What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?
I imagine that all of you saw this at the NYT site. It’s an interesting list in part because I had no idea that Roth was so highly thought of. I’ve read four, five of his novels. Portnoy’s Complaint, of course (because of you, Matt?) And what he calls the Zuckerman trilogy. I’ve also read the DeLillo novels, some McCarthy (not Blood Meridian), the Robinson novel (which I have blogged about), Updike’s Rabbit, and Ford’s Sportwriter (not the one listed here).
I’m ashamed that I have yet to read Beloved, though I have read Sula and the Bluest Eye. I’d like to comment on the list, but have not read enough of the novels to put forward an opinion. DeLillo’s Underworld is remarkable, but it does seem to repeat with less “grunge” the work of Pynchon. Similarly, Robinson’s Housekeeping deserves to be on this list. the rest…I simply do not know.
I’m hoping to do some fun reading this summer and would live to read Blood Meridian, Beloved, and/or a Roth novel with any of you. . .Right now, I am reading To the Lighthouse and a mind-blowing novel, House of Leaves, which is the most experimental novel I have come across in a long while.
While I am at it, check out this article on Borges in today’s NYT.–tc
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:
THE RUNNERS-UP:
Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels
John Updike
(1995)
(1990)
(1981)
(1971)
(1960)
THE FOLLOWING BOOKS ALSO RECEIVED MULTIPLE VOTES:
Housekeeping
Marilynne Robinson
(1980)
- (This book was not reviewed by The Times.)
Border Trilogy
Cormac McCarthy
(1999)
(1998)
(1994)
(1992)