Ranking the 24 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winners I’ve Read

I’m currently trying to make my way down the list of all the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction. It’s quite the daunting task and will likely take me until the end of the decade to complete. My goal was to read one book a week, but a lot of these are behemoths and I’ve accepted that some might take me about a month to finish.

All of these books were at one point wildly critically acclaimed and have something to offer. Many of them have aged like fine wine. The beauty of reading the Pulitzer winners is the vast array of topics (depression-era realism, existentialism, postmodern experimentation, etc.) and perspectives (at least amongst the 21st Century winners). 

1 Star: Book that I only managed to finish because it was short, but I was annoyed while reading it about half the time

24. Paul Harding’s Tinkers (2010)

The prose in this book is pretty. To me, it reads more like a book of poetry than a novel. The thing that frustrated me so much about this book is that anytime the plot would gain any momentum it would switch perspectives or timelines or have long multi-paragraph passages from a fictional book about clock-repair called The Reasonable Horologist. 

1 Star: Books I did not enjoy at all and could not bring myself to finish even though I hate leaving books unfinished. 

23. John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces (1981)

I think a lot of A Confederacy’s popularity came from the lore surrounding it due to it being published posthumously eleven years after the author’s death when his mother found the manuscript. John Kennedy Toole wrote the book in 1963 from the perspective of a grumpy and slovenly academic about the various people he encountered in the chaotic and partying French Quarter of New Orleans. I’m sure the book hits harder if you are from the South, it was just about two hundred pages too long in my opinion. The narrator comes off a bit like a grown up Holden Caulfield that didn’t have an epiphany at the end of the book. (I also do not like Catcher in the Rye). I tried reading it three years ago, and I still have the copy, so maybe I’ll give it another shot one day (probably not). 

22. Richard Powers’ The Overstory (2019)
I know a lot of people love this book, and I can totally understand why. It is Powers’ magnum opus and a love letter to nature and particularly trees. His prose is quite beautiful and moving and there are parts of the book that I still think about like, “The tree is a passage between earth and sky.” It’s grounded in science and it’s obvious that Powers is brilliant, it just didn’t click with me. 

2 Stars: Books that do not stand the test of time

21. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
A very well written book with a really good plot, but this book is dated and has white savior sentiments. I didn’t feel any connection to Atticus, Jem, or Scout. There is likely some disconnect because I didn’t grow up in the 1950s or in the South, but Mockingbird just didn’t hit me.

20. Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (1936)

This book is clearly written from the perspective of somebody who thinks the wrong side won the Civil War. If you can get past the revisionist history, it is quite the epic historical drama and page-turner. It is similar to the movie The Birth of a Nation in that it was pivotal in its contributions to American artistic achievements, but it is deeply flawed in its morals and messaging. So pretty much a good encapsulation of the American experience. If you don’t want to devote thirty hours of your life to the book just watch the movie instead which is just as good. 

2.5 Stars: Books that I can understand winning the Pulitzer, but the subject matter didn’t move me

19. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2007)

I think McCarthy is an incredible writer. His sparse writing style reminds me of Hemingway. The Road is a modern classic and has a vibe similar to the first season of The Last of Us, two people trying to overcome an apocalyptic wasteland. I finished this book in a few days, but the reason that I did not love it is because it left me feeling sad and icky. I know some people don’t mind bleak books, but the book lacked joy. I much prefer All the Pretty Horses by McCarthy. 

18. Philip Roth’s American Pastoral (1998)

Philip Roth is clearly a genius. Sometimes while I was reading American Pastoral I felt like he was showing off how much of a genius he was. It was an enjoyable book and a page-turner but it didn’t resonate with me. Maybe because it’s more about the collapse of the American dream than a character-driven narrative. There are also long sections about gloves that didn’t captivate me. It’s the only Roth novel I’ve read, but I plan to read Sabbath’s Theater in the near future. 

17. Percival Everett James (2025)

James is a fun twist on an American classic that helps to bring life to a character that was racially caricaturized in the 1870s by Mark Twain. I enjoyed James and finished it in less than a week, but it sort of felt like a children’s book. To be fair, I’ve never read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so I’m sure that’s part of the reason James didn’t compel me. Percival Everett has written nearly fifty books and I think Erasure is a much more powerful and meaningful 21st century novel, but this might have been Everett (deservedly) receiving the Pulitzer (and National book award!) as a recognition for his body of work throughout his career. 

3 Stars: Books that I enjoyed, but I think had no business winning the Pulitzer 

16. Anthony Sean Greer’s Less (2018)

Another easy read that I finished in about a week per a friend’s recommendation back in 2019, but for the life of me I cannot understand why this book won a Pulitzer. I would call this more of a light and whimsical beach read about a middle aged gay professor looking for love. In retrospect, this award should have gone to Sing, Unburied, Sing or The Idiot. 

15. Joshua Cohen’s The Netanyahus An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family (2022)

I had no idea what to expect going into this book, but I really enjoyed it. It is quite the weird concept, a fictionalized account of a story that Harold Bloom told Joshua Cohen about when Benzion Netanyahu (Benjamin’s father) visited the late great Bloom at Cornell in the 1950s. It’s really not a historical novel at all, and the subheader of the book tells you much more about what to expect going into it than The Netanyahus does. It’s easy to not want to read a book about the Netanyahu's considering the destruction Benjamin is causing, but again, this is not a historical novel but a wacky family romp. Which is why I don’t think it necessarily deserved to win the Pulitzer. If you don’t want to read the whole book I’d recommend reading the historical note at the end. 

14. Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Good Squad (2011)

This is the second Egan book I’ve read, and I liked this one better than Manhattan Beach. Goon Squad is somewhere between a collection of short stories and a novel. This book is most popular for having a chapter designed as a PowerPoint presentation that I thought was really fun and well-done, but not worthy of earning this book the Pulitzer. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of books or movies with interwoven ensemble stories (Magnolia, Love Actually, Cloud Atlas) but this one worked for me. 

4 Stars: Magnificent historical fiction that balances technical brilliance with profound human insight

13. Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boy’s (2020)

Colson Whitehead’s second Pulitzer in a three year span! Just putting out two novels in three years is impressive, let alone two era-defining novels. Nickel Boys is a historically important novel that shows that racist and horrible institutions of abuse and negligence were around as late as the 1960s (and probably still exist today in the form of juvenile detention centers and reform schools). It’s beautifully written with elegant prose, a riveting plot, and a jaw-dropping ending. 

12. Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008)

A super unique book written from the perspective of a 1st generation Dominican in New York City who was a friend of the title’s namesake character. The narrator uses modern profane language but has an encyclopedic knowledge of Dominican history and an expansive English and Spanish vocabulary. It does a great job of interweaving the history of the Dominican Republic with the story of three generations of family members. It is a tragic story but told with a cutting sense of humor. 

11. Viet Thanh Nguyen The Sympathizer (2016)

Another one-of-a-kind novel from a very unique perspective: as a confession from a prisoner. The narrator is a half-French, half-Vietnamese double agent (or sympathizer) for the Vietnamese communist party who infiltrated the South Vietnamese army and eventually is relocated to Los Angeles as a refugee while still working as a spy for the North Vietnamese military. Despite the difficult predicaments the protagonist finds himself in, he is still able to keep a somewhat lighthearted tone and sense of humor. The plot, writing style, and historical references are convoluted and I did have to look a few things up, but it is a fascinating and rewarding read that gives a really insightful perspective into the atrocities committed in wartime (mostly by the United States) and their widespread repercussions. 

10. Anthony Doerr All the Light We Cannot See (2015)

Another book about war, but this time World War II. The two main characters are both adolescents that have to deal with the injustices of war. One character is an orphaned German boy who is an engineering whiz with good morals but is forced to join the Nazi party. The other main character is a blind French girl who flees Paris to Saint-Malo with her father who is a museum locksmith. It is a beautiful story that reminds you of the beauty of humanity in the darkest times. 

9. Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2001)

Another World War II book, but told from a European Jew who emigrated to the United States without his family. The war serves as an everlooming presence, but it doesn’t dominate the book and it is still a lighthearted read. Kavalier and Clay is a coming of age story that spans fifteen years, 1939-1954, during the golden age of comic books. At times the novel even reads like a comic book, with chapters revolving around the stories that the main characters create. A captivating read despite not being a fan of graphic novels myself, although it’s very male-centric and I didn’t recommend this one to my wife when I finished it. 

8. Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams (They didn’t award the prize in 2012, but Train Dreams was nominated, and it should have won, so I’m counting it goshdernit)

A short little novella that I read on my honeymoon in Hawaii, so maybe I was just in a good mood when I read it. Train Dreams is a tragic story but the way it’s written is so elegant and moving it feels much larger than just a story of a seasonal logger and his family in the PNW. The movie is also beautiful and a really good adaptation of the novel. 

7. Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex (2007)

I just finished this book a few weeks ago, and the more time I have to let it ruminate the more I appreciate it. It was really hard for me to decide which tier to put Middlesex in. It is a Greek historical epic that spans three generations. The main character is a hermaphrodite, and that premise didn’t necessarily appeal to me initially, but Eugenides is such a brilliant writer that I was absolutely enthralled by the protagonist’s successes and struggles. Middlesex is five-hundred thick pages, and it takes you from the Greek village of Smyrna in the 1920s to the family’s odyssey in Detroit through the 20th Century. 

5 Stars: Great American Novels that any serious fan of literature should read

6. Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea (1952) 

Hemingway can be divisive, but I’m a big fan, partly because I had a humanities professor in college (shout out SF State’s Denise Battista) who did a deep dive of The Sun Also Rises with us. I’ve read most of Hemingway’s novels, but I do think The Old Man and The Sea is the perfect introduction to him as his iceberg writing style isn’t one of the main facets of the book. It is similar to Train Dreams in that it is a novella about a working class man and how he deals with hardship, but this time about a fisherman off the coast of Cuba rather than the forests of the PNW.

5. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

The premise of Grapes of Wrath did not sound appealing to me at all when I heard about it. After starting the book I was pretty much hooked right away. The novel is able to maintain its appeal while tackling dense subject matter like the economic injustices of the world and the pitfalls of desperation because all of the characters are so well-rounded and likeable. There is never a dull moment. It’s impossible not to cheer for the Joad family. Steinbeck might be the greatest writer to ever come out of California. 

4. Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1988)

Perhaps the most technically flawless book that I have ever read. Toni Morrison succeeded in achieving exactly what she set out to do when she wrote this book. A genius bringing the reader to a specific point and time in history. The plot is intricate and layered and shifts perspective and narrators in the middle of sentences but it is so captivating that it is a manageable read. Morrison is able to show the psychological, physical, mental, emotional, sexual, biological toll of slavery without it being heavy handed because the prose and storytelling is so precise. 

5 Stars: One of my favorite books, but not unanimously adored

3. Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch (2014)

Whether or not you are a fan of her work, Tartt is one of the most impactful writers of her generation, despite having only released three books in her over thirty year career. She typically takes ten years to write a book and we’ve all been patiently waiting for her next novel. Her smash debut The Secret History recently experienced a renaissance on Booktok. Goldfinch is a masterpiece. It is long and at times meandering with long descriptions of furniture and dreamsequences, but I don’t care. I loved it. Some say it reads like a children’s book. Whatever, Tartt was writing a modern day Dickens novel. Boris is one of my favorite characters I’ve ever read. The book goes from New York to Vegas back to New York to Europe, and I loved each section equally. It is a doorstop-sized book that I couldn’t put down and I revisit constantly. 

5 Stars: Perfect books with universal acclaim

2. Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead (2023)

Demon Copperhead perfectly encapsulates coming of age in Appalachia in the 21st century while playfully alluding to its source material of David Copperfield. Which of the two protagonists had a harder upbringing is hard to say. Demon Copperhead explores many social calamities in the United States (opioid addiction, institutional poverty, lack of opportunity) while remaining hopeful, inspirational, and gripping. The reader immediately places themselves in Demon shoes and is cheering for him to overcome the countless obstacles that are thrown his way, mostly due to no fault of his own. 

1. Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove (1986)

An absolutely flawless work of art. I’ve only seen people praise this book, regardless of their backgrounds, preferences, prejudices, etc. Larry McMurtry set out to write a novel that dissolves the illusion of the Western cowboy life, exposing it as a world of murder, deceit, avoidable deaths, lack of shelter, lack of female companionship, grueling working conditions, and ultimate meaninglessness. Only for people to read about it all and long to live the life of Augustus McCrae or Woodrow Call. McMurtry just has a way of storytelling. It’s the only book of his that I’ve read, but I have Terms of Endearment on my bookshelf. The mini series is fun as well, albeit with a little 80s tv cheese on it, but nothing will ever be able to capture the perfection of the book.