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A list of books whose book designs or inherent literary structure pushed limits at the time of their publication, or whose book designs are well-known for their incredible artistry.
1

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4.09 avg rating — 200,531 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,913 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 267,849 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 112,057 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 435,172 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,796 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 95,786 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,614 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,474 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,683 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,597,796 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 97,358 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,872 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,879,972 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 161,396 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,885 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,746 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,476,785 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 58,500 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,049 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 189,660 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,180 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,383 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 769,857 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 548,733 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,634 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,204 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 221,088 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,013 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 948,117 ratings
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31

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3.51 avg rating — 2,428 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 249,551 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 196,089 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,884 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,040 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,193 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,873 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,224 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 356,777 ratings
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40

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4.68 avg rating — 92 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,464 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,317 ratings
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43

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3.95 avg rating — 114 ratings
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44

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3.55 avg rating — 69,853 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 338,337 ratings
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46

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4.34 avg rating — 1,005 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,899 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 657,747 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,262 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 86,995 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,396 ratings
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52

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4.25 avg rating — 247 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 346,503 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,661 ratings
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55

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3.66 avg rating — 172 ratings
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56

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3.69 avg rating — 155,229 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,900 ratings
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58

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4.55 avg rating — 171 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 595 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 27,538 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,154 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 8,120 ratings
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63

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3.67 avg rating — 13,638 ratings
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64

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3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

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3.74 avg rating — 1,242 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 187,066 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,727 ratings
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67

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4.03 avg rating — 373,903 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 10,159 ratings
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70

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4.29 avg rating — 189,790 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 436,991 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,603 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 43,618 ratings
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74

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4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,413 ratings
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76

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4.53 avg rating — 108 ratings
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77

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3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 6,810 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 55,552 ratings
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79

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4.01 avg rating — 1,770 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 100,457 ratings
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82

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4.34 avg rating — 43,557 ratings
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83

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4.16 avg rating — 9,981 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,612 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 53,606 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,263 ratings
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87

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3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.93 avg rating — 332 ratings
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89

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 205 ratings
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90

by
4.28 avg rating — 360 ratings
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90

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,790 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,329 ratings
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90

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4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
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94

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3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
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95

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3.82 avg rating — 11,555 ratings
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96

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3.85 avg rating — 5,155 ratings
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97

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4.17 avg rating — 296 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,462 ratings
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98

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3.73 avg rating — 292,127 ratings
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304 books · 549 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
494 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 757 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 570 books
55 friends
Kristin 842 books
100 friends
Victoria 89 books
100 friends
Riona 1935 books
66 friends
Logophile 1007 books
15 friends
Alison 358 books
38 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-12 of 12 (12 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sharon (new)

Sharon Why isn't the book Night Fim on this list? It should definitely be added!


message 2: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Night Film? Agreed, it looks terrific! I haven't read it yet, but I've added it to the list. You can add books, too, and/or vote for them/others to move them up in the order. Thanks for mentioning Night Film!


message 3: by Michelle (new)

Michelle I haven't actually read these books yet, but they certainly have intriguing design. There's Tristano, a novel that is printed in different order every copy, and also 10,000 Ghost Stories.
It doesn't look like Tristano is all that well received, but that's not a criteria, is it?


message 4: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Well received or actually being good is not a criteria--I imagine this to be a list of books pushing boundaries and often those are failed experiments (in terms of final impact) yet still great opportunities for others to study them and learn from them. Thanks for the comment!


message 5: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl I'm not sure "The Road" really pushed boundaries, at least at the time it was published. Maybe it would have in the 19th century. What does it do besides not use quotation marks for dialogue?


message 6: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Thanks, Lobstergirl, I haven't read it myself. Do you recommend I remove it?


message 7: by Lobstergirl (new)

Lobstergirl Yes, I don't really think it's innovative in terms of design or structure. It's a good book though.


message 8: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Yeah, I've been very much meaning to read it, but...being already familiar with the story it's hard to get excited about it. Thanks for the tip! I'll remove it from the list.


message 9: by Aaron (new)

Aaron Dietz Oh, looks like the joke's on me--I can only remove the books I voted for, which probably still only removes the vote I contributed. So it looks like this book is here to stay. Working on an experimental fiction course, though, and I'll definitely remove it from the list of works for students. Thanks again!


message 10: by Andrea (new)

Andrea Not sure that Eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer belongs on this list... I haven't read it though, so perhaps it does.


message 11: by Vincent (new)

Vincent Quiquempoix You definitely can add all the comics from Marc Antoine Mathieu like the Julius Corentin Acquefaques series.
Unflattening from Nick Sousanis , which is a phD thesis on comics in form of a comic book, my preferred one.
Un cadeau , which is a comic book you unfold that is destructible


message 12: by Mark (new)

Mark Pettit Saving this to my history


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