1950-present
I've intentionally constructed this from an anglocentric perspective, prioritizing obscure works in English and including works well-known in literary circles in their original language/country.
Underread does not mean obscure, so some of these are decently popular in the anglophonic world (by which I mean they've been read by many of those with an interest in the unique) yet are surpassingly well-written.
All of these I've read and enjoyed or my girlfriend has. If you have a question about any, ask me in the comments and I'll reply or relay the question and answer.
I'm using avant-garde and experimental in the broadest possible sense, and some of these are hardly formally unique.
3 comments
yarb
3 months ago
Love it. The only one I’ve read is the excellent Motorman. I’ve read other stuff by Matthews and B.S. Johnson; the rest of this stuff is terra incognita for me.
lowiqmarkfisher
3 months ago
You know it's a good obscura list when 60% of the books don't have a cover... I'll try to add them manually <3
literati
3 months ago
Thanks! I had to add four of the books to OpenLibrary. There's no need to add covers if you don't want to. As I mentioned in that thread, I don't particularly care about them on real books, and that apathy extends stronger still to the digital.