Plot: Sixty-six one-paragraph vignettes about people masturbating

Why it's on the list: It's short. There's no other book like it. We're not sure it's a novel, but it is novel. Eskimos doing it with blubber; New Zealanders with sheep's liver. A woman in Spokane with kitchen implements; a woman in India with a rubber band tree; a couple in America uses gloves; glove tongs; and complementary parts of an artichoke. They do it during operas, on boat rides, confession, sports car races, skydiving, while reciting poetry. Patrons of an old folk's home do it at midnight, timing their orgasms to the tolling bell of a nearby clock. Hilarious and oddly touching.

Excerpt: A man of thirty-five is about to experience orgasm in one of the better condominiums in Gaza. He is masturbating, but neither hand nor object touches his taut penis: arranged in a circle, five hairblowers direct their streams of warm air toward that focal point. He has plugged his ears with wax balls.