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: Poetry ×
Showing 75 books in Poetry
Birthday Letters
1. Birthday Letters
BT: 8.43 97 comparisons
confessional poetry poetry
MR Post
W
2. Writing to the Moment, Selected Critical Essays 1980-1996
BT: 8.38 124 comparisons
english literature essays literary criticism literature +1
MR Post
P
3. Poetry Notebook 2006-2014
BT: 7.69 198 comparisons
essays literary criticism non-fiction poetry
MR Post MR Post
T
4. The Life and Poetry of George Herbert
BT: 6.94 158 comparisons
biography literary criticism poetry religion
MR Post
N
5. Neruda: The Poet’s Calling
BT: 6.89 101 comparisons
20th century history biography history latin american literature +2
MR Post
T
6. The Prelude, 1805 edition
BT: 6.01 132 comparisons
british literature literary classic literature poetry +1
MR Post
L
7. Lucan's Civil War
BT: 5.76 115 comparisons
classical literature epic poetry history military history +5
MR Post
A
8. Aeneid Book VI
BT: 5.48 149 comparisons
classical literature epic poetry poetry roman literature
MR Post
O
9. Out of Sri Lanka: Tamil, Sinhala & English Poetry from Sri Lanka and its Diasporas
BT: 5.29 143 comparisons
anthology diaspora literature poetry south asian literature +1
MR Post
A
10. Aratea
BT: 5.02 242 comparisons
art history astronomy classical literature poetry
MR Post
V
11. Vita Nuova
BT: 4.86 155 comparisons
classic literature italian literature literature medieval literature +1
MR Post
W
12. Where Have You Been?: Selected Essays
BT: 4.58 638 comparisons
essays german literature literary criticism literature +1
MR Post MR Post +2 more
M
13. Mahabharata: A Modern Retelling
BT: 3.86 180 comparisons
epic poetry hinduism indian literature literature +3
MR Post
T
14. The Poems of Seamus Heaney
BT: 3.61 179 comparisons
fiction literary fiction poetry
MR Post
O
15. On Seamus Heaney
BT: 3.31 220 comparisons
literary criticism literature poetry
MR Post
C
16. Christina Rossetti: Poetry in Art
BT: 3.20 207 comparisons
art art history biography british literature +4
MR Post
M
17. Music at Midnight: The Life and Poetry of George Herbert
BT: 2.79 546 comparisons
biography english literature literary criticism poetry +1
MR Post MR Post
C
18. Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment
BT: 2.34 282 comparisons
cultural studies literary criticism literary theory philosophy +2
MR Post
B
19. Beowulf
BT: 2.33 280 comparisons
classic literature epic poetry fiction medieval literature +3
MR Post
T
20. The Bridge
BT: 1.94 296 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
F
21. Flight and Metamorphosis, Poems
BT: 1.93 269 comparisons
german literature holocaust literature poetry
MR Post
T
22. The Book of Psalms
BT: 1.91 287 comparisons
biblical studies poetry religion sacred texts
MR Post
V
23. Virgil’s Aeneid
BT: 1.41 797 comparisons
ancient history classics epic poetry mythology +2
MR Post MR Post +1 more
H
24. Homer’s Iliad
BT: 1.11 605 comparisons
ancient greek literature classic literature epic poetry fiction +1
MR Post MR Post
T
25. The Temple of Nature
BT: 1.07 288 comparisons
biology evolutionary biology natural history poetry +1
MR Post
A
26. A Double Sorrow
BT: 0.87 314 comparisons
fiction literary fiction poetry
MR Post
B
27. Beautiful & Pointless {A Guide to Modern Poetry}
BT: 0.80 289 comparisons
literary criticism literature modern poetry poetry
MR Post
E
28. Eugene Onegin
BT: 0.68 325 comparisons
fiction literary fiction poetry russian literature
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T
29. The Penguin Book of Irish Poetry
BT: 0.57 819 comparisons
anthology irish poetry poetry
MR Post MR Post +1 more
F
30. 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
MR Post MR Post
T
31. The Kural: Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural
BT: -0.09 363 comparisons
ethics indian literature philosophy poetry +2
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F
32. Faust
BT: -0.22 703 comparisons
drama german literature literary fiction poetry +1
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I
33. Inferno
BT: -0.79 708 comparisons
christian literature classic literature epic poem fiction +4
MR Post MR Post +1 more
A
34. A Poet’s Glossary
BT: -0.95 559 comparisons
english language language literary studies poetry +1
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L
35. Leaves of Grass
BT: -0.96 748 comparisons
american literature poetry
MR Post MR Post
3
36. 3 Sections
BT: -1.01 363 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
p
37. poems by Pablo Neruda
BT: -1.07 399 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
P
38. Paradise Lost
BT: -1.15 614 comparisons
classic literature epic poetry fiction philosophy +2
MR Post MR Post
C
39. Canto General
BT: -1.28 700 comparisons
history latin american history narrative poetry poetry
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T
40. The Divine Comedy
BT: -1.44 363 comparisons
classic literature epic poetry literary fiction poetry +1
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s
41. special edition of Montale’s poetry
BT: -1.47 400 comparisons
italian literature literature poetry
MR Post
B
42. Break, Blow, Burn
BT: -1.47 354 comparisons
cultural criticism literary criticism literature poetry
MR Post
T
43. The Ocean, the Bird, and the Scholar, essays on poets and poetry
BT: -1.59 380 comparisons
essays literary criticism poetry
MR Post
C
44. Collected Works of William Shakespeare
BT: -2.05 367 comparisons
drama english literature literature poetry
MR Post
A
45. Aeneid
BT: -2.06 654 comparisons
classical literature epic poetry fiction poetry +1
MR Post MR Post
P
46. Poetry in America
BT: -2.22 362 comparisons
american literature cultural history literary studies poetry
MR Post
T
47. The Civil War
BT: -2.25 342 comparisons
ancient history classical literature epic poetry history +3
MR Post
S
48. Shakespeare
BT: -2.26 733 comparisons
classic literature drama english literature literature +1
MR Post MR Post
T
49. The Crown Ain’t Worth Much
BT: -2.27 371 comparisons
american poetry poetry poetry collection
MR Post
S
50. Selected Poems
BT: -2.36 367 comparisons
poetry
MR Post
S
51. Song of Solomon
BT: -2.38 320 comparisons
ancient literature biblical literature love poetry poetry +1
MR Post
S
52. Selected Poetry
BT: -2.41 359 comparisons
poetry translated poetry
MR Post
S
53. Selected Poetry and Prose
BT: -2.46 340 comparisons
literature poetry prose
MR Post
T
54. The Eddas
BT: -2.51 311 comparisons
ancient literature mythology old norse literature poetry
MR Post
A
55. A Fortune for Your Disaster
BT: -2.55 344 comparisons
fiction poetry poetry collection
MR Post
P
56. Poems
BT: -2.59 376 comparisons
german poetry literature poetry
MR Post
C
57. Collected Poems
BT: -2.62 362 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
C
58. Columbarium
BT: -2.70 296 comparisons
poetry
MR Post
H
59. History of English Poetry
BT: -2.76 327 comparisons
english literature history literary history poetry
MR Post
U
60. Unexpected Elegies: “Poems of 1912-1913” and Other Poems About Emma
BT: -3.12 356 comparisons
literary fiction poetry
MR Post
D
61. Duino Elegies
BT: -3.14 371 comparisons
german literature literature poetry
MR Post
B
62. Broken Hierarchies, Poems 1952-2012
BT: -3.26 372 comparisons
poetry
MR Post
E
63. Emily Dickinson’s Poems as She Preserved Them
BT: -3.28 369 comparisons
american literature literature poetry
MR Post
T
64. The Poems of T.S. Eliot, volume 1
BT: -3.32 356 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
P
65. Poetry as Enchantment, and Other Essays
BT: -3.33 348 comparisons
essays literary criticism literature poetry
MR Post
M
66. Milosz: A Biography
BT: -3.46 291 comparisons
biography european literature literature poetry
MR Post
L
67. Loving Sylvia Plath: A Reclamation
BT: -3.50 323 comparisons
biography literary criticism literature poetry
MR Post
V
68. Virgil’s Double Cross: Design and Meaning in the Aeneid
BT: -3.66 335 comparisons
classical studies humanities literary criticism poetry +1
MR Post
S
69. SOS Poems 1961-2013
BT: -3.71 307 comparisons
american poetry poetry political poetry
MR Post
S
70. Spenserian Moments
BT: -4.00 241 comparisons
english literature literary criticism literature poetry
MR Post
W
71. Weep, Shudder, and Die: On Opera and Poetry
BT: -4.36 218 comparisons
art criticism literary criticism music opera +1
MR Post
U
72. Usura Canto
BT: -4.40 254 comparisons
literature poetry
MR Post
T
73. The Anthologist
BT: -5.11 116 comparisons
fiction literary fiction poetry
MR Post
M
74. Martin Fierro
BT: -5.32 192 comparisons
argentine literature classic literature latin american literature poetry
MR Post
F
75. Final Harvest
BT: -5.43 116 comparisons
american literature literature poetry
MR Post