The Greatest Books of All Time on Sexuality

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

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.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
4293 What Belongs to You Garth Greenwell 2016 American English
4308 Mrs. Stevens Hears The Mermaids Singing May Sarton 1965 American English
4395 We The Animals Justin Torres 2011 American English
4416 Detransition, Baby Torrey Peters 2021 American English
4501 How Should a Person Be? Sheila Heti 2010 Canadian English
4502 Parallel Stories Péter Nádas 2005 Hungarian Hungarian
4541 The Stone Of Laughter Hoda Barakat 1990 Lebanese Arabic
4611 Complete Short Stories D. H. Lawrence 1950 British English
4676 Our Bodies, Ourselves Unknown 1970 American English
4711 Flesh Brigid Brophy 1962 British English
4946 The Breast Philip Roth 1972 American English
5013 The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride 2016 Irish English
5040 Woman Natalie Angier 1999 American English
5168 Bad Feminist Roxane Gay 2014 American English
5241 My Father And Myself J. R. Ackerley 1968 British English
5249 The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach 2011 American English
5343 White Girls Hilton Als 2013 American English
5361 The Hite Report Shere Hite 1976 American English
5388 The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 Lawrence Stone 1977 British English
5406 I Love Dick Chris Kraus 1997 American English
5412 Reflections In A Golden Eye Carson McCullers 1941 American English
5477 Larva Julián Ríos 1983 Spanish Spanish
5692 Period Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
5723 The Rosy Crucifixion Henry Miller 1949 American English
5741 The Young And Evil Charles Henri Ford, Parker Tyler 1933 American English
5744 The Lost Language of Cranes David Leavitt 1986 American English
5756 Concerning The Eccentricities Of Cardinal Pirelli Ronald Firbank 1926 British English
5903 The Country Wife William Wycherley 1675 British English
5931 King Kong Theory Virginie Despentes 2006 French French
5950 Talk Dirty To Me Sallie Tisdale 1994 American English
5983 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
5989 The Homecoming Harold Pinter 1965 British English
5998 The Dialectic Of Sex Shulamith Firestone 1970 American English
6003 The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton 2008 New Zealand English
6154 Women As Lovers Elfriede Jelinek 1975 Austrian German
6163 Slouching Towards Kalamazoo Peter De Vries 1983 American English
6170 I Spit On Your Graves Boris Vian 1946 French French
6188 Guerrillas V. S. Naipaul 1975 Trinidadian English
6295 Dream Story Arthur Schnitzler 1926 Austrian German
6381 Married Love Marie Stopes 1918 British English
6438 The Gaudy Image William Talsman 1958 American English
6580 Zuckerman Bound Philip Roth 1985 American English
6670 The Balcony Jean Genet 1957 French French
6684 Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda Becky Albertalli 2015 American English
6765 Odd Girls And Twilight Lovers Lillian Faderman 1991 American English
6854 Chelsea Girls Eileen Myles 1994 American English
6857 Hell Has No Limits José Donoso 1965 Chilean Spanish
6889 Frisk Dennis Cooper 1991 American English
6891 Bared To You Sylvia Day 2012 American English
6914 Théresè And Isabelle Violette Leduc 1966 French French
6936 Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Joyce Carol Oates 1966 American English
6957 There Will Be No Miracles Here Casey Gerald 2018 American English
6963 Sheeper Irving Rosenthal 1967 American English
6972 The Exquisite Corpse Alfred Chester 1967 American English
6973 Our Bodies, Ourselves Boston Women’s Health Collective 1970 American English
7055 Golden Age Wang Xiaobo 1997 Chinese Chinese
7072 Palimpsest Gore Vidal 1995 American English
7096 Try Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7096 Guide Dennis Cooper 1994 American English
7120 The Color Of Summer Reinaldo Arenas 1991 Cuban Spanish
7143 Black Hole Charles Burns 1995 American English
7190 Close To The Knives David Wojnarowicz 1991 American English
7216 Manhood Michel Leiris 1939 French French
7216 Poems Of D. H. Lawrence D. H. Lawrence 1913 British English
7216 Lulu Plays Frank Wedekind 1895 German German
7216 Europe After The Rain Alan Burns 1965 British English
7216 Lead Us Into Temptation Breandán Ó hEithir 1976 Irish English
7589 Memoirs Of A Gnostic Dwarf David Madsen 1995 British English
7692 Heroes Like Us Thomas Brussig 1995 German German
7722 Pig Tales Marie Darrieussecq 1996 French French
7733 The Story Of Harold Terry Andrews 1974 American English
7757 Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart 2020 Scottish English
7766 Mating In Captivity Esther Perel 2006 Belgian English
7820 Five Novels Ronald Firbank 1949 British English
7840 Riverfinger Women Elana Nachman 1974 American English
7900 Spreadeagle Kevin Killian 2012 American English
7944 Lover Bertha Harris 1976 American English
7950 My Story Kamala Das 1976 Indian English
7967 Saint Genet Jean Paul Sartre 1952 French French
8009 Still Life A. S. Byatt 1985 British English
8025 Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein 1994 American English
8066 The Price Of A Ticket James Baldwin 1985 American English
8098 The Hotel New Hampshire John Irving 1981 American English
8168 Returning To Reims Didier Eribon 2009 French French
8178 Poems Of A. D. Hope A. D. Hope 1955 Australian English
8215 Stories In An Almost Classical Mode Harold Brodkey 1989 American English
8285 The Other Side Of Desire Daniel Bergner 2009 American English
8345 The Man Who Fell In Love With The Moon Tom Spanbauer 1991 American English
8347 The Art Of Joy Goliarda Sapienza 1998 Italian Italian
8360 On Strike Against God Joanna Russ 1980 American English
8439 The Death of Vivek Oji Akwaeke Emezi 2020 Nigerian English
8445 The Natashas Yelena Moskovich 2016 Russian English
8546 Whipping Girl Julia Serano 2007 American English
8575 Deviations Gayle Rubin 2011 American English
8607 Rationale Of The Dirty Joke G. Legman 1968 American English
8726 In Praise Of Older Women Stephen Vizinczey 1965 Canadian English
8737 The End Of Eddy Édouard Louis 2014 French French
8849 My Lives Edmund White 2005 American English
8871 When Katie Met Cassidy Camille Perri 2018 American English
8970 Myths Of Gender Anne Fausto-Sterling 1987 American English
9021 The Extra Man Jonathan Ames 1998 American English
9127 Génie Divin Guillaume Dustan 2001 French French
9191 What Do Women Want? Daniel Bergner 2013 American English
9191 Future Sex Emily Witt 2015 American English
9237 Lightning Rods Helen DeWitt 2011 American English
9285 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Tom Robbins 1976 American English
9287 It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake Claire Christian 2020 Australian English
9321 The Beautiful Room Is Empty Edmund White 1988 American English
9370 Moldy Strawberries Caio Fernando Abreu 1982 Brazilian Portuguese
9510 Drinking Coffee Elsewhere ZZ Packer 2003 American English
9522 A Visitation Of Spirits Randall Kenan 1989 American English
9563 Cunt Inga Muscio 1998 American English
9575 Happy Endings Thien-Kim Lam 2021 Unknown English
9624 Three Women Lisa Taddeo 2019 American English
9829 Country Girl Edna O'Brien 2012 Irish English
9833 Poems Of Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini 1975 Italian Italian
9850 Dress Your Family In Corduroy And Denim David Sedaris 2004 American English
9886 Novel With Cocaine M. Ageyev 1934 Russian Russian
9897 My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness Kabi Nagata 2016 Japanese Japanese
9927 The Complete Plays Joe Orton 1976 British English