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 — 206,753 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 29,482 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 271,877 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 114,675 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 437,724 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,807 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 96,666 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 58,846 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 77,185 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,996 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,615,849 ratings
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12

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4.09 avg rating — 99,700 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 139,880 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,930,131 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 162,810 ratings
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16

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4.03 avg rating — 1,509,738 ratings
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17

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3.23 avg rating — 5,931 ratings
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18

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3.88 avg rating — 8,766 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 60,329 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,067 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 190,643 ratings
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22

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4.19 avg rating — 50,315 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,412 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 782,004 ratings
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25

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4.11 avg rating — 561,427 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,754 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,262 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 224,469 ratings
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29

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3.72 avg rating — 23,183 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 956,240 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,454 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 252,857 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 198,702 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,975 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,097 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 217,496 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 184,575 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,258 ratings
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39

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3.77 avg rating — 365,590 ratings
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40

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4.67 avg rating — 97 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,492 ratings
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42

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3.54 avg rating — 71,064 ratings
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43

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3.92 avg rating — 7,487 ratings
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44

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3.96 avg rating — 115 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 340,629 ratings
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46

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4.35 avg rating — 1,006 ratings
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47

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4.49 avg rating — 3,933 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 662,077 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,332 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 88,606 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 37,566 ratings
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52

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4.23 avg rating — 256 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 360,901 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 70,433 ratings
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55

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3.64 avg rating — 173 ratings
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56

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3.70 avg rating — 159,475 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 75,708 ratings
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58

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4.56 avg rating — 175 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 594 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 28,077 ratings
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61

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3.86 avg rating — 1,159 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 8,265 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,751 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,251 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 190,500 ratings
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67

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4.17 avg rating — 60,023 ratings
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67

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4.03 avg rating — 376,781 ratings
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69

by
4.17 avg rating — 10,401 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 192,665 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 445,118 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 23,057 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 44,170 ratings
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74

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4.21 avg rating — 1,317 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,827 ratings
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76

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4.55 avg rating — 113 ratings
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77

by
3.92 avg rating — 62 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 6,980 ratings
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79

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3.88 avg rating — 56,029 ratings
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79

by
4.01 avg rating — 1,788 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 101,271 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 44,575 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 10,041 ratings
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84

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,632 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 55,155 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,316 ratings
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87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.91 avg rating — 345 ratings
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89

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 205 ratings
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90

by
4.29 avg rating — 358 ratings
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90

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,814 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,384 ratings
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90

by
4.59 avg rating — 22 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 — 11,716 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,227 ratings
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97

by
4.17 avg rating — 297 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,479 ratings
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98

by
3.73 avg rating — 294,368 ratings
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306 books · 551 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
497 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 760 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 576 books
52 friends
Kae 856 books
100 friends
Victoria 136 books
102 friends
Riona 1941 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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