Marginal Revolution Book Rankings

Tyler and Alex's favorites from Marginal Revolution

How it works: I scraped every post categorized under 'books'. Then extracted book titles and relevant review context from each post. I then submitted a couple million pairs of reviews to an LLM to compare and determine which book review had more positive sentiment. I used these comparisons to fit a Bradley-Terry model which produces these rankings. I racked up a gemini bill so stopped shy of exhaustive 16 million comparisons, so it's not perfect, but roughly accurate.

Genre: English Literature ×
Showing 50 books in English Literature
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1. Writing to the Moment, Selected Critical Essays 1980-1996
BT: 8.38 124 comparisons
english literature essays literary criticism literature +1
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2. The Henriad
BT: 5.51 139 comparisons
drama english literature historical fiction literature +1
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3. The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction
BT: 5.25 138 comparisons
biography english literature literary criticism literary history +2
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4. The Lives of the Novelists
BT: 4.75 179 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literature +1
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5. Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert
BT: 2.79 546 comparisons
biography english literature literary criticism poetry +1
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6. Samuel Johnson: A Biography
BT: 2.33 262 comparisons
biography english literature european history history +1
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7. A Dance to the Music of Time
BT: 2.10 254 comparisons
20th century literature english literature fiction literary fiction
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8. Memoirs of Emma Courtney
BT: 1.89 319 comparisons
18th-century fiction english literature enlightenment feminism +2
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9. How the Classics Made Shakespeare
BT: 1.39 293 comparisons
classical studies english literature literary criticism literature +1
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10. Reading Jane Austen
BT: 1.26 352 comparisons
english literature literary criticism literature
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11. The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century
BT: 0.56 322 comparisons
biography english literature linguistics literary history
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12. A Question of Upbringing
BT: 0.44 333 comparisons
20th-century literature english literature fiction literary fiction
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13. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
BT: 0.37 340 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +1
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14. Life of Johnson
BT: -0.29 380 comparisons
18th-century history biography british history english literature +2
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15. Cymbeline
BT: -0.41 336 comparisons
drama english literature literary fiction play +1
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16. As You Like It
BT: -0.46 372 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +1
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17. Bleak House
BT: -0.58 1973 comparisons
english literature fiction literary fiction novel +2
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18. Aldous Huxley: A Biography
BT: -0.60 364 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literature
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19. Twelfth Night
BT: -0.62 350 comparisons
classic literature comedy english literature fiction +2
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20. Jane Austen, Game Theorist
BT: -0.64 414 comparisons
economics english literature game theory literary criticism +1
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21. King Lear
BT: -0.65 1202 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +3
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22. D.H. Lawrence: A Biography
BT: -0.68 362 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literature
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23. Richard II
BT: -0.73 349 comparisons
drama english history english literature historical drama +3
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24. Comedy of Errors
BT: -0.83 367 comparisons
comedy english literature literature play +1
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25. Hamlet
BT: -0.83 1498 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +2
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26. Measure for Measure
BT: -0.85 788 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +1
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27. Tristram Shandy
BT: -0.92 1454 comparisons
18th-century literature english literature european literature fiction +2
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28. Troilus and Cressida
BT: -0.97 813 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature play
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29. Love’s Labour’s Lost
BT: -0.99 357 comparisons
comedy drama english literature fiction +2
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30. Winter’s Tale
BT: -1.11 460 comparisons
drama english literature fiction play +1
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31. All’s Well That Ends Well
BT: -1.11 350 comparisons
drama english literature literary fiction play
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32. The Merchant of Venice
BT: -1.16 1802 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +1
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33. Pride and Prejudice
BT: -1.42 1202 comparisons
classic literature english literature fiction literary fiction +2
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34. The Rambler
BT: -1.57 409 comparisons
18th-century literature english literature essays non-fiction +1
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35. Anatomy of Melancholy
BT: -1.75 380 comparisons
early modern literature english literature history of medicine philosophy +1
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36. Wuthering Heights
BT: -1.76 1114 comparisons
classic literature english literature fiction literary fiction
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37. Collected Works of William Shakespeare
BT: -2.05 367 comparisons
drama english literature literature poetry
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38. Shakespeare
BT: -2.26 733 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature literature +1
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39. Hardy’s Women: Mother, Sister, Wives, Muses
BT: -2.27 341 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literary criticism +1
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40. The Tempest
BT: -2.37 716 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature fiction +2
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41. Persuasion
BT: -2.62 454 comparisons
classic literature english literature fiction literary fiction +2
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42. History of English Poetry
BT: -2.76 327 comparisons
english literature history literary history poetry
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43. Taming of the Shrew
BT: -3.22 345 comparisons
classic literature comedy drama english literature +3
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44. Pride and Profit: The Intersection of Jane Austen and Adam Smith
BT: -3.66 354 comparisons
economics english literature history of economic thought interdisciplinary studies +2
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45. Spenserian Moments
BT: -4.00 241 comparisons
english literature literary criticism literature poetry
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46. The Mapping of an Ideological Demesne
BT: -4.16 154 comparisons
cultural history english history english literature european history +3
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47. The Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare
BT: -4.48 161 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literature
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48. Two Gentleman of Verona
BT: -5.13 186 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature literary fiction +1
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49. Titus Andronicus
BT: -5.32 120 comparisons
drama english literature fiction literary fiction +1
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50. Henry VIII
BT: -6.07 94 comparisons
drama english literature historical play play
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