Der Akt des Lesens. Theorie ästhetischer Wirkung. Uni-Taschenbücher, 636: Literaturwissenschaft. Munich: Fink, 1976. 357pp.
2nd edition, 1984. viii, 358pp.
3rd edition, 1990.
4th edition, 1994.
Translated into English as The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; London & Henley: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978. xii, 239pp.
Johns Hopkins paperback edition, 1980. 5th edition, 1991.
Partially reprinted in Harold Bloom, ed., The Art of the Critic: Literary Theory and Criticism from the Greeks to the Present, Vol. 10, Contemporary, pp. 435-451. New York: Chelsea House, 1990.
Partially reprinted in Donald Keesey, ed., Contexts for Criticism. Palo Alto, Calif.: Mayfield; London: Eurospan, 1987. 2nd edition, pp. 137-144. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield, 1993.
Partially translated into Korean in Munhak-Sasang (March 1978):67-82.
Partially translated by Jean Kämpfer into French as "La fiction en effet: Éléments pour un modèle historico-fonctionnel des textes littéraires" in Poétique (September 1979), 39: 275-298.
Partially translated into Portuguese in Luiz Costa Lima, ed., A Literatura e o Leitor: Textos de Estética de Recepçao, pp. 33-132. Colecao Literatura e teoria literaria, 36. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 1979.
Partially translated into Hungarian in Helikon ( 1980), 26: 40-65.
Translated into Japanese by Osamu Kutsuwada as Koi toshiteno dokusho. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1982. Includes Wolfgang Iser's foreword "Wirkungsästhetik," pp. iii-xiv.
Partially translated into Chinese equivalent of "Passive Syntheses in the Reading Process" in William Tay, ed., Phenomenology and Literary Criticism, pp. 81-120. Taipei: Tung-ta, 1984.
Translated into French by Evelyne Sznycer as L'Acte de lecture: Théorie de l'effet esthétique. Philosophie et Langage. Liège et Bruxelles: Mardaga, 1985. 405pp.
Partially translated into Italian by R. De Pol as "Ambito referenziale e selezione dei testi di finzione" in L'Immagine Riflessa (January-June 1986), 9: 43-70.
Translated into Spanish by J.A. Gimbernat and Manuel Barbeito as El acto de leer: teoría del efecto estético. Col. Persiles. Serie teoría y crítica literaria, 176. Madrid: Taurus, 1987. 360pp.
Translated from the English version into Italian by Rodolfo Granafei and Chiara Dini as L'atto della lettura: una teoria della riposta estetica. Collezione di testi e di studi. Linguistica e critica letteraria) Bologna: Il Mulino, 1987. 330pp.
Partially translated into Greek in E Eikona Sto Khali, Ekdaseis Agra ( 1987):149-162.
Translated into Chinese by Jin Huimin. Beijing: Hunan Literature Publishing House, 1991.
Translated into Chinese by Zhou Ning. Beijing: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1991.
Translated into Korean by Lee Yu Sun. Seoul: Shin Won Press, 1993.
Translated into Portuguese by Johannes Kretschmer as O
Ata Da Leitura: Uma Teoria do Efeito Estético.
Coleçao Teoria. Sao Paulo:
Editora 34, 1996.
Vol. 1. Vol. 2 to be published.