<p>Fun link for literature lovers. I would’ve given the nod to Blood Meridian, but it’s tough to find much fault with the list.</p>
<p><a href=“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;
<p>I vote for Winter’s Tale. My actual pick would be Prince of Tides.</p>
<p>American Pastoral is a favorite of mine.</p>
<p>Ed: I just looked at that list. I was also fond of A Confederacy of Dunces. But it did not cost me nearly as much in library fines as A.P. I really should just buy Philip Roth books; at least then he’d be getting his royalties.</p>
<p>I love Winter’s Tale by Helprin I assume :)? I think it barely makes the 25 mark it was published in 1983
( although I also like Winters tale by Dinesen)
ok I looked at the list- I never would have guessed Beloved- I don’t think it was that strong of a book- if they need a black woman to feel inclusive what about Alice Walker? I would also nominate Gina Berriault-<a href=“http://www.reaaward.org/html/gina_berriault.html”>http://www.reaaward.org/html/gina_berriault.html</a>
I don’t like so much their nominations - I haven’t been able to get through a Roth novel in my life 
I like Carver and Tim Obrien- but no Joyce Carol Oates?
what about Robert Olen Butler?</p>
<p>I liked American Pastoral, The Human Stain and The Plot Against America. Guess I need to read Winter’s Tale. I suggest Joyce Carol Oates also: Middle Age, The Falls, We Were the Mulvaneys.</p>
<p>Wally Lamb: I Know This Much Is True</p>
<p>ek,</p>
<p>If you look at the list of judges–the people to whom the letter was sent–you’ll realize that Beloved wasn’t chosen to be inclusive. These are some of the most esteemed writers and readers alive–not the sort of folks whose choice for the single greatest work of the past 25 years is going to be guided by politeness.</p>
<p>I was just going to say the same thing–Beloved is a pretty phenomenal book; it’s not there just to be “inclusive”. Overall, I think Morrison is a stronger writer than Walker; my favorite of hers is still “Song of Solomon” but it’s outside the 25 year mark.</p>
<p>I have read both Updike’s Rabbit series and Mccarthy’s Border Trilogy. Both were terrific IMHO. However I also enjoyed Matthiessen’s Dr Watson trilogy and Toer’s Buru Quartet too. While I dislike movie sequels it seems I like literary ones!</p>
<p>I love Elizabeth Strout. She wrote “Amy and Isabelle,” which I read a few years ago, and “Abide With Me,” which is new. I also think Anne Tyler is amazing.</p>
<p>“Beloved” deserves the recognition as the greatest tour de force read in the last 25 years in American lit. Skill and storytelling and daring are a lethal combination in her hands.
I loved many titles on the NYT’s list, but like Garcia Marquez, Morrison can assemble an entire village in a few pages, can write male and female characters inside out with equal power, and like Faulkner, you truly can feel the dead walking among the living in her every thought. Everything I thought I ever grasped about slavery went out the window after reading Beloved.</p>
<p>John Gardner died 24 years ago. So whatever the greatest American fiction of the last 25 years is, it isn’t as good as the fiction in the 15 years before that!!</p>
<p>Funny. “Beloved” was the first book that came to my mind.</p>
<p>Could never stand “Confederacy of Dunces.” I’m betting that was a sentimental favorite because of the backstory. Never could understand the popularity of the Rabbits, either. Can’t say I’m much of a DeLillo fan except for “Libra.” Roth? Eh. I remain morbidly attracted to Carver, though. Damn, what a writer; that man stays with me. I guess it’s finally time to move “Blood Meridian” off the “To Read” list.</p>
<p>The writer on this list that won’t let me sleep is Tim O’Brien.</p>
<p>I know its outside the 25 year window, but ‘Going After Cacciato’ stares back at me when I pass it on the bookshelf.</p>
<p>No Less Than Zero or Bright Lights, Big City? Hehe, only joking although I do like both of those books. Anybody else notice only about 5 authors had books on there? the talent is very condensed in the US. I’m surprised Annie Proulx didn’t sneak on with Open Range. I never liked White Noise very much.</p>
<p>Talent is not condensed; greatness is–as always. The more I read, the clearer it becomes to me that there are a heap of good books, and only a scattering of great ones.</p>
<p>The Things They Carried is amazing.</p>
<p>But I’m not at all qualified to evaluate the NYT’s decision, because that’s the only book on the list I’ve read.</p>