Language English Subject Best books Pages 960 (first edition) Originally published 2006 OCLC 906238342 | Series 1001 Before You Die Media type Print (paperback) ISBN 978-1-844-03417-8 Genre Non-fiction Editor Peter Boxall | |
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1001 books you must read before you die
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die is a literary reference book compiled by over one hundred literary critics worldwide and edited by Peter Boxall, Professor of English at Sussex University, with an introduction by Peter Ackroyd. Each title is accompanied by a brief synopsis and critique briefly explaining why the book was chosen. Some entries have illustrations. This book is part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd.
Contents
Book lists 1001 books you must read before you die
The list
The list contains 1001 titles and is made up of novels, short stories, and short story collections. There is also one pamphlet (A Modest Proposal), one book of collected text (Adjunct: An Undigest), and one graphic novel (Watchmen). The most featured authors on the list are J. M. Coetzee and Charles Dickens with ten titles each.
The 2010 revised and updated edition of the book is less Anglocentric and lists only four titles from Dickens and five from Coetzee, who has the most of any writer on the list. It also includes a collection of essays by Albert Camus, The Rebel.
There was a major revision of 280 odd titles in 2008. The clear shift within the list has been the removal of ~300 works almost entirely by English language authors who have more than one title on the original list in favour of lesser known works, often by non-English language writers.
Minor changes of fewer than 20 books were made in 2010 and 2012.