Kathy Acker

About Kathy Acker An experimental American novelist, the late Kathy Acker was a true visionary during her time, writing a great deal of work that was both profound and insightful. Pushing literature and prose to its furthest limits, she took the form into exciting and and fresh new arenas, making new discoveries all the time. This innovative approach to writing would see her become one of the most highly regarded authors within her field during her time.

The best place to start is the Portrait of an Eye series, the earliest of Kathy Acker's multi-book series: it opens with The Childlike Life of the Black Tarantula (1973) and runs to 3 books across 1973–1978, ending with Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec (1978).

Kathy Acker has 83 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1973 and 2023. 44 of them belong to 2 named series — the largest being the Portrait of an Eye series with 3 books — and 39 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Kathy Acker's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Portrait of an Eye (1973–1978, 3 books).

This guide splits Kathy Acker's 83 books into 2 named series and 39 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Portrait of an Eye (3 books, 1973–1978); The Last Interview (41 books, 2005–2023).