Kathy Acker Standalone Novels books in order

Q: "What is Kathy Acker's most famous novel?"

"*Blood and Guts in High School* (1984) is Acker's most widely known book. It was banned in several countries for its explicit content and became a defining text of American literary punk."

Q: "What is Kathy Acker's Great Expectations about?"

"Acker's *Great Expectations* (1982) is not a retelling of Dickens but an appropriation of his title and fragments. It mixes plagiarized passages from Dickens and other writers with autobiography, dreams, and explicit sexual content."

Q: "Where should I start with Kathy Acker's novels?"

"*Blood and Guts in High School* or *Empire of the Senseless* are the most common starting points. *Blood and Guts* is shorter and more accessible, while *Empire of the Senseless* is considered her most fully realized novel."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	New York City in 1979	1981	Kathy Acker	Buy
2	Hello, I’m Erica Jong	1982	Kathy Acker	Buy
3	Great Expectations	1982	Kathy Acker	Buy
4	Blood and Guts in High School	1984	Kathy Acker	Buy
5	Algeria	1984	Kathy Acker	Buy
6	Don Quixote	1986	Kathy Acker	Buy
7	Literal Madness	1987	Kathy Acker	Buy
8	Empire of the Senseless	1988	Kathy Acker	Buy
9	In Memoriam to Identity	1990	Kathy Acker	Buy
10	Kathy Goes To Haiti	1990	Kathy Acker	Buy
11	My Mother	1993	Kathy Acker	Buy
12	Pussycat Fever	1995	Kathy Acker	Buy
13	Pussy, King of the Pirates	1996	Kathy Acker	Buy
14	Eurydice in the Underworld	1998	Kathy Acker	Buy
15	Rip-Off Red, Girl Detective and the Burning Bombing of America	2002	Kathy Acker	Buy

Kathy Acker’s standalone novels span from 1981 to 2002 (with some published posthumously) and represent the bulk of her literary output. These books share her signature techniques: appropriation of classic literature, collage structure, explicit sexuality, and a refusal to follow conventional narrative.

Her 1980s work is where most readers begin. Great Expectations (1982) takes Dickens as a starting point but veers into autobiography and sexual politics. Blood and Guts in High School (1984) mixes prose with hand-drawn images and plagiarized text, and it remains her most controversial and famous book. Don Quixote (1986) recasts Cervantes with a female knight, and Empire of the Senseless (1988) draws on cyberpunk and Huckleberry Finn.

The 1990s novels, including In Memoriam to Identity (1990), My Mother: Demonology (1993), and Pussy, King of the Pirates (1996), continued Acker’s experiments with form while engaging with figures like Rimbaud and pirate mythology. Eurydice in the Underworld (1998) and Rip-Off Red, Girl Detective (2002) were published after her death in 1997.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Kathy Acker's most famous novel?

Blood and Guts in High School (1984) is Acker’s most widely known book. It was banned in several countries for its explicit content and became a defining text of American literary punk.

What is Kathy Acker's Great Expectations about?

Acker’s Great Expectations (1982) is not a retelling of Dickens but an appropriation of his title and fragments. It mixes plagiarized passages from Dickens and other writers with autobiography, dreams, and explicit sexual content.

Where should I start with Kathy Acker's novels?

Blood and Guts in High School or Empire of the Senseless are the most common starting points. Blood and Guts is shorter and more accessible, while Empire of the Senseless is considered her most fully realized novel.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order