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 — 195,747 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,464 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 265,147 ratings
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4

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4.02 avg rating — 109,886 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 433,474 ratings
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6

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3.84 avg rating — 3,794 ratings
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7

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3.78 avg rating — 95,160 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 56,699 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 75,906 ratings
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10

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3.83 avg rating — 21,510 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,581,928 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 95,420 ratings
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13

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3.77 avg rating — 139,607 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,836,026 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 160,268 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,853 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,728 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,441,048 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 57,250 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,041 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 188,830 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 48,176 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,360 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 761,059 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 538,511 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,544 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,153 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 218,413 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 22,876 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 942,050 ratings
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31

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3.51 avg rating — 2,417 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 246,879 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 194,130 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,849 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 3,977 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 215,137 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,343 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,185 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 349,129 ratings
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40

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4.68 avg rating — 91 ratings
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41

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4.07 avg rating — 5,448 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,201 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 — 68,672 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 336,429 ratings
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46

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4.34 avg rating — 991 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,857 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 653,855 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,207 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 85,648 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 35,460 ratings
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52

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4.27 avg rating — 237 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 336,514 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 68,997 ratings
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55

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3.64 avg rating — 169 ratings
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56

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3.69 avg rating — 151,967 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,305 ratings
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58

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4.59 avg rating — 163 ratings
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59

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3.99 avg rating — 596 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 27,145 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,145 ratings
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62

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3.86 avg rating — 8,000 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,526 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

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3.74 avg rating — 1,236 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 184,657 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,528 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 371,557 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 9,997 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 187,448 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 429,517 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,265 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,110 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,312 ratings
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75

by
4.18 avg rating — 17,048 ratings
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76

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4.55 avg rating — 101 ratings
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77

by
3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
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78

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3.90 avg rating — 6,660 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,222 ratings
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79

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4.01 avg rating — 1,762 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 99,880 ratings
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82

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4.34 avg rating — 42,839 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,935 ratings
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84

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4.03 avg rating — 1,588 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 52,351 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,222 ratings
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87

by
3.80 avg rating — 25 ratings
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87

by
3.94 avg rating — 327 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
4.04 avg rating — 1,768 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,296 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 — 11,448 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,105 ratings
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97

by
4.17 avg rating — 295 ratings
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98

by
4.22 avg rating — 59 ratings
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98

by
3.92 avg rating — 2,446 ratings
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98

by
3.74 avg rating — 290,414 ratings
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305 books · 550 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
492 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 759 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 566 books
59 friends
Kristin 807 books
101 friends
Victoria 115 books
100 friends
Riona 1936 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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