We Were Alternative Before It Was Cool

Maybe we weren't alternative before it was cool (I know I only starting wearing skinny jeans my freshman year at NYU), but these writers were! Recently, we read and loved Herve Le Tellier's ELECTRICO W; its unreliable narration and strange structure got us thinking about all the books we've enjoyed that don't necessarily play by the rules. From the Modernists (Joyce, Woolf, Beckett) to the Post-Modernists (Foster Wallace, Eggers) and beyond, we're looking at writers who weren't afraid to take risks, who were brave enough to think outside the archaic box. And, as it turns out, there are plenty of ways to break the rules: Non-linear narratives, stream-of-consciousness narration, endless footnotes and meta text (I'm looking at you, DFW), epistolary chapters, diary entries, choose your own adventure-types --- the list goes on and on! We only included 20 of our favorites, but there's a whole wild world of mind-bending fiction out there with your name on it (well, not your name, but you know what I mean). So check it out, maybe with this book-inspired alternative jam for a real meta mood.