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 — 200,714 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,933 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 267,947 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 112,120 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 435,222 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 — 95,803 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,642 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,489 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,692 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,598,284 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 97,408 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,925 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,881,444 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 161,426 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,888 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 — 1,477,767 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 58,557 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 — 189,672 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,210 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,384 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 770,171 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 549,062 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,635 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,207 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 221,170 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,020 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 948,304 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,429 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 249,648 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 196,142 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,886 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,045 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,219 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,893 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 — 357,000 ratings
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40

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4.69 avg rating — 93 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,465 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,321 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 — 69,890 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 338,414 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 — 3,900 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 657,853 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,265 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 87,022 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,435 ratings
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52

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4.26 avg rating — 249 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 346,893 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,686 ratings
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55

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3.65 avg rating — 171 ratings
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56

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3.69 avg rating — 155,334 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,920 ratings
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58

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4.55 avg rating — 173 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 — 27,550 ratings
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61

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3.86 avg rating — 1,155 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 8,123 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,645 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,243 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 187,159 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,734 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 373,963 ratings
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69

by
4.18 avg rating — 10,165 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 189,859 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 437,204 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,620 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 43,639 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,422 ratings
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76

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4.54 avg rating — 110 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 — 6,813 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 55,555 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 — 100,474 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,570 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,982 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,613 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 53,656 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,266 ratings
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87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.92 avg rating — 333 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 — 359 ratings
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90

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,794 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,330 ratings
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90

by
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

by
3.82 avg rating — 11,556 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,154 ratings
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97

by
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

by
3.73 avg rating — 292,198 ratings
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304 books · 548 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
494 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 759 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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