The most recommended avant garde books

Who picked these books? Meet our 24 experts.

24 authors created a book list connected to avant garde, and here are their favorite avant garde books.
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Book cover of Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy

Melanie Rehak Author Of Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

From my list on beloved children’s books.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent my childhood reading for pleasure, for escapism, for humor, for reassurance, for different views of the world, and even out of sheer boredom sometimes when there was nothing else to do. I have no doubt it’s what made me into a writer. In retrospect, it makes total sense that my first book was about the history and power of a children’s series. When I found myself immersed in not just my old Nancy Drews but the fascinating stories of the people and times that produced her, it was like being back in my childhood bedroom again, only this time with the experience to understand how what I read fit into the larger story of America, feminism, and literature. I hope the books I’ve recommended will inspire you to revisit your old favorites with a new eye.

Melanie's book list on beloved children’s books

Melanie Rehak Why did Melanie love this book?

As a native New Yorker and lifelong fan of Harriet the Spy (one among legions) reading the product of Leslie Brody’s detective work into the life of her creator is a special pleasure. Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was the product of a high society Memphis marriage that ended in scandal. She went on to live a vibrant, turbulent life in the queer artist and writers scene in New York. It makes total sense that someone who straddled so many different worlds had such a deep understanding of the multiple lives we all lead, and such a keen ability to perceive other people, all of which she poured into her characters. I also recommend her other incredible YA novel, Nobody’s Family Is Going to Change, which tackles race, children’s rights, and the profound beauty of tap dancing.

By Leslie Brody,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sometimes You Have to Lie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The protagonist and anti-heroine of Louise Fitzhugh's masterpiece Harriet the Spy, first published first in 1964, continues to mesmerize generation after generation of readers. Harriet is an erratic, unsentimental, and endearing prototype--someone very like the woman who dreamed her up, author and artist Louise Fitzhugh.

Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in a wealthy home in segregated Memphis, and she escaped her cloistered world and made a beeline for New York as soon as she could. Her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the dance clubs of Harlem, on to the resurgent artist studios of…


Book cover of Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black

Joseph Ridgwell Author Of Burrito Deluxe

From my list on road novels of all time.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been obsessed with travel and novels that feature travel in the narrative since my early teens. A near-death experience at the age of nineteen, forced me to confront my own limited life experiences and encouraged me to travel the globe and see some of the world we live in before it was too late, as there’s nothing worse than too late. Also growing up on an inner city council estate instilled a desire to escape the urban environment and international travel and travel writing satisfied those compelling urges.

Joseph's book list on road novels of all time

Joseph Ridgwell Why did Joseph love this book?

This is a collection of short stories by John Waters bit-part actress—Cookie Mueller. Most of the well-crafted stories in this cult classic are autobiographical, and most feature the author’s travels around America and Europe, and the rest of the world. Cookie has a unique literary voice, and reading her stories it’s like you are actually getting to know the author personally. Criminally out of print for many years, this excellent book was recently re-published in the UK by Canongate. Unfortunately, Cookie died at the tender age of 40, and so was unable to fulfill her undoubted potential. 

By Cookie Mueller,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first collected edition of legendary writer, actress, and adventurer Cookie Mueller's stories, featuring the entire contents of her 1990 book Walking through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black, alongside more than two dozen others, some previously unpublished.

Legendary as an underground actress, female adventurer, and East Village raconteur, Cookie Mueller's first calling was to the written word: "I started writing when I was six and have never stopped completely," she once confessed. Muellerís 1990 Walking through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black, the first volume of the Semiotext(e) Native Agents series, was the largest collection of stories…


Book cover of The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde

Nadia Choucha Author Of Surrealism and the Occult: Shamanism, Magic, Alchemy, and the Birth of an Artistic Movement

From Nadia's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Art historian Occult enthusiast Bibliophile Traveller

Nadia's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Nadia Choucha Why did Nadia love this book?

I was engrossed while reading this meticulously researched book which explores the impact of the Marquis de Sade upon European art and culture.

In each chapter, the author examines a different aspect of the ‘Sadean imagination’ – a dark, cruel, and sexually explicit fantasy world – and analyses how Sade exerted such a powerful impact upon art, poetry, philosophy, politics, cinema, and theatre. The book explains why Sade functioned as a symbol of subversive inspiration to so many revolutionary thinkers and artists, with numerous examples of Sadean imagery.

The book is extensively illustrated with prints, drawings, paintings, and photographs and comes with a full scholarly apparatus of reference notes, bibliography, and index. This is an indispensable guide to anyone wishing to understand the nature of Sade’s cultural significance and influence.

By Alyce Mahon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How the notorious author of The 120 Days of Sodom inspired the surrealists and other avant-garde artists, writers, and filmmakers

The writings of the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) present a libertine philosophy of sexual excess and human suffering that refuses to make any concession to law, religion, or public decency. In this groundbreaking cultural history, Alyce Mahon traces how artists of the twentieth century turned to Sade to explore political, sexual, and psychological terror, adapting his imagery of the excessively sexual and terrorized body as a means of liberation from systems of power.

Mahon shows how avant-garde artists, writers, dramatists,…


Book cover of Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy
Book cover of Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
Book cover of The Marquis de Sade and the Avant-Garde

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