[NYT] New York Times “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?” [NYT]
Published in 2006
The newspaper of the establishment selects the best writing by the establishment. It’s hard to argue with any of the books, and since I love the Rabbit Angstrom quartet I won’t hiss about half of it being written over the span of 40 years, not 25. Each novel here is beautifully written by the best writers I’ve ever read. Believe me, I don’t like being told what’s good and what’s bad. I want to hate Philip Roth because everybody else loves him. This list names a total of 22 books. Six are by Philip Roth. Incredible. And though I do get sick of the Jersey Jew protagonists who seem to only change their names, skin tones, and bodily ailments, I have to hand it to the guy. He expresses human emotion more succinctly and honestly than anyone else I’ve read except maybe some of the other authors mentioned in this list. Yes, this is a good list. It’s good to see Beloved get its due after a snub by the Modern Library Board’s list [MLB] and I take pleasure in seeing three of my favorite books included here (American Pastoral, Rabbit Angstrom, and Blood Meridian). To editorialize a bit, though, I don’t get the whole DeLillo thing. I found Underworld to be preachy, artificial, clunky, and dry. Like if Richard Ford tried his hand at postmodernism. I can never get past characters who speak like they are characters in a novel.
Here’s the full NYT list. Entries below listed in RED appear on the Master List.
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)
Letters Republic 