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: Literary Criticism ×
Showing 106 books in Literary Criticism
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1. The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction
BT: 9.64 210 comparisons
book reviews guidebook literary criticism reference +1
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How to Read The Bible
2. How to Read The Bible
BT: 9.03 214 comparisons
biblical studies literary criticism religion
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3. 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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4. Between Quran & Kafka: West-Eastern Affinities
BT: 8.20 139 comparisons
comparative literature cultural studies essays german literature +4
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5. Poetry Notebook 2006-2014
BT: 7.69 198 comparisons
essays literary criticism non-fiction poetry
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6. The Life and Poetry of George Herbert
BT: 6.94 158 comparisons
biography literary criticism poetry religion
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7. Hotel Theory
BT: 6.10 124 comparisons
cultural studies fiction literary criticism literary fiction +3
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8. Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?
BT: 6.10 110 comparisons
literary criticism literary theory philosophy
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9. The Queen’s Throat
BT: 6.09 121 comparisons
critical theory cultural criticism literary criticism music +2
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10. Ayn Rand and the World She Made
BT: 5.61 151 comparisons
american history biography intellectual history libertarianism +2
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11. How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read
BT: 5.41 136 comparisons
cultural criticism literary criticism literary theory philosophy +1
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12. The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and the Woman He Loved
BT: 5.38 126 comparisons
american history biography history literary criticism +3
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13. The Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction
BT: 5.25 138 comparisons
biography english literature literary criticism literary history +2
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14. Irish Classics
BT: 5.10 158 comparisons
cultural studies irish literature irish studies literary criticism +1
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15. Georgics of the Mind: The Experience of Bacon’s Essays
BT: 4.86 108 comparisons
literary criticism literary studies philosophy textual analysis
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16. Between Parentheses
BT: 4.76 149 comparisons
collected works essays latin american literature literary criticism +1
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17. Where Have You Been?: Selected Essays
BT: 4.58 638 comparisons
essays german literature literary criticism literature +1
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18. The Humanity of Thucydides
BT: 3.77 182 comparisons
ancient history classical studies literary criticism philosophy
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19. Thucydides
BT: 3.75 189 comparisons
ancient history classical studies greek history history +2
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20. The Anatomy of Influence: Literature as a Way of Life
BT: 3.64 212 comparisons
literary criticism literary studies literature
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21. The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia
BT: 3.58 510 comparisons
children's literature literary biography literary criticism memoir +1
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22. The Age of the Crisis of Man: Thought and Fiction in America, 1933-1973
BT: 3.56 195 comparisons
american history american studies cultural studies history +4
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23. On Seamus Heaney
BT: 3.31 220 comparisons
literary criticism literature poetry
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24. Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art
BT: 3.20 207 comparisons
art art history biography british literature +4
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25. The Op-Ed Novel: A Literary History of Post-Franco Spain
BT: 3.13 236 comparisons
cultural history european history history literary criticism +3
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26. True Stories & Other Essays
BT: 3.12 247 comparisons
economics essays literary criticism philosophy +3
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27. On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling
BT: 3.07 231 comparisons
biography literary criticism writing
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28. The Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard
BT: 3.06 230 comparisons
biography french studies intellectual history literary criticism +2
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29. Inadvertent (Why I Write)
BT: 2.82 220 comparisons
essays literary criticism non-fiction on writing
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30. 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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31. All Desire is a Desire for Being
BT: 2.69 219 comparisons
essays literary criticism philosophy religious studies
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32. The Master of Contradictions: Thomans Mann and the Making of The Magic Mountain
BT: 2.60 228 comparisons
biography european history intellectual history literary criticism +1
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33. Strong as Death is Love
BT: 2.59 253 comparisons
academic biblical studies literary criticism religion
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34. Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment
BT: 2.34 282 comparisons
cultural studies literary criticism literary theory philosophy +2
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35. La verdad de Agamenón
BT: 2.22 274 comparisons
cultural studies essays history literary criticism +4
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36. Stranger Than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth Century Novel
BT: 2.22 231 comparisons
20th-century literature literary criticism literary history non-fiction
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37. Sonnets to Orpheus
BT: 2.02 291 comparisons
history of ideas literary criticism philosophy poetry studies +1
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38. Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
BT: 1.76 840 comparisons
17th century history biography british history history +3
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39. Shylock on Trial: The Appellate Briefs
BT: 1.75 266 comparisons
law law and literature legal studies literary criticism +1
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40. Small World: Ireland 1798-2018
BT: 1.53 315 comparisons
cultural criticism history irish history literary criticism
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41. Ulysses and Us: The Art and Everyday Life in Joyce's Masterpiece
BT: 1.50 386 comparisons
irish literature literary criticism literary studies
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42. Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald
BT: 1.43 276 comparisons
biography literary criticism
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43. Reading Style: A Life in Sentences
BT: 1.43 310 comparisons
literary criticism literary studies non-fiction writing style
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44. Why is Your Axe So Bloody?
BT: 1.40 285 comparisons
cultural studies legal studies literary criticism medieval studies
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45. How the Classics Made Shakespeare
BT: 1.39 293 comparisons
classical studies english literature literary criticism literature +1
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46. Reading Jane Austen
BT: 1.26 352 comparisons
english literature literary criticism literature
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47. Jan Morris: life from both sides
BT: 1.26 330 comparisons
biography british history intellectual history literary criticism +1
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48. How to be Well Read: A Guide to 500 Great Novels and a Handful of Literary Curiosities
BT: 1.19 259 comparisons
literary criticism literature reading guide reference
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49. Living and Dying with Marcel Proust
BT: 1.15 301 comparisons
french literature literary criticism literature
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50. Somebody with a Little Hammer, Essays
BT: 1.11 487 comparisons
essays film criticism literary criticism literature +1
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51. Retroland: A Reader’s Guide to the Dazzling Diversity of Modern Fiction
BT: 1.08 354 comparisons
literary analysis literary criticism modern literature
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52. The Baby on the Fire Escape: Creativity, Motherhood, and the Mind-Baby Problem
BT: 0.86 485 comparisons
cultural studies literary criticism non-fiction psychology +1
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53. Beautiful & Pointless {A Guide to Modern Poetry}
BT: 0.80 289 comparisons
literary criticism literature modern poetry poetry
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54. The Fragrance of Guava
BT: 0.64 305 comparisons
biography literary criticism
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55. What makes this book so great: Re-Reading the Classics of Science Fiction and Fantasy
BT: 0.55 320 comparisons
fantasy criticism literary criticism science fiction criticism
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56. Possessed by Memory: The Inward Light of Criticism
BT: 0.55 327 comparisons
essays literary criticism literature
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57. The Shakespeare Wars
BT: 0.40 273 comparisons
arts criticism film criticism literary criticism shakespeare studies
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58. After Ireland: Writing the Nation from Beckett to the Present
BT: 0.28 345 comparisons
cultural studies history irish history irish literature +2
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59. Proust Was A Neuroscientist
BT: 0.24 341 comparisons
cognitive science literary criticism literature neuroscience +1
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60. On Elizabeth Bishop
BT: 0.23 379 comparisons
american literature biography literary criticism poetry criticism
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61. Provocations
BT: 0.13 308 comparisons
cultural criticism essays film criticism literary criticism
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62. My Struggle
BT: 0.07 1309 comparisons
autobiography fiction intellectual history literary criticism +3
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63. Forms of Contention: Influence and the African-American Sonnet Tradition
BT: -0.03 594 comparisons
african american literature african american studies american literature literary criticism +3
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64. Housman Country: Into the Heart of England
BT: -0.14 604 comparisons
british studies cultural history cultural studies literary criticism +2
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65. Theatre of Envy
BT: -0.32 1079 comparisons
anthropology literary criticism philosophy psychology +2
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66. Companion to V.
BT: -0.44 327 comparisons
literary analysis literary criticism literature study guide
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67. Late Essays 2006-2017
BT: -0.51 375 comparisons
essays literary criticism literary studies non-fiction
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68. Jane Austen, Game Theorist
BT: -0.64 414 comparisons
economics english literature game theory literary criticism +1
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69. The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks, and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction
BT: -0.66 342 comparisons
crime fiction literary criticism non-fiction popular fiction +1
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70. Love, Life, Goethe: Lessons of the Imagination from the Great German Poet
BT: -0.85 411 comparisons
biography german literature literary criticism
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71. The Western Canon
BT: -1.03 1053 comparisons
cultural history literary criticism literary history literature
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72. 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
BT: -1.04 637 comparisons
book recommendations literary criticism non-fiction reference
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73. The Dignity of Commerce: Markets and the Foundations of Contract Law
BT: -1.09 356 comparisons
economics ethics law legal philosophy +2
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74. Shakespeare and the Law
BT: -1.24 343 comparisons
interdisciplinary studies law legal studies literary criticism +2
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75. The Kraus Project: Essays by Karl Kraus
BT: -1.31 347 comparisons
cultural criticism essays literary criticism non-fiction
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76. Break, Blow, Burn
BT: -1.47 354 comparisons
cultural criticism literary criticism literature poetry
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77. The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar, essays on poets and poetry
BT: -1.59 380 comparisons
essays literary criticism poetry
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78. Those Who Write for Immortality: Romantic Reputations and the Dream of Lasting Fame
BT: -1.69 390 comparisons
cultural studies literary criticism literary history literature +1
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79. Dante
BT: -1.74 380 comparisons
biography european history history italian literature +2
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80. Encounter
BT: -2.15 444 comparisons
essays literary criticism music criticism philosophy
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81. Elucidations of Holderlin’s Poetry
BT: -2.21 354 comparisons
german literature literary criticism philosophy poetry analysis
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82. Hardy’s Women: Mother, Sister, Wives, Muses
BT: -2.27 341 comparisons
biography english literature literary biography literary criticism +1
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83. In Search of Hannah Crafts: Essays on The Bondwoman’s Narrative
BT: -2.29 369 comparisons
19th-century literature african american literature american literature literary criticism +1
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84. Henrik Ibsen: The Man & the Mask
BT: -2.32 332 comparisons
biography european literature literary criticism literature +1
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85. Classics for Pleasure
BT: -2.40 370 comparisons
book recommendations classics essays literary criticism +1
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86. Sexual Personae
BT: -2.41 1000 comparisons
art criticism cultural criticism gender studies humanities +2
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87. The Clothing of Books
BT: -2.45 326 comparisons
books essay literary criticism non-fiction
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88. Selected Non-Fictions
BT: -2.68 345 comparisons
essays literary criticism non-fiction philosophy
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89. Reading Vergil’s Aeneid: An Interpretative Guide
BT: -2.83 333 comparisons
classical studies humanities literary criticism poetry analysis +1
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90. Lawyer Poets and that World Which We Call Law
BT: -2.86 317 comparisons
law law and literature legal studies literary criticism +1
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91. Against Interpretation
BT: -2.91 294 comparisons
art criticism cultural criticism essays literary criticism +1
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92. Think, Write, Speak:Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor
BT: -3.21 385 comparisons
collected works essays literary criticism literary nonfiction
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93. Collected Essays
BT: -3.33 312 comparisons
essays film criticism literary criticism social commentary
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94. Poetry as Enchantment, and Other Essays
BT: -3.33 348 comparisons
essays literary criticism literature poetry
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95. Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation
BT: -3.50 323 comparisons
biography literary criticism literature poetry
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96. Think Pig! Beckett at the Limit of the Human
BT: -3.56 365 comparisons
criticism literary criticism literary theory literature +1
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97. 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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98. Virgil’s Double Cross: Design and Meaning in the Aeneid
BT: -3.66 335 comparisons
classical studies humanities literary criticism poetry +1
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99. Spenserian Moments
BT: -4.00 241 comparisons
english literature literary criticism literature poetry
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100. Libertarian Literary and Media Criticism: Essays in Memory of Paul A. Cantor
BT: -4.15 260 comparisons
anthology essays libertarianism literary criticism +2
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101. The Mapping of an Ideological Demesne
BT: -4.16 154 comparisons
cultural history english history english literature european history +3
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102. Emerson’s Notebooks
BT: -4.21 138 comparisons
american literature journals literary criticism philosophy
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103. Dana Gioia: Poet & Critic
BT: -4.34 191 comparisons
biography essays literary criticism literary studies +1
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104. Weep, Shudder, and Die: On Opera and Poetry
BT: -4.36 218 comparisons
art criticism literary criticism music opera +1
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105. The Good Story: Exchanges on Truth, Fiction and Psychotherapy
BT: -4.58 128 comparisons
literary criticism philosophy psychology psychotherapy
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106. The Kraus Project
BT: -7.74 144 comparisons
austrian literature essays literary criticism literature
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