In May 2006, The New York Times published an article called “What is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?”
I consider myself a pretty well-read person.  I write book reviews for The Richmond Times-Dispatch and especially enjoy interviewing visiting authors when they pass through town.  I have two degrees in English literature.  I published a novel last year with Vintage Books, a division of Random House.  I read a novel roughly every week.  But as I read through the results of the article, I realized that I had not read the majority of the 25 titles on the list.  Shocking!  At least to me, it was.
That’s why I’ve decided to set myself the challenge of the reading the “best books” mentioned on the list. 
I’ll blog tomorrow about the first book I read on the list, “Beloved.”
In the meantime, here are a few of the results from the article, in case you were wondering:

From The New York Times
“What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?”
May 21, 2006

The Winner:
Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Runners-Up
Underworld by Don DeLillo

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Rabbit Angstrom: The Novels by John Updike

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

What do you think is the best work of American Fiction of the last 25 years?  Go ahead, you be the judge.  Post your suggestions to the Comment box.

I could vote for many, but anne Tyler’s Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is sone of my favorites. I loved it so much that I made it required reading for AP English in 1992 when I was teaching at Goochland High School. That year my class was all female; you can imagine the book circles and literary discussions we had! They loved this novel and they even wrote paradies of several key scenes. Still, I believe this novel is Tyler’s most accomplished and says so much about families and siblings’ love.

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