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
3622 The Atrocity Exhibition J. G. Ballard 1970 British English
3629 Party Going Henry Green 1939 British English
3636 Goat Song Konstantin Vaginov 1927 Russian Russian
3637 Confessions of an English Opium-Eater Thomas de Quincey 1821 British English
3637 The Portable Faulkner William Faulkner 1946 American English
3637 Trans-Atlantyk Witold Gombrowicz 1953 Polish Polish
3637 White Shroud Antanas Škėma 1958 Lithuanian Lithuanian
3637 Childe Harold Of Dysna Moyshe Kulbak 1939 Belarusian Yiddish
3637 The Temptation To Exist Emil Cioran 1956 Romanian French
3637 Fluss Ohne Ufer Hans Henny Jahnn 1949 German German
3802 Inside Mr. Enderby Anthony Burgess 1963 British English
3806 Critique Of Cynical Reason Peter Sloterdijk 1983 German German
3809 Wittgenstein's Nephew Thomas Bernhard 1982 Austrian German
3829 Bacacay Witold Gombrowicz 1957 Polish Polish
3833 Mannen utan väg Erik Lindegren 1942 Swedish Swedish
3839 Gog Andrew Sinclair 1967 British English
3844 The Stone Raft José Saramago 1986 Portuguese Portuguese
3845 Written on the Body Jeanette Winterson 1992 British English
3850 Fourth Mansions R. A. Lafferty 1969 American English
3851 JR William Gaddis 1975 American English
3856 Closer Dennis Cooper 1989 American English
3877 Subconscious Opens Like A Fan Yona Wallach 1985 Israeli Hebrew
3880 Garden, Ashes Danilo Kiš 1965 Serbian Serbo-croatian
3886 Lunar Park Bret Easton Ellis 2005 American English
3888 Illywhacker Peter Carey 1985 Australian English
3889 There But For The Ali Smith 2011 British English
3907 Med Ana Schwoazzn Dintn Hans Carl Artmann 1958 Austrian German
3914 Sudden Death Alvaro Enrigue 2013 Mexican Spanish
3919 Collected Poems Allen Ginsberg 1984 American English
3928 The Vice-Consul Marguerite Duras 1966 French French
3946 In The Dream House Carmen Maria Machado 2019 American English
3950 Top Girls Caryl Churchill 1982 British English
3954 The Plant, The Well, The Angel Vassilis Vassilikos 1963 Greek Unknown
3954 Ενδοχωρα Andreas Embiricos 1947 Greek Greek
3954 Υψικαμινος Andreas Embiricos 1935 Greek Greek
3954 Ο Εξώστης Nikos Kakhtitsis 1963 Greek Greek
3954 The Papess Joanne Emmanuel Rhoides 1866 Greek Greek
3954 Το Θείο Τραγί Yiannis Skarimbas 1935 Greek Greek
3954 Difficult Nights Melpo Axioti 1938 Greek Greek
3954 Pagini Bizare Urmuz 1930 Romanian Romanian
3954 The Bed Of Procrustes Camil Petrescu 1933 Romanian Romanian
3954 Adventures In Immediate Irreality M. Blecher 1936 Romanian Romanian
3954 The Life And Opinions Of Zacharias Lichter Matei Călinescu 1969 Romanian Romanian
3954 Căderea în Lume Constantin Țoiu 1968 Romanian Romanian
3954 Solstițiu Tulburat Paul Georgescu 1968 Romanian Romanian
4056 Leaving the Atocha Station Ben Lerner 2011 American English
4057 The Tunnel William H. Gass 1995 American English
4059 The Woutertje Pieterse Chronicles Multatuli 1890 Dutch Dutch
4081 The White Hotel D. M. Thomas 1981 British English
4084 No Laughing Matter Angus Wilson 1967 British English
4090 Silk Alessandro Baricco 1996 Italian Italian
4093 The Debt To Pleasure John Lanchester 1996 British English
4099 Le Mauvais Sang Feu De Brousse à Trisse Coeur Tchicaya U. Tam'si 1955 Tchadian French
4101 Aegypt John Crowley 1987 American English
4106 Leavetaking Peter Weiss 1960 German German
4114 The Old Woman Daniil Kharms 1939 Russian Russian
4116 For a New Novel Alain Robbe-Grillet 1963 French French
4117 Why Did I Ever? Mary Robison 2001 American English
4126 The Black Book Orhan Pamuk 1990 Turkish Turkish
4135 The Nonexistent Knight Italo Calvino 1959 Italian Italian
4136 Fieldwork In Ukrainian Sex Oksana Zabuzhko 1996 Ukrainian Ukrainian
4138 Το Μυθιστόρημα της Κυρίας Έρσης Nikos-Gabriel Pentzikis 1966 Greek Greek
4141 Nedjma Kateb Yacine 1956 Algerian French
4146 Krapp's Last Tape Samuel Beckett 1958 Irish English
4147 Vineland Thomas Pynchon 1990 American English
4152 Oxherding Tale Charles R. Johnson 1982 American English
4153 American Genius Lynne Tillman 2006 American English
4157 Asymmetry Lisa Halliday 2018 American English
4163 No One Is Talking About This Patricia Lockwood 2021 American English
4171 Dissipatio H.G. Guido Morselli 1977 Italian Italian
4172 Trout Fishing In America Richard Brautigan 1967 American English
4201 Edisto Padgett Powell 1984 American English
4205 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
4208 The Castle of Crossed Destinies Italo Calvino 1969 Italian Italian
4208 Luka Antun Šoljan 1969 Croatian Croatian
4222 The Shadow of the Torturer Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
4234 Gedichten Van Den Schoolmeester Gerrit van de Linde 1859 Dutch Dutch
4234 Occupied City Paul van Ostaijen 1921 Belgian Dutch
4266 Ancestral Voices Etienne van Heerden 1986 South African Afrikaans
4282 The Place Of The Star Patrick Modiano 1968 French French
4300 Remainder Tom McCarthy 2005 British English
4301 The Fairy Gunmother Daniel Pennac 1987 French French
4302 Istorii Insolite Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu 1973 Romanian Romanian
4310 Caprice Ronald Firbank 1917 British English
4310 The Polyglots William Gerhardie 1925 British English
4369 The Moor's Last Sigh Salman Rushdie 1995 British English
4372 Frost Thomas Bernhard 1963 Austrian German
4372 Nobodaddy's Children Arno Schmidt 1963 German German
4387 It's A Hard Life Luciano Bianciardi 1962 Italian Italian
4387 Fratelli D'italia Alberto Arbasino 1963 Italian Italian
4386 Incubus Giuseppe Berto 1964 Italian Italian
4400 The Obscene Bird Of Night José Donoso 1970 Chilean Spanish
4411 The Pigeon Patrick Suskind 1987 German German
4414 Norma Vladimir Sorokin 1970 Russian Russian
4421 Guide To Kulchur Ezra Pound 1938 American English
4431 And Really Frau Blum Would Very Much Like To Meet The Milkman Peter Bichsel 1964 Swiss German
4431 Das Große Protokoll Gegen Zwetschkenbaum Albert Drach 1964 Austrian German
4436 House Mother Normal B. S. Johnson 1971 British English
4437 The Dream Songs John Berryman 1964 American English
4464 Ingeniosul Bine Temperat Mircea Horia Simionescu 1975 Romanian Romanian
4464 Lumea în Două Zile George Bălăiță 1975 Romanian Romanian
4464 Învoiala George Bălăiță 1975 Romanian Romanian
4470 The History of Love Nicole Krauss 2005 American English
4475 Minuet Louis-Paul Boon 1955 Belgian Dutch
4481 Revenge Of The Lawn Richard Brautigan 1971 American English
4502 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4503 Parallel Stories Péter Nádas 2005 Hungarian Hungarian
4528 The Medium Is The Massage Marshall McLuhan 1967 Canadian English
4538 Special Topics In Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl 2006 American English
4545 Galeria Cu Viță Sălbatică Constantin Țoiu 1976 Romanian Romanian
4569 The Dirty Dust Máirtin Ó Cadhain 1949 Irish Irish
4570 The Rules Of Attraction Bret Easton Ellis 1987 American English
4579 Time Shelter Georgi Gospodinov 2020 Bulgarian Bulgarian
4582 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
4582 The Zone Sergei Dovlatov 1982 Russian Russian
4582 Laut Und Luise Ernst Jandl 1966 Austrian German
4592 Vurt Jeff Noon 1993 British English
4596 Man in the Holocene Max Frisch 1979 Swiss German
4598 The Fourth Dimension Yannis Ritsos 1972 Greek Greek
4598 Istorii Mircea Ciobanu 1977 Romanian Unknown