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Best Book of 1921: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Will Harris
‘I wanted to understand the world and why it hurt, and soon I stumbled on the Tractatus’ Will Harris on the best book of 1921.
Best Book of 1928: Quicksand
Lucy Ives
Lucy Ives argues that Nella Larsen – author of ‘terse, obsessively observed fiction’ – penned the best book of 1928.
Best Book of 1934: Bruno Schulz’s Cinnamon Shops (Sklepy cynamonowe)
David Hayden
David Hayden on why Bruno Schulz’s Cinnamon Shops (Sklepy cynamonowe) is the best book of 1934.
Best book of 1947: L’Écume des Jours by Boris Vian
Xiaolu Guo
‘In those spring nights, I sat by barbecue stalls in the streets of Beijing, reading this novel under dim streetlights while eating lamb skewers.’
Best Book of 1962: The Pumpkin Eater
Nicole Flattery
Nicole Flattery on why Penelope Mortimer’s The Pumpkin Eater is the best book of 1962.
Best Book of 1967: Ice by Anna Kavan
Eli Goldstone
‘What a writer, and what a vision. What a perfect book to read in preparation for the end of the world.’
Best Book of 1981: Lanark
Lorna Gibb
Lorna Gibb on why Alasdair Gray's Lanark is the best book of 1981.
Best Book of 1982: The Years of Lyndon Johnson
Beth Gardiner
Beth Gardiner on why volume one of Robert Caro’s The Years of Lyndon Johnson series is the best book of 1982.
Best Book of 1993: Written on the Body
Melissa Febos
‘Influences imprint themselves on our consciousness as light does a photograph, or trauma the psyche’
Best Book of 2003: The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
Daisy Hildyard
Daisy Hildyard on why Lisa Jardine's The Curious Life of Robert Hooke is the best book of 2003.
Best Book of 2005: Zadie Smith’s On Beauty
Caoilinn Hughes
Caoilinn Hughes on why Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is the best book of 2005
Best of Young American Novelists 2: Introduction
Ian Jack
Ian Jack introduces Granta 97: Best of Young American Novelists 2.
Best of Young British Novelists 2003: Introduction
Ian Jack
‘What had been an exercise to publicize the literary novel, at a time when there were few spotlights on this particular branch of culture, might now have a new role as an independent consumer's guide to novelists who deserved to be read in an era where 'a thrilling debut by a young writer of enormous talent' is the standard blurb, and where there are now so many spotlights directed by marketing money and the size of the writer's advance.’
