The best American Novel of the last 25 Years

Well, surprise. The vote was organized by the New York Times Book Review, and the winner is ...

Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison


The runners-up were:

Underworld (1997) by Don DeLillo
Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy
Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels (1995) by John Updike
American Pastoral (1997) by Philip Roth

Here are the other books that got some votes:

A Confederacy of Dunces (1980) by John Kennedy Toole
Housekeeping (1980) by Marilynne Robinson
Winter's Tale (1983) by Mark Helprin
White Noise (1985) by Don DeLillo
The Counterlife (1986) by Philip Roth
Libra (1988)by Don DeLillo
Where I'm Calling From (1988) by Raymond Carver
The Things They Carried (1990) by Tim O'Brien
Mating (1991) by Norman Rush
Jesus' Son (1992) by Denis Johnson
Operation Shylock (1993) by Philip Roth
Independence Day (1995) by Richard Ford
Sabbath's Theater (1995) by Philip Roth
Border Trilogy (1999) by Cormac McCarthy
The Human Stain (2000) by Philip Roth
The Known World (2003) by Edward P. Jones
The Plot Against America (2004) by Philip Roth