Childhood Of Jesus J. M. Coetzee 2013 South African English
9813 Possible Worlds Of The Fantastic Nancy H. Trail 1995 American Unknown
9813 The Panic Hand Jonathan Carroll 1995 American English
9820 Mean Boy Lynn Coady 2006 Canadian English
9825 The Opposite Of A Person Lieke Marsman 2017 Dutch Dutch
9826 Tristano Dies Antonio Tabucchi 2004 Italian Italian
9831 Barney's Version Mordecai Richler 1997 Canadian English
9833 Simulacres Et Simulation Jean Baudrillard 1981 French French
9915 The Messiah Of Stockholm Cynthia Ozick 1987 American English
9919 Hail And Farewell George Moore 1911 British English
9945 An Apartment On Uranus Paul B. Preciado 2019 Spanish French
9948 The Book Of Skulls Robert Silverberg 1972 American English
9958 On The Calculation Of Volume Solvej Balle 2025 Danish Danish
9960 Going After Cacciato Tim O'Brien 1978 American English
10012 Wonder Boys Michael Chabon 1995 American English
10010 Multiple Choice Alejandro Zambra 2014 Chilean Spanish
10019 The End Of The World Is A Cul De Sac Louise Kennedy 2021 Irish English
10025 The Dreaming City Michael Moorcock 1961 British English
10037 Poems Of John Ashbery John Ashbery 1977 American English
10055 Collected Shorter Plays Samuel Beckett 1984 Irish English
10055 Stars And Bars William Boyd 1984 British English
10060 Campo De Retamas Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio 2013 Spanish Spanish
10072 Prufrock and Other Observations T. S. Eliot 1917 British English
10096 The People In The Trees Hanya Yanagihara 2013 American English
10098 Colored Television Danzy Senna 2024 Unknown English
10101 A Fan's Notes Frederick Exley 1968 American English
10100 My Life As A Russian Novel Emmanuel Carrère 2007 French French
10107 Carte Muette Philippe Vasset 2007 French French
10110 There Was Never A Once Upon A Time Carmen Naranjo 1972 Costa Rican Unknown
10124 White City Kevin Power 2021 Irish English
10134 Change Machine Jaya Savige 2020 Australian English
10136 Maitreya Severo Sarduy 1978 Cuban Spanish
10152 You Dreamed Of Empires Alvaro Enrigue 2024 Unknown English
10167 The Pale King David Foster Wallace 2011 American English
10179 Insane Rainald Goetz 1983 German German
10188 City of Glass Paul Auster 1985 American English
10194 Duplex Kathryn Davis 2013 American English
10200 Monsieur, Or The Prince Of Darkness Lawrence Durrell 1974 British 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
10231 Que Cavalos São Aqueles Que Fazem Sombra No Mar? António Lobo Antunes 2009 Portuguese Portuguese
10275 This Strange Eventful History Claire Messud 2024 Unknown English
10278 The Diamond Age Neal Stephenson 1995 American English
10277 La Burla Del Tiempo Mauricio Electorat 2004 Chilean Spanish
10305 The Secret Life Of Salvador Dali Salvador Dali 1942 Spanish Spanish
10357 Liars Sarah Manguso 2024 American English
10367 Sweet Land Stories E. L. Doctorow 2004 American English
10399 The Triumph of the Therapeutic Philip Rieff 1966 American English
10450 Nothing to be Frightened Of Julian Barnes 2008 British English
10450 The Topeka School Ben Lerner 2019 American English
10450 Crudo Olivia Laing 2018 British English
10450 Mr. Palomar Italo Calvino 1983 Italian Italian
10488 The Book Of Love Kelly Link 2024 Unknown English
10504 A Voyage To India Gonçalo M. Tavares 2010 Portuguese Portuguese
10506 October Light John Gardner 1976 American English
10527 Of Grammatology Jacques Derrida 1967 French French
10535 A Sunny Place For Shady People Mariana Enríquez 2024 Unknown Unknown
10539 My Struggle: Book 6 Karl Ove Knausgård 2011 Norwegian Norwegian
10601 All Things Are Too Small Becca Rothfeld 2024 Unknown English
10650 Chinese Postman Brian Castro 2024 Unknown English
10688 Consent Jill Ciment 2024 American English
10702 The Hypocrite Jo Hamya 2024 British English
10706 The Lodgers Holly Pester 2024 Unknown English
10730 What Is This Buzzing, Do You Hear It Too? Luigi Malerba 1989 Italian Italian
10746 Stand on Zanzibar John Brunner 1968 British English
10747 Spanking The Maid Robert Coover 1982 American English
10803 Hangsaman Shirley Jackson 1951 American English
10822 Touching Feeling Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick 2003 American English
10865 Mr. Splitfoot Samantha Hunt 2016 American English
10875 The Vitals Tracy Sorensen 2023 Unknown English
10875 The Pole And Other Stories J. M. Coetzee 2023 South African English
10895 After Many A Summer Dies The Swan Aldous Huxley 1939 British English
10902 Liveblog Megan Boyle 2015 American English
10907 The Last Novel David Markson 2007 American English
10911 Роман Vladimir Sorokin 1998 Russian Russian
10922 Stirrings Still Samuel Beckett 1988 Irish English
10936 The Art Of Cruelty Maggie Nelson 2011 American English
10944 Five Spice Street Can Xue 1988 Chinese Chinese
10958 Radiant Terminus Antoine Volodine 2014 French French
10960 Heartsnatcher Boris Vian 1953 French French
10964 The Hair of Harold Roux Thomas Williams 1974 American English
10972 World Of Sex Henry Miller 1941 American English
10976 유언을 만난 세계 정창조 외 Korean Korean
10992 Portable Curiosities Julie Koh 2016 Australian English
10999 The Ghost Writer Philip Roth 1979 American English
11000 Shifting The Silence Etel Adnan 2020 Unknown English
11001 The Island Of The Day Before Umberto Eco 1994 Italian Italian
11008 Mystery Train Greil Marcus 1975 American English
11015 Salute Ken Bolton Unknown Unknown
11020 Jerome Jean-Pierre Martinet 1978 French French
11021 Alphabetical Diaries Sheila Heti 2024 Unknown Unknown
11040 Les Turbines Du Titanic Robert Perišić 2015 Unknown French
11053 Gliff Ali Smith 2024 British English
11054 Two Years Eight Months And Twenty Eight Nights Salman Rushdie 2015 British English
11055 Coin Locker Babies Ryū Murakami 1980 Japanese Japanese
11059 The Red Grass Boris Vian 1949 French French
11072 Life Adjustment Center Ryan McGinley 2010 American Unknown
11088 The Age Of The Fish Ödön von Horváth 1937 Unknown Unknown
11088 Murke's Collected Silences Heinrich Böll 1955 German German
11088 Marriage In Philippsburg Martin Walser 1957 German German
11088 B/Moondocks Arno Schmidt 1960 German Unknown
11088 The Eyewitness Ernst Weiß 1930 German German
11088 Der Weg Nach Oobliadooh Fritz Rudolf Fries 1966 German German
11088 Die Palette Hubert Fichte 1968 German German
11088 Gesammelte Erzählungen Kurt Kusenberg 1961 German German
11163 Foe J. M. Coetzee 1986 South African English
11175 Black List, Section H Francis Stuart 1971 Irish English
11180 Strange Toys Patricia Geary 1987 American English
11205 The M Case Grégoire Bouillier 2021 French French
11208 Based On A True Story Norm Macdonald 2016 Canadian English
11241 Liberty Or Love! Robert Desnos 1929 French French