Your Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Are you a fiction reader?

As you've no doubt heard, the Pulitzer Prize for fiction wasn't awarded this year, because apparently either the three nominees all sucked, or the jurors emerged from their deliberations with giant "L"s imprinted in red on their foreheads (I mean, really. If you're going to judge a contest, get with the program, people).

So I thought we should award our own: TOP is hereby accepting nominations for best fiction book of the year.

Like the Pulitzer, the book should be "distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life," and it must have been published in the U.S. in 2011.

Serious answers only please! Please qualify yourself as a nominator, on your honor: you must have read the book you nominate*, and you should be a person who reads...what would you say, 20 or more novels a year?** Fifteen? I guess you can decide for yourself if you're a "serious reader" or not.

I can't participate, because I read mainly nonfiction. So it's all you, TOP reader readers.

Mike

P.S. John Camp's vote counts double.

*The whole thing, through to the end.

**That's less than two books a month, which seems a reasonable cutoff to me. Serious readers read at least that much, right?

Send this post to a friend

Please help support TOP by patronizing our sponsors B&H Photo and Amazon

Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. More...
Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by John Camp: "I'm a really bad person to ask about this, because I'm not much of a believer (any more) in 'serious' American fiction. Mostly because it doesn't seem very serious to me. I tried to read Swamplandia! and gave up. I didn't try to read David Foster Wallace's book for two reasons: 1) He has three names, and I don't read people who have three names (or much look at paintings or photographs by people who have three names); and 2), I read that it was about a guy who had a boring life. Why should I read about a guy who has a boring life? If you read a book like The Gulag Archipelago, you realize that vast stretches of time in the gulag were boring. Solzhenitsyn left those parts out. So: there are very large numbers of novels out there that deal with things like the gulag, colonialism, war, financial disaster, etc. They are important books. But, they are either 1) not American, or 2) thrillers. In fact, I propose a 'gulag' test: on a scale of one to ten, how does your 'serious' novel compare to The Gulag Archipelago, with one being 'it's a joke' and ten being, 'very comparable in importance.' I would suggest that no American novel in the past twenty-five years would score more than a 3....

"If you really wanted to know a lot about important issues in the U.S., you might want to read (God forgive me for saying this) Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Michael Connolly, Stephen King and so on. That's where serious issues are semi-engaged in fiction. "Serious" books tend to examine why college professors have affairs with students, and should they really? Or how do people get through their boring lives? But who cares? If your life is boring, join the Army and become a helicopter pilot. Stop whining about it.

"So, if there's little serious fiction anymore, where did it go? Two places. Non-fiction is one. I mostly read nonfiction, although I do read fifty or so novels every year, and I will say that it's one reason that I keep coming back to TOP—I probably buy and read ten or twelve non-fiction books a year from recommendations here, because somebody like Mike or Ken or David said something that piqued my interest, about photography or art, about the way the mind works, about economics or politics or society. 'Serious' fiction doesn't deal with that any more—most serious fiction is either fantasy/allegory, or is so psychological that no conclusions can be drawn about anything larger than the book's main character.

"The other place serious fiction has gone is the movies. If you both read and go to movies, I'll bet you can think of a dozen movies in the last few years that moved you, and may have changed the way you think about life; and not nearly so many novels, if you can think of any at all.

"So, I agree with the Pulitzer board. Most 'serious' fiction sucks; give the prize to Clancy.

"As a final thought, I leave you with this list:

A Visit From the Goon Squad;
Tinkers;
Olive Kitteridge;
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao;
The Road;
March;
Gilead;
The Known World;
Middlesex;
Empire Falls.

"Those are the last ten winners for the Pulitzer in fiction. Which one changed your life? How many have you even heard of, other than The Road? And just between you and me, The Road was a SF thriller (much of which could have been lifted from Stephen King) disguised as 'serious' literature. (Though I admit it was beautifully written.)"

Mike replies: Interesting tidbit about The Gulag Archipelago: in the U.S., about 2.2 million copies of Volume 1 were sold. Sales of Volume 2 were about 500,000, and of Volume 3, about 100,000.

Featured Comment by Steve Rosenblum: "The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. And I have to disagree with John Camp. A number of the books on his list of Pulitzer Prize winners of the last 10 years were really wonderful reads. Last year's A Visit from the Goon Squad changed my view of novels and how they should be written."

Featured Comment by Chris Crawford: "I've read all three volumes of The Gulag Archipelago. I don't think it;s a fair comparison here, because it is nonfiction. Perhaps One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich would be a better Solzhenitsyn work to use, as it's a fictionalized account of life in a Soviet labor camp. It also includes all the mundane, boring stuff that the prisoners experienced. In fact, Solzhenitsyn said that the book was meant to be a typical boring day. It didn't include anyone being executed or tortured, there were no prisoner revolts, no extraordinary things at all happened. Typical day, that's all."

Comments

[Steven House]

Does it still carry the 10,000$ prize?

Unfortunately I can't participate as I have not read any new US fiction this past year. Something I might rectify if you get some interesting nominations here.

[mark]

Reamde: A Novel by Neal Stephenson
Zero History by William Gibson
Two of my favorite authors; maybe not their absolute best work, but worthy of recogniztion.

[Warren Caldwell]

David Foster Wallace's The Pale King gets my whole-hearted nomination. I know his short career has been heaped with praise already, but this was the first work of his I'd read and my response to it is sincere. In other words, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of a heralded name in contemporary American literature as an easy 'right answer' to the nomination.

Despite being unfinished at the time of Wallace's death, I actually found it more readable than that darling of the literary-minded, Infinite Jest (which I'm slowly picking my way through now, with considerably less enjoyment than The Pale King). This suggests that either Wallace was in the process of adopting a different narrative style, or, intriguingly, that by not 'finishing' the book, he didn't have the chance to introduce the obfuscations and disjointed narrative that characterize his other novels. I admit that some of some of my fascination with the book is precisely due to its being unfinished, and the tantalizing window into the author's process that that offers (Kafka's The Castle is another of my favorites, for that reason), but that aspect aside, I found the book utterly captivating and I think about it often.

[Andrew Burday]

Twenty or more novels a year seems like a high standard, unless you want to limit nominations to people who read only novels. Would it be too complicated to say something like, 25 books/year of which at least 12 must be novels?

Like you, I'm mostly a non-fiction reader so disqualified from making any actual nominations. (Do you suppose there's a correlation between ranking photography high among the arts and being mostly a non-fiction reader?)

[David Dyer-Bennet]

I read a lot, but not in the mainstream, and often not that recent. The restriction that it be an American author on top of that pretty much bumps me out; I glanced over the list for last year, but didn't see anything that really fit.

Have fun!

[Michael Elenko]

Three nominations of books I've read (or listened to):

1. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Very contemporary story that uses baseball to delve into personal maturity, and sexuality on a college campus. It's more about people than baseball, but I enjoyed how well the author conveys the intricacies about the sport.

2. Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks
By one of my favorite novelists, this too is a very contemporary tale that provides a multi-dimensional look at a young registered sex offender and the challenges he faces as an outcast in Florida. The story is very conversational in tone and I found it more effective to listen to an audiobook version. A book that lingers in the mind for a long while.

3. Man in the Woods: A Novel by Scott Spencer
Spencer's characters are almost three dimensional. A morality tale of sorts that is not preachy and is very hard to put down. My wife and I felt like we knew these people in real life.

ME

[John Krumm]

I am a fiction reader, but when I checked my pile of bedside books my fiction was old stuff, like "The Stories of Vladimir Nabakov." Nabakov writes with a photographer's eye, often describing the quality of light in a detailed, appealing way. I have the Kay Ryan collection that won the Pulitzer last year, a few memoirs, and Lucretius' The Nature of Things for when I really want to sleep fast. No 2011 fiction, which kind of surprises me. But if Sherman Alexie had written something, I'd likely have nominated his work. He should have won for both The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Sorry I couldn't help. : )

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Despite being way down on reading these days from twenty or thirty years ago, I read well over 60 books a year, the vast majority of them novels. That's less than 10% of the books published "in my field" (science fiction and fantasy, the field I care about), and an even smaller proportion of the novels published overall.

So it 25 doesn't seem at all high a bar from my viewpoint. If I were reading Pulitzer-type materials, that is.

I don't know when people find time to watch television, though.

[Phyllis McKay]

I don't have credentials as impressive as a Pulitzer Prize, but I did once win a "Putzer" for a six-word novel. (It's six letters.) Anyway I do read more than 50 novels a year but usually wait for paperbacks unless there's a new John Sanford, making me late for most nominating purposes. Seriously, if it's OK to consider novels that have a bit of a plot in addition to wonderful writing and haunting ideas, please look at Thomas H. Cook. The Quest For Anna Klein was published in 2011.

[Al Tent]

'Feast day of Fools' by James Lee Burke is a
masterpiece. James has been writing novels for some time but the beauty of his prose and the depth of his allegory are unsurpassed in this novel.

http://www.jamesleeburke.com/bibliography/45.php

[George Sarri]

Pale King

[paul richardson]

I used to write fiction, and in fact had a few short stories published in legitimate magazines. But I no longer have much patience with fiction as a genre, and I wonder if it's a function of growing older - I feel like time is short, and all fiction is ultimately about the author's affectations, the idea of which now annoys me.
Anyhow...

[kirk tuck]

Vladimir Nabokov was so good they should have either stopped awarding the prize of given it to him ad infinitum. Really.

And to all of you who mostly read non-fiction: What the hell's the matter with you?

[Miserere]

I don't read 20 novels a year, not anymore. You see, in 2010 I read the first of the Twilight series and found it so beautifully exquisite I knew no other book could ever match it, and certainly never surpass it. So I stopped reading fiction.

Now I read The Economist, Rolling Stone and TOP. Granted there's some fiction in those, but nobody ever said economy was an exact science.

[Alex S]

Best novel of the year? The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Second book of a trilogy, which frankly is a relief because

In an era where some of the biggest cultural touchstones are fantasy (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones) I would argue that getting to know the good stuff (and this is VERY good stuff) is as important as keeping track of whats considered to be important in the "literary" world

[James B]

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner.

[Ross Chambers]

Steve Rosenblum: "The Tiger's Wife" by Tea Obreht.

I'll put my hand up for that too. Interesting to see young writers from the Balkans grappling with that sad episode and Obreht does it extremely well. Perhaps the touches of magic realism are the best way for her to approach the horrors.

I believe that "Pale King" suffers from not being quite finished, but worthwhile for readers who like DFW.

[Seth Kantrowitz]

The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks by Donald Harington.
I just finished A Visit From the Goon Squad, not bad.

[phil martin]

"That's where serious issues are semi-engaged in fiction. "Serious" books tend to examine why college professors have affairs with students, and should they really?"

Very similar to British fiction then - Ian McEwan, Martin Amis et al.

Try some W G Sebald - Austerlitz. This is a very deep and dense book, rather like accompanying someone in a dream or a stream of thought. Reading it is a rather wonderful and thought provoking experience, although it does deal with some very dark subject matter, including the Nazi death camps in Poland, Terezin in particular. The books central character was a child refugee and the book details his search for his family history.

It also has an abundance of references to photography and a great many images included within the text. In fact I became aware of the book through an exhibition of photographs by the Portuguese photographer, Daniel Blaufuks at the Ffotogallery in South Wales, his exhibition is inspired by the book and his family experience of growing up in Portugalas Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austerlitz_(novel)

http://www.danielblaufuks.com/

[Crabby Umbo]

I just keep reading The Great Gatsby over and over, maybe the first American book to hit the nail on the head in defining the new era American standard relationship between money and love.

Anyway, I have no problem with the committee not awarding anything in this category. Either the "best" book wasn't entered, or there wasn't a book up to their standards.

I remember a big controversy in the local "addy" type awards about twenty years ago, when the committee for judging, mostly comprised of out of town professionals, decided not to award a few categories because the work just wasn't up to snuff. Some of the local agencies who, let's face it, had been winning local awards for years by copying their ads for their local clients, out of last years Communication Arts contest winners; were steaming mad, but I thought the contest actually had reached a new professional high-point!

[Geoff Wittig]

In the last 25 years? I'd gladly vote for Oscar Hijuelo's Mr. Ives' Christmas. A beautifully written, subtle meditation on life, love, tragedy & happiness. It changed my life, at least a little, by teaching me a bit of humility regarding where people are coming from.

And I wouldn't dismiss Empire Falls (or Nobody's Fool) quite so quickly. Richard Russo really nails the reality of rural rust-belt life, for better and worse.

[John]

Can we call it the Toplitzer?

[Patrick Dodds]

Interesting comments on this thread. I am with Paul Richardson (I have an unpublishable novel to my name) and wonder if age brings with it increasing intolerance of fiction as a medium to stir emotion. Also, after reading Atomised by Michel Houellebecq I thought there was nothing further to be said by the form - ridiculous, I know, but the feeling has never really left me.

[Eddy Pula]

ok so the hardcover came out in 2010... but Jim Carroll's unfinished goodbye to us all, Petting Zoo is a bible for visual artists. He tells us all about Art Market Politics and how to live in this crazy world. He's sorely missed. I think he'd look like this if he was still a 20 year old f-up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raijsi/6947169770/in/photostream

[Robert S.]

I strongly disagree with Camp. Oscar Wao and Middlesex were both fantastic books that moved me. And I've read plenty of other novels over the last 10 years that I thought were wonderful. Plus, his comment that the Road is sci-fi "disguised as serious literature" seems about 50 years out of date.

[Robin Dreyer]

Dear John Camp,

The Pale King is sitting next to my bed and I haven't gotten to it yet--but I will. However, if you are going back 25 years then I will say that the other book (Infinite Jest) by the three-named author is, in fact, the novel by an American author that has, on some level, changed the way I think about my life. Since you asked...

[Jed]

I tried reading one 2011 novel: 1Q84. But I didn't finish it. Also it's Japanese.

[Eddy Pula]

So close... the hardcover came out november 2010! Adam Levins version of War and Peace, he called it the Instructions! Dude its a blue print about how to start a rebellion in elementary school language. He's a cross between Roth and Wallace, so short and punchy and also infinte jest length!
http://www.amazon.com/The-Instructions-Adam-Levin/dp/1934781827/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334843930&sr=8-1

[Dan]

I read enough 'thought provoking' books. I like my fiction as a joy ride. No thinking needed riding a roller coaster, yet very joyful.

Two of many fun reads from 2011 include:
John Sandford's 'Shock Wave' and William Kent Krueger's Northwest Angle.

I seem to like writers with upper Midwest roots.

[Eddy Pula]

+1 for lost memory of skin. Its barely fiction... if you want to put yourself in a lepers skin READ IT!!!

[Mike]

Difficult to go wrong with Franzen (keeping in mind that his most recent novel was published in 2009).

[Rod Graham]

I agree with Al. James Lee Burke is way over due for more recognition. John Camp/Sanford is one of my all-time favorites for intriguing characters and page-turning story lines that are extremely entertaining, but I just find a little more "meat" in Burke's slower-paced and more introspective novels. Going from Lucas Davenport to Dave Robicheaux is a welcome change of pace though. And it looks like I'm going to have to take a look at Nabokov.

[Koen Lageveen]

I'll keep an eye on this but don't have my hopes up. I have a bunch of classic fiction to catch up with (not quite old enough to have been waiting for the new Graham Greene) and have yet to be distracted by recent modern books that anyone seems to be very enthusiastic about (either I don't read the rigth magazines or noone's enthusiastic...).
The Road though, wonderfully written.

[Dennis Allshouse]

I'll second Neil Stephenson and William Gibson. Although my hard cover Zero History is dated 2010. Also Gibson seems to write trilogies even though they aren't pitched as such if that matters. I'm not sure Stephenson's Reamde is his best but his wordcraft is exceptional. If Denzel Washington got his Oscar for Training Day, but deserved it for Malcom X then Neal or William could get the Puliitzer for a lifetime achievement that's not over yet.

[Dave Mullen]

The Revisionists, by Thomas Mullen. His third novel, all very different, all a bit quirky (and yes, he's my second cousin though I've only met him once). An allegory, a dream, post 9-11 paranoid security state. Great read!

[Bill Carriger]

John Sayles's A Moment In The Sun. One of the most amazing novels I have ever read, It wore me out! Extraordinary historical detail. It was the highlight of my day to return to it's pages.