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 — 197,947 ratings
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2

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3.85 avg rating — 28,643 ratings
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3

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4.01 avg rating — 266,354 ratings
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4

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4.02 avg rating — 110,790 ratings
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5

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3.97 avg rating — 434,230 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 — 95,476 ratings
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8

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4.17 avg rating — 57,129 ratings
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9

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4.03 avg rating — 76,242 ratings
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10

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3.83 avg rating — 21,593 ratings
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11

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3.89 avg rating — 1,587,743 ratings
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12

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4.10 avg rating — 96,252 ratings
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13

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3.76 avg rating — 137,224 ratings
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14

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4.39 avg rating — 2,852,416 ratings
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15

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4.24 avg rating — 160,773 ratings
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16

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3.23 avg rating — 5,865 ratings
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17

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3.88 avg rating — 8,740 ratings
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18

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4.02 avg rating — 1,459,033 ratings
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19

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3.94 avg rating — 57,789 ratings
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20

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4.10 avg rating — 15,043 ratings
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21

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4.22 avg rating — 189,202 ratings
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22

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4.20 avg rating — 48,600 ratings
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23

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4.33 avg rating — 7,374 ratings
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24

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 764,890 ratings
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25

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4.12 avg rating — 542,986 ratings
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26

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4.17 avg rating — 7,575 ratings
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27

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3.59 avg rating — 6,178 ratings
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28

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4.18 avg rating — 219,535 ratings
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29

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3.73 avg rating — 22,971 ratings
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30

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4.27 avg rating — 944,600 ratings
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31

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3.52 avg rating — 2,421 ratings
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32

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3.70 avg rating — 248,105 ratings
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33

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3.86 avg rating — 195,042 ratings
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34

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3.86 avg rating — 47,870 ratings
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35

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4.37 avg rating — 4,002 ratings
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36

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3.72 avg rating — 215,683 ratings
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37

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3.89 avg rating — 183,596 ratings
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38

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3.65 avg rating — 4,202 ratings
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39

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3.78 avg rating — 353,017 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 — 5,457 ratings
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42

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3.92 avg rating — 7,255 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 — 69,162 ratings
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45

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4.38 avg rating — 337,227 ratings
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46

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4.34 avg rating — 1,000 ratings
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47

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4.50 avg rating — 3,875 ratings
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48

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4.01 avg rating — 655,516 ratings
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49

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4.19 avg rating — 11,225 ratings
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50

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3.86 avg rating — 86,231 ratings
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51

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4.25 avg rating — 35,890 ratings
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52

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4.27 avg rating — 242 ratings
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53

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4.26 avg rating — 340,672 ratings
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54

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3.81 avg rating — 69,355 ratings
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55

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3.64 avg rating — 170 ratings
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56

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3.69 avg rating — 153,509 ratings
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57

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3.91 avg rating — 74,608 ratings
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58

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4.55 avg rating — 167 ratings
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59

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4.01 avg rating — 596 ratings
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60

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3.66 avg rating — 27,352 ratings
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61

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3.87 avg rating — 1,148 ratings
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62

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3.87 avg rating — 8,066 ratings
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63

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3.68 avg rating — 13,571 ratings
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64

by
3.51 avg rating — 86 ratings
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65

by
3.74 avg rating — 1,238 ratings
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66

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3.72 avg rating — 185,798 ratings
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67

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4.16 avg rating — 59,639 ratings
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67

by
4.03 avg rating — 372,687 ratings
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69

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4.18 avg rating — 10,066 ratings
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70

by
4.29 avg rating — 188,507 ratings
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71

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3.99 avg rating — 432,633 ratings
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72

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3.83 avg rating — 22,423 ratings
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73

by
3.88 avg rating — 43,342 ratings
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74

by
4.21 avg rating — 1,315 ratings
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75

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4.18 avg rating — 17,223 ratings
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76

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4.56 avg rating — 104 ratings
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77

by
3.90 avg rating — 61 ratings
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78

by
3.89 avg rating — 6,740 ratings
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79

by
3.88 avg rating — 55,393 ratings
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79

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4.01 avg rating — 1,770 ratings
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81

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3.85 avg rating — 100,147 ratings
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82

by
4.34 avg rating — 43,152 ratings
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83

by
4.16 avg rating — 9,952 ratings
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84

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4.02 avg rating — 1,594 ratings
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85

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4.14 avg rating — 52,980 ratings
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86

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3.95 avg rating — 7,241 ratings
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87

by
3.80 avg rating — 25 ratings
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87

by
3.93 avg rating — 330 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 — 360 ratings
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90

by
4.04 avg rating — 1,777 ratings
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90

by
3.71 avg rating — 20,314 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

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3.82 avg rating — 11,515 ratings
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96

by
3.85 avg rating — 5,132 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 — 2,459 ratings
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98

by
3.74 avg rating — 291,107 ratings
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305 books · 551 voters · list created October 5th, 2010 by Aaron Dietz (votes) .
494 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Aaron 757 books
379 friends
Andrea 209 books
45 friends
Katie 570 books
59 friends
Kristin 826 books
101 friends
Victoria 118 books
100 friends
Riona 1934 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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