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 — 203,296 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 29,184 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 269,743 ratings
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4

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4.01 avg rating — 113,198 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 436,339 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,797 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 96,196 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 58,120 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,723 ratings
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10

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3.82 avg rating — 21,801 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,605,812 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 98,395 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 138,748 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,903,109 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 162,001 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,905 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,751 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,492,214 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 59,310 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,052 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 190,052 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 49,717 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,386 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 775,351 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 554,461 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,686 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,231 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 222,611 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 23,019 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 951,696 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,437 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 251,009 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 197,243 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,922 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,064 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 216,777 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 184,205 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,240 ratings
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39

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3.77 avg rating — 360,700 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 — 5,470 ratings
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42

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3.54 avg rating — 70,408 ratings
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43

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3.92 avg rating — 7,390 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 — 339,376 ratings
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46

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4.35 avg rating — 1,004 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,914 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 659,657 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,299 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 87,685 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 36,931 ratings
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52

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4.24 avg rating — 250 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 352,823 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,976 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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3.70 avg rating — 157,228 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 75,239 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 — 27,766 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,158 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 8,177 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,680 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,246 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 188,605 ratings
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67

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4.17 avg rating — 59,844 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 375,171 ratings
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69

by
4.17 avg rating — 10,251 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 191,067 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 440,795 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,816 ratings
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73

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3.88 avg rating — 43,862 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,316 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,599 ratings
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76

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4.54 avg rating — 111 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 — 6,885 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,773 ratings
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79

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4.01 avg rating — 1,778 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 100,840 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,892 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 10,012 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,622 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 54,337 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,290 ratings
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87

by
3.73 avg rating — 26 ratings
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87

by
3.92 avg rating — 335 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 — 360 ratings
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90

by
4.03 avg rating — 1,799 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,358 ratings
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90

by
4.67 avg rating — 21 ratings
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94

by
3.92 avg rating — 40 ratings
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95

by
3.82 avg rating — 11,640 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,183 ratings
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97

by
4.17 avg rating — 298 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,464 ratings
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98

by
3.73 avg rating — 293,160 ratings
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305 books · 549 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
495 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 758 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 572 books
52 friends
Kristin 849 books
100 friends
Victoria 117 books
100 friends
Riona 1937 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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