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Donald Barthelme's 81 Books Essential for a Literary Education

The list has a somewhat illustrious heritage. Compiled by postmodernist writer Donald Barthelme for his students at the University of Houston, it then made its way to Barthelme's student, Southern writer Padgett Powell. The list then came to Moffett when he was a student of Powell's at the University of Florida.
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At Swim-Two-Birds (Flann O'Brien)
At Swim-Two-Birds
1
Flann O'Brien
The Third Policeman (Flann O'Brien)
The Third Policeman
2
Flann O'Brien
The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel (Isaac Babel)
The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel
3
Isaac Babel
Labyrinths (Jorge Luis Borges)
Labyrinths
4
Jorge Luis Borges
Other Inquisitions (Jorge Luis Borges)
Other Inquisitions
5
Jorge Luis Borges
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
6
Correction (Thomas Bernhard)
Correction
7
Thomas Bernhard
Nog (Rudolph Wurlitzer)
Nog
8
Rudolph Wurlitzer
Gimpel the Fool (Isaac Bashevis Singer)
Gimpel the Fool
9
Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Assistant (Bernard Malamud)
The Assistant
10
Bernard Malamud
"The Lady of the Lake" by Bernard Malamud
"The Lady of the Lake" by Bernard Malamud
11
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
12
Under the Volcano (Malcolm Lowry)
Under the Volcano
13
Malcolm Lowry
Malloy, Malone Dies, the Unnamable: A Trilogy- Samuel Beckett
Malloy, Malone Dies, the Unnamable: A Trilogy- Samuel Beckett
14
Hunger (Knut Hamsun)
Hunger
15
Knut Hamsun
I'm Not Stiller
I'm Not Stiller
16
Man in the Holocene
Man in the Holocene
17
Seven Gothic Tales
Seven Gothic Tales
18
Gogol's Wife and Other Stories
Gogol's Wife and Other Stories
19
V (Thomas Pynchon)
V
20
Thomas Pynchon
The Lime Twig (John Hawkes)
The Lime Twig
21
John Hawkes
Blood Oranges (John Hawkes)
Blood Oranges
22
John Hawkes
Little Disturbances (Grace Paley)
Little Disturbances
23
Grace Paley
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (Grace Paley)
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
24
Grace Paley
I, Etc. (Susan Sontag)
I, Etc.
25
Susan Sontag
Tell Me a Riddle
Tell Me a Riddle
26
The Hero With a Thousand Faces (Joseph Campbell)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces
27
Joseph Campbell
Henderson the Rain King (Eugene Henderson)
Henderson the Rain King
28
Eugene Henderson
The Coup
The Coup
29
Rabbit, Run (John Updike)
Rabbit, Run
30
John Updike
The Paris Review Interviews (Various)
The Paris Review Interviews
31
Various
How We Live (L. Rust Hill)
How We Live
32
L. Rust Hill
Superfiction (Joe David Bellamy)
Superfiction
33
Joe David Bellamy
Pushcart Prize Anthologies (The Pushcart Prize Editors)
Pushcart Prize Anthologies
34
The Pushcart Prize Editors
The Writer on Her Work (Janet Sternburg (Editor))
The Writer on Her Work
35
Janet Sternburg (Editor)
Manifestoes of Surrealism
Manifestoes of Surrealism
36
The Writings of Robert Motherwell (Robert Motherwell)
The Writings of Robert Motherwell
37
Robert Motherwell
Against Interpretation (Susan Sontag)
Against Interpretation
38
Susan Sontag
A Homemade World (Hugh Kenner)
A Homemade World
39
Hugh Kenner
George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters (George Sand and Gustave Flaubert)
George Sand-Gustave Flaubert Letters
40
George Sand and Gustave Flaubert
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