The Pulitzer Prize Winners for best novel By The Decade
The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during the preceding calendar year. As the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, it was one of the original Pulitzers; the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were awarded that year. (No Novel prize was awarded in 1917; the first was awarded in 1918.)
In 31 years under the "Novel" name, the prize was awarded 27 times; in its first 69 years to 2016 under the "Fiction" name, 62 times. In 11 years, no novel received the award. It has never been shared by two authors. Three writers have won two prizes each in the Fiction category: Booth Tarkington, William Faulkner, and John Updike.
The Pulitzer Prize Winners In the 80's, for best Novel
List:
1980-The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
1981-A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
1982-Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
1983-The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1984-Ironweed by William Kennedy
1985-Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
1986-Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
1987-A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
1988-Beloved by Toni Morrison
1989-Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
==========1980's Winners and finalists=================
1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
Birdy by William Wharton
The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth
1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (posthumous win)
Godric by Frederick Buechner
So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell
1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
A Flag for Sunrise by Robert Stone
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
Rabbis and Wives by Chaim Grade
1984: Ironweed by William Kennedy
Cathedral by Raymond Carver
The Feud by Thomas Berger
1985: Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
I Wish This War Were Over by Diana O'Hehir
Leaving the Land by Douglas Unger
1986: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
Continental Drift by Russell Banks
1987: A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
Paradise by Donald Barthelme
Whites by Norman Rush
1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
Persian Nights by Diane Johnson
That Night by Alice McDermott
1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
Where I'm Calling From by Raymond Carver
The Pulitzer Prize Winners In the 90's, for best Novel
List:
1990-The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
1991-Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
1992-A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
1993-A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
1994-The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
1995-The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
1996-Independence Day by Richard Ford
1997-Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser
1998-American Pastoral by Philip Roth
1999-The Hours by Michael Cunningham
==========1990's Winners and finalists=================
1990: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow
1991: Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Jernigan by David Gates
Lila: An Inquiry into Morals by Robert M. Pirsig
Mao II by Don DeLillo
1993: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
At Weddings and Wakes by Alice McDermott
Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
The Collected Stories of Reynolds Price by Reynolds Price
Operation Shylock: A Confession by Philip Roth
1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Collected Stories of Grace Paley by Grace Paley
What I Lived For by Joyce Carol Oates
1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford
Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth
1997: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
The Manikin by Joanna Scott
Unlocking the Air and Other Stories by Ursula K. Le Guin
1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
Bear and His Daughter: Stories by Robert Stone
Underworld by Don DeLillo
1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Pulitzer Prize Winners In the 2000's, for best Novel
List:
2000-Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
2001-The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
2002-Empire Falls by Richard Russo
2003-Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2004-The Known World by Edward P. Jones
2005-Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
2006-March by Geraldine Brooks
2007-The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2008-The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
2009-Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
==========2000's Winners and finalists=================
2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Close Range: Wyoming Stories by Annie Proulx
Waiting by Ha Jin
2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates
The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams
2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead
2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Servants of the Map: Stories by Andrea Barrett
You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
American Woman by Susan Choi
Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins
2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
An Unfinished Season by Ward Just
War Trash by Ha Jin
2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
The Bright Forever by Lee Martin
The March by E. L. Doctorow
2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
After This by Alice McDermott
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
All Souls by Christine Schutt
The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
The Pulitzer Prize Winners In the 2010's, for best Novel
List:
2010-Tinkers by Paul Harding
2011-A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
2012-No award given.
2013-The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
2014-The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
2015-All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
2016-The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
2017-The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2018-Less by Andrew Sean Greer
==========2010's Winners and finalists=================
2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millet
2011: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Privileges by Jonathan Dee
The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee
2012: No award given.
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
The Pale King by David Foster Wallace (posthumous nominee)
2013: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
2014: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Son by Philipp Meyer
The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis
2015: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
Lovely, Dark, Deep by Joyce Carol Oates
2016: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Get in Trouble: Stories by Kelly Link
Maud's Line by Margaret Verble
2017: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan
2018: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
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