What are the best novels of the last 25 years?

[TWB]

Early this year, the New York Times' Book Review's editor, Sam Tanenhaus, sent a 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."

THE WINNER:

Beloved, by Toni Morrison (1987)

THE RUNNERS-UP:
Underworld, by Don DeLillo (1997)
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy (1985)
Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels by John Updike
'Rabbit at Rest' (1990)
'Rabbit Is Rich' (1981)
'Rabbit Redux' (1971)
'Rabbit, Run' (1960)
American Pastoral, by Philip Roth (1997)

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ALSO RECEIVED MULTIPLE VOTES:

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (1980)
Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson (1980)
Winter's Tale, by Mark Helprin (1983)
White Noise, by Don DeLillo (1985)
The Counterlife, by Philip Roth (1986)
Libra , by Don DeLillo (1988)
Where I'm Calling From, by Raymond Carver (1988)
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien (1990)
Mating, by Norman Rush (1991)
Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson (1992)
Operation Shylock, by Philip Roth (1993)
Independence Day, by Richard Ford (1995)
Sabbath's Theater, by Philip Roth (1995)
Border Trilogy, by Cormac McCarthy
'Cities of the Plain' (1998)
'The Crossing' (1994)
'All the Pretty Horses' (1992)
The Human Stain, by Philip Roth (2000)
The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (2003)
The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (2004)

 

[BoobsNBrains]

"You and me in Hawaii" -- BNB & TWB, 2006

 

[Equinoxe]

'Rabbit, Run' (1960)

I am curious as to how a book written in 1960 was one of the runner-ups for best novel of the past 25 years.

 

[Adrenaline]

I've only read the Helprin and the only one I'm interested in reading is Roth's "Sabbath Theatre". Also, Roth must give good head.

 

[TWB]

I am curious as to how a book written in 1960 was one of the runner-ups for best novel of the past 25 years.

Good question, but I think people chose the series, and that was the first one. Two of the four of which were in the last 25 years.

 

[TWB]

I've only read the Helprin and the only one I'm interested in reading is Roth's "Sabbath Theatre". Also, Roth must give good head.

Something...he is the most represented on that list, I believe.

I have a good part of my summer reading list.

 

[Equinoxe]

Good question, but I think people chose the series, and that was the first one. Two of the four of which were in the last 25 years.

That would seem to be the case. It seems a bit cheating, but it is one of the more respected book series of recent authorship.

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

I am curious as to how a book written in 1960 was one of the runner-ups for best novel of the past 25 years.

I think they're including the series of books as a whole since the last couple are more recent.

Edit: damn, tweebs beat me to it.

Phillip Roth and Cormac McCarthy are the best American writers alive today.

And maybe Thomas Pynchon.

 

[Damariscotta]

"The World According to Garp" by John Irving needs to be on this list.

 

[incognito]

"The World According to Garp" by John Irving needs to be on this list.

No dice . . . Published in 1978.

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

I've only read the Helprin and the only one I'm interested in reading is Roth's "Sabbath Theatre". Also, Roth must give good head.

His best novel isn't even on the list (written too early). Portnoy's Complaint is as good as they get.

 

[amelia]

i enjoyed "the prince of tides" and "the lords of discipline" (both by pat conroy) when i read them a few years ago. they should probably at least be on the honorable mentions list.

 

[Equinoxe]

Of those listed, I've only read Rabbit, Run, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Things They Carried, all of which I liked. Oddly enough, I've never read Beloved.

 

[tortoise]

My first reaction was "what, no Booker winners?" but then I read the "American" proviso. Just a few comments: Winter's Tale has been and will be in my top 5 forever, and I re-read it every few years. Ditto Blood Meridian, but I definitely have to be in a particularly bloodthirsty mood to handle the Judge (and McCarthy's neo-Old Testament diction). Underworld was beautifully written (DeLillo's pens nearly perfect sentences), but I wouldn't read it again if you paid me. Not surprised at Roth's dominance, either. The only glaring omission to my eyes is Little, Big, but I'm not terribly surprised, as it is still (wrongly) considered a "genre" book.

 

[Mr. Show]

Shopgirl by Steve Martin

Without question one the most poignant, honest, rich, heartbreaking, and insightful books in a long long time.

Also

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Bitingly funny, harsh, bold, self-deprecating, hip, clever, and brilliant.

 

[Adrenaline]

Something...he is the most represented on that list, I believe.

I have a good part of my summer reading list.

Well, the Helprin is excellent. My summer reading list will be comprised of a lot of NYRB classics and the graphic deluxe edition classics Penguin has been releasing lately. Also their Wodehouse books (the Jeeves and Wooster omnibus). Might start Don Quixote.

Or not, I might get distracted. But the new Penguins have had me in lust for months. God, those covers and designs are good.

 

[TWB]

Confederacy of Dunces was one of the best (and funniest) books I have ever read.

 

[restlessnights]

"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"

 

[Adrenaline]

His best novel isn't even on the list (written too early). Portnoy's Complaint is as good as they get.

Yeah? I was looking at his books in a store today but the cover designs turned me off (colours were garish and awful). The design of his latest doesn't look as good as I thought it would on a dust jacket, so that will have to wait 'till paperback. I did pick up his "The Breast" for 50 cents at an on-campus book sale.

(What can I say, I like my books to look swell. Inoffensive is passable, but I'm not buying anything in garish yellow and pink.)

 

[restlessnights]

Well, the Helprin is excellent. My summer reading list will be comprised of a lot of NYRB classics and the graphic deluxe edition classics Penguin has been releasing lately. Also their Wodehouse books (the Jeeves and Wooster omnibus). Might start Don Quixote.

Or not, I might get distracted. But the new Penguins have had me in lust for months. God, those covers and designs are good.

I have just started "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", the firt book on my summer list.

I think I need to check out "The Things They Carried". I've heard a lot of good things about it.

 

[Hester]

shopgirl was great, but i wouldn't put it in as the top of the last 25 yrs.

 

[tortoise]

"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"

Oh yes, loved that one from cover to cover.

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

Yeah? I was looking at his books in a store today but the cover designs turned me off (colours were garish and awful). The design of his latest doesn't look as good as I thought it would on a dust jacket, so that will have to wait 'till paperback. I did pick up his "The Breast" for 50 cents at an on-campus book sale.

(What can I say, I like my books to look swell. Inoffensive is passable, but I'm not buying anything in garish yellow and pink.)

Yeah, the current edition of Portnoy is an obnoxious bright yellow, but if you get past that you'll find it tremendously funny and almost impossible to put down.

I'm biased, though, since I'm a psychiatrist and it's a narrative of a highly-neurotic obsessive Jew in psychoanalysis. I've heard "The Breast" also deals with a lot of Freudian sexual themes, but I haven't read it.

It's interesting how much the cover design can effect your book-buying decisions, though, isn't it?

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

I think I need to check out "The Things They Carried". I've heard a lot of good things about it.

It's soooooo good. It's poignant as hell without a drop of sentimentality. Makes you hurt in your bones.

 

[tortoise]

It's soooooo good. It's poignant as hell without a drop of sentimentality. Makes you hurt in your bones.

I shall add that one to my list as well.