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61 Essential Postmodern Reads

The thing about postmodernism is it's impossible to pin down exactly what might make a book postmodern. In looking at the attributes of the essential postmodern reads, we found some were downright contradictory. Postmodern books have a reputation for being massive tomes, like David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest" -- but then there's "The Mezzanine" by Nicholson Baker, which has just 144 pages. And while postmodern books would, you'd think, have to be published after the modern period -- in the 20th or 21st centuries -- could postmodernism exist without "Tristram Shandy"? We think not.
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1
In Memorium to Identity (Kathy Acker)
In Memorium to Identity (Kathy Acker)
2
The Hundred Brothers (Donald Antrim)
The Hundred Brothers
Donald Antrim
3
The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
The Blind Assassin
Margaret Atwood
4
The New York Trilogy
The New York Trilogy
5
The Mezzanine
The Mezzanine
6
The Atrocity Exhibition (J. G. Ballard)
The Atrocity Exhibition
J. G. Ballard
7
Giles Goat-Boy
Giles Goat-Boy
8
60 Stories (Donald Barthelme)
60 Stories
Donald Barthelme
9
G (John Berger)
G
John Berger
10
The Loser
The Loser
11
2666
2666
12
Labrynths (Jorge Luis Borges)
Labrynths
Jorge Luis Borges
13
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
14
The Anatomy of Melancholy (Robert Burton)
The Anatomy of Melancholy
Robert Burton
15
If on a Winters Night a Traveller
If on a Winters Night a Traveller
16
Hopscotch
Hopscotch
17
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc.
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc.
18
Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford
Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford
19
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski
20
Great Jones Street
Great Jones Street
21
The Man in the High Castle (Philip K. Dick)
The Man in the High Castle
Philip K. Dick
22
City of God
City of God
23
Out of Sheer Rage
Out of Sheer Rage
24
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (Umberto Eco)
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
Umberto Eco
25
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
26
Tours of the Black Clock (Steve Erickson)
Tours of the Black Clock
Steve Erickson
27
I Am Not Sidney Poitier
I Am Not Sidney Poitier
28
Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner)
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner
29
Everything Is Illuminated
Everything Is Illuminated
30
JR
JR
31
The Tunnel (William Gass)
The Tunnel
William Gass
32
The Lime Twig (John Hawkes)
The Lime Twig
John Hawkes
33
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne
34
The Lazarus Project
The Lazarus Project
35
Dispatches (Michael Herr)
Dispatches
Michael Herr
36
Skin (Shelley Jackson)
Skin
Shelley Jackson
37
The Metamorphosis
The Metamorphosis
38
Book of Laughter and Forgetting (Milan Kundera)
Book of Laughter and Forgetting
Milan Kundera
39
Motherless Brooklyn (Jonathan Lethem)
Motherless Brooklyn
Jonathan Lethem
40
Notable American Women (Ben Marcus)
Notable American Women
Ben Marcus
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