Cover of Disgrace

Disgrace

J. M. Coetzee, 1999

Australian and South African novelist, born 1940. Won the Booker Prize in 1983 and 1999.

Disgrace is a 1999 novel by J. M. Coetzee. It won the Booker Prize in 1999.

Essential
  • Critics' Darling
  • Prize Winner
  • Stood the Test of Time

On 6 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.

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At a glance

Author
J. M. Coetzee
First published
1999
Length
220 pages (UK paperback)
Awards
Genre
Literary fiction, Political, Class and society

Is Disgrace worth reading?

6 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them 100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph) and the Booker Prize.

ListPlaceOriginal
100 novels everyone should read (The Telegraph, 2009)No. 8See the list
100 novels that shaped our world (BBC Arts, 2019)ListedSee the list
Booker Prize (winners and shortlists) (Booker Prize Foundation, 1999)WinnerSee the list
The 100 best novels of all time (The Guardian, 2026)No. 58See the list
The 100 best novels written in English (The Guardian / Observer, 2015)ListedSee the list
The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency, 2022)ListedSee the list

Best edition of Disgrace

The edition we link to is the Vintage paperback (1999), 220 pages.

Publisher
Vintage (paperback, 1999)
Pages
220
ISBN
9780099289524

How critics, prizes and readers rate Disgrace

Prize juries and critics rate it about equally: it earned 50% on prize lists and 47% on critics' lists, against 13% on readers' and booksellers' lists.

Critics
47%
Prizes
50%
Readers and booksellers
13%

Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work

Books like Disgrace

If you liked Disgrace, try The Friend, The Sellout or Intermezzo.

Lists used on this page