The Greatest Books of All Time on Writers

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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
2359 Bartleby & Co Enrique Vila-Matas 2000 Spanish Spanish
3019 Pictures From An Institution Randall Jarrell 1954 American English
3577 The Possessed Elif Batuman 2010 Turkish English
5327 Pushkin Hills Sergei Dovlatov 1983 Russian Russian
6673 Minor Characters Joyce Johnson 1983 American English
7966 The Shores Of Light Edmund Wilson 1952 American English
9181 Envy, Or Yiddish In America Cynthia Ozick 1969 American English
10448 Footsteps Richard Holmes 1985 French English
11660 Bech Is Back John Updike 1982 American English
12140 Yellow Blue Tibia Adam Roberts 2009 British English
13359 The Lives Of The Poets Samuel Johnson 1779 British English
13599 Dingley, L'illustre écrivain Jérôme Tharaud, Jean Tharaud 1902 French French
14649 A Homemade World Hugh Kenner 1975 American English
17117 Tamara Drewe Posy Simmonds 2007 British English
17117 Heroines Kate Zambreno 2012 American English
17117 A Book Of One's Own Thomas Mallon 1984 American English
17117 The Trip To Echo Spring Olivia Laing 2013 British English