What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years? - New York Times

What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years? - New York Times

May 21, 2006

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Early this year, the Book Review's editor, Sam Tanenhaus, sent out a short letter to a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages, asking them to please identify "the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years." [Read A. O. Scott's essay. See a list of the judges.] Following are the results.

THE WINNER:

Beloved

Toni Morrison
(1987)

• Review

THE RUNNERS-UP:

Underworld

Don DeLillo

(1997)

• Review

Blood Meridian

Cormac McCarthy

(1985)

• Review

Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels

John Updike

(1995)

• Review: 'Rabbit at Rest'

(1990)

• Review: 'Rabbit Is Rich'

(1981)

• Review: 'Rabbit Redux'

(1971)

• Review: 'Rabbit, Run'

(1960)

American Pastoral

Philip Roth

(1997)

• Review

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ALSO RECEIVED MULTIPLE VOTES:

A Confederacy of Dunces

John Kennedy Toole

(1980)

• Review

Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson

(1980)

(This book was not reviewed by The Times.)

Winter's Tale

Mark Helprin

(1983)

• Review

White Noise

Don DeLillo

(1985)

• Review

The Counterlife

Philip Roth

(1986)

• Review

Libra

Don DeLillo

(1988)

• Review

Where I'm Calling From

Raymond Carver

(1988)

• Review

The Things They Carried

Tim O'Brien

(1990)

• Review

Mating

Norman Rush

(1991)

• Review

Jesus' Son

Denis Johnson

(1992)

• Review

Operation Shylock

Philip Roth

(1993)

• Review

Independence Day

Richard Ford

(1995)

• Review

Sabbath's Theater

Philip Roth

(1995)

• Review

Border Trilogy

Cormac McCarthy

(1999)

• Review: 'Cities of the Plain'

(1998)

• Review: 'The Crossing'

(1994)

• Review: 'All the Pretty Horses'

(1992)

The Human Stain

Philip Roth

(2000)

• Review

The Known World

Edward P. Jones

(2003)

• Review

The Plot Against America

Philip Roth

(2004)

• Review

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