Metafiction Books

Showing 1-50 of 3,781
If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler (Paperback)
by (shelved 148 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.01 — 111,725 ratings — published 1979
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House of Leaves House of Leaves (Paperback)
by (shelved 101 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.09 — 199,839 ratings — published 2000
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Slaughterhouse-Five Slaughterhouse-Five (Paperback)
by (shelved 99 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.10 — 1,481,065 ratings — published 1969
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Pale Fire Pale Fire (Paperback)
by (shelved 71 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.17 — 57,484 ratings — published 1962
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The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, #1) The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, #1)
by (shelved 70 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.88 — 137,175 ratings — published 2001
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The Princess Bride The Princess Bride (Paperback)
by (shelved 61 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.27 — 947,212 ratings — published 1973
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The New York Trilogy (New York Trilogy, #1-3) The New York Trilogy (New York Trilogy, #1-3)
by (shelved 53 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.86 — 86,798 ratings — published 1987
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Breakfast of Champions Breakfast of Champions (Paperback)
by (shelved 48 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.06 — 279,549 ratings — published 1973
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Cloud Atlas Cloud Atlas (Paperback)
by (shelved 46 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.01 — 267,395 ratings — published 2004
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Redshirts Redshirts (ebook)
by (shelved 45 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.87 — 117,573 ratings — published 2012
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The Name of the Rose The Name of the Rose (Paperback)
by (shelved 39 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.14 — 394,990 ratings — published 1980
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Sophie’s World Sophie’s World (Paperback)
by (shelved 37 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.97 — 281,898 ratings — published 1991
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The French Lieutenant’s Woman The French Lieutenant’s Woman (Paperback)
by (shelved 36 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.88 — 55,510 ratings — published 1969
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The Neverending Story The Neverending Story (Hardcover)
by (shelved 36 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.18 — 220,650 ratings — published 1979
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The Blind Assassin The Blind Assassin (Paperback)
by (shelved 36 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.96 — 163,394 ratings — published 2000
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Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next, #2) Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next, #2)
by (shelved 35 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.13 — 56,110 ratings — published 2002
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Don Quixote Don Quixote (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.91 — 304,796 ratings — published 1615
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Atonement Atonement (Paperback)
by (shelved 35 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.95 — 562,746 ratings — published 2001
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At Swim-Two-Birds At Swim-Two-Birds (Paperback)
by (shelved 34 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.85 — 14,305 ratings — published 1939
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S. S. (Hardcover)
by (shelved 33 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.85 — 28,837 ratings — published 2013
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Inkheart (Inkworld, #1) Inkheart (Inkworld, #1)
by (shelved 31 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.93 — 442,652 ratings — published 2003
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Ficciones Ficciones (Paperback)
by (shelved 30 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.40 — 78,946 ratings — published 1944
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Possession Possession (Paperback)
by (shelved 29 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.90 — 84,349 ratings — published 1990
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The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next, #3) The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next, #3)
by (shelved 28 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.09 — 42,480 ratings — published 2003
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The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale (Hardcover)
by (shelved 27 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.15 — 2,415,521 ratings — published 1985
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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Paperback)
by (shelved 26 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.04 — 92,969 ratings — published 1967
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Infinite Jest Infinite Jest (Paperback)
by (shelved 26 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.25 — 101,312 ratings — published 1996
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Invisible Cities Invisible Cities (Paperback)
by (shelved 25 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.10 — 97,090 ratings — published 1972
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Lost in the Funhouse Lost in the Funhouse (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.68 — 6,736 ratings — published 1968
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The Crying of Lot 49 The Crying of Lot 49 (Paperback)
by (shelved 24 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.69 — 97,188 ratings — published 1966
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Something Rotten (Thursday Next, #4) Something Rotten (Thursday Next, #4)
by (shelved 24 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.16 — 36,015 ratings — published 2004
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First Among Sequels (Thursday Next, #5) First Among Sequels (Thursday Next, #5)
by (shelved 24 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.02 — 27,576 ratings — published 2007
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Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings (Paperback)
by (shelved 23 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.44 — 33,798 ratings — published 1962
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Foucault’s Pendulum Foucault’s Pendulum (Paperback)
by (shelved 23 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.91 — 74,810 ratings — published 1988
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The Raw Shark Texts The Raw Shark Texts (Hardcover)
by (shelved 23 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.82 — 21,657 ratings — published 2007
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Yellowface Yellowface (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.73 — 1,021,317 ratings — published 2023
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Hamlet Hamlet (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.03 — 1,048,837 ratings — published 1601
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Lolita Lolita (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.87 — 943,867 ratings — published 1955
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Houdini Heart Houdini Heart (Paperback)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.84 — 5,453 ratings — published 2011
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A Tale for the Time Being A Tale for the Time Being (Hardcover)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.06 — 134,875 ratings — published 2013
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
by (shelved 22 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.22 — 2,012,758 ratings — published 1979
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The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Paperback)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.73 — 23,027 ratings — published 1767
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Life of Pi Life of Pi (Paperback)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.94 — 1,751,765 ratings — published 2001
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Chloe and the Lion Chloe and the Lion (Hardcover)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.01 — 3,632 ratings — published 2012
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The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.31 — 718,294 ratings — published 2001
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Fahrenheit 451 Fahrenheit 451 (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.97 — 2,828,679 ratings — published 1953
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The Things They Carried The Things They Carried (Paperback)
by (shelved 21 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.15 — 344,390 ratings — published 1990
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Northanger Abbey Northanger Abbey (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.85 — 452,898 ratings — published 1817
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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as metafiction)
avg rating 3.87 — 254,836 ratings — published 2004
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The Master and Margarita The Master and Margarita (Paperback)
by (shelved 20 times as metafiction)
avg rating 4.28 — 419,158 ratings — published 1967
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The Blind Assassin by Margaret AtwoodThe Valley of Unknowing by Philip SingtonIf on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo CalvinoThe Eyre Affair by Jasper FfordeThe Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Books within Books
78 books — 70 voters
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna ClarkeHouse of Leaves by Mark Z. DanielewskiGood Omens by Terry PratchettInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceThe Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Footnotes!
102 books — 75 voters

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Jean Baudrillard
“The end of this history saw the banality of art merge with the banality of the real world - Duchamp's act, with its automatic transference of the object, being the inaugural (and ironic) gesture in this process. The transference of all reality into aesthetics, which has become one of the dimensions of generalized exchange...
All this under the banner of a simultaneous liberation of art and the real world.
This 'liberation' has in fact consisted in indexing the two to each other - a chiasmus lethal to both.
The transference of art, become a useless function, into a reality that is now integral, since it has absorbed everything that denied, exceeded or transfigured it. The impossible exchange of this Integral Reality for anything else whatever. Given this, it can only exchange itself for itself or, in other words, repeat itself ad infinitum.
What could miraculously reassure us today about the essence of art? Art is quite simply what is at issue in the world of art, in that desperately self-obsessed artistic community. The 'creative' act doubles up on itself and is now nothing more than a sign of its own operation - the painter's true subject is no longer what he paints but the very fact that he paints. He paints the fact that he paints. At least in that way the idea of art remains intact.”
Jean Baudrillard, The Intelligence of Evil or the Lucidity Pact

Bret Easton Ellis
“How is your father?” she asks disinterestedly.
“A contrivance,” I mutter. “A plot device.”
Bret Easton Ellis, Glamorama

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