Wednesday, May 24, 2006

What The Times Book Review Said

That array of covers on the Sunday New York Times Book Review starts many rabbits of thought. Keeping in mind that the question was very explicit ("What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?") and you could only name one title, the most interesting aspect of the results is that the assembled writers and critics cast multiple votes for five different Philip Roth novels; three different Don Delillo novels; two different Cormac McCarthy titles, one containing multiple novels... Yes, Toni Morrison's Beloved had the most votes; but the only other woman fiction writer on that cover is Marilynne Robinson (Housekeeping). The only mentioned title we don't own is Denis Johnson's Jesus' Son. (There are 9 others of his titles in the catalog. Does that count?)

Winner and runners-up:

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