Entertainment Weekly's List of 100 New Classic Books

[bill]

I don't know how many of you have seen this (my fellow Americans probably have). See, we have this really shitty magazine here called Entertainment Weekly, and recently they published an issue in which the staff picked 100 books, movies, etc., that they considered the "new classics". Every work had to have been written (or filmed) no earlier than 1983. But enough introduction. Here's the book list, so that you can all share my outrage.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

EDIT: I don't know why all those be-sunglassed smilies are in there. They're not on the original website, and they all represent the number 8. I tried to remove them, but when I hit save they were still there. Very eerie...

EDIT EDIT: Disregard. Thanks, Stewart.

[Stewart]

I saw the list last week and it's a bit of a joke in some places, being more of a something for everyone sort of list. To take Calvino's definition of a classic ("A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.") then a number of these books' inclusions is an outrage.

The ones I've read, and where some of the outrage lies, are:

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)

[Stewart]

EDIT: I don't know why all those be-sunglassed smilies are in there. They're not on the original website, and they all represent the number 8. I tried to remove them, but when I hit save they were still there. Very eerie...

Go back in to edit your post and, underneath the post, there's an option not to convert text to smilies. Its the combination of an 8 and a ) that makes the guy with shades.

[bill]

These are the books from the list I've read:


1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)


Some of those books are masterpieces, some are excellent, and there's not a one of them that I flat out dislike. But that doesn't change the fact that The Ruins, America (the Book), A Sight for Sore Eyes and Mystic River simply should not be there. For one thing, they're too new. And I do think that, actually, the Rendell and, particularly, the Lehane books are masterpieces of a sort. But when you think of all the books and authors who are left out, it becomes impossible to justify their inclusion. And The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay is wildly overrated.

I even question their placement of The Road. I know it wook the Western world by storm last year, and I do think it's a fine book, but I truly think people went a bit too nuts over it. Oprah's seal of approval -- and, to a lesser extent, the Pulitzer -- I feel is the reason it tops this list. Blood Meridian has earned its keep better, and for a longer period of time.

Also, I've never read Bridget Jones's Diary, but I guess now I'll have to. Apparently, it's better than The Remains of the Day and Lonesome Dove.

PS - Yes, I know this is all a matter of opinion, and that lists are useless.

[Lizzy Siddal]

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)

EDIT: Hell, I hit the publish button too soon. So here are my comments:

I'm not outraged at any of the above being deemed modern classics. No, not even DVC! As an page-turning, megaselling modern thriller, it's hard to beat. It's good at what it does. As literature, it's pants. Plot holes bigger than those in Emmenthaler cheese, but I honestly didn't care when I read it. Preferred it to A Sight for Sore Eyes, actually. Not the best Rendell imo. I substitute that one with Road Rage.

And I have no problems with any of the others I've read being considered modern classics. Even if I hated Love in the Time of Cholera and The Corrections and was bored to tears with Cold Mountain.

[bill]

Lizzy, is Secret History any good? Tartt's books sound interesting to me, but I haven't taken the plunge yet.

[Lizzy Siddal]

The Secret History is fantastic! I'm hoping to revisit it one day - perhaps by persuading my book group to read it.

[bill]

Ooo, good. I'll have to give it a whirl, then.

[Colyngbourne]

1. The Road, Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998 )
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)

The Secret History wasn't shocking enough for me. Once I gathered what the ideas of the gang were, I was surprised they weren't effected in the most extreme way possible.

[Adr.]

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)


Hmmm...mostly graphic novels. Must get out more...

[Ophelia]

Da Vinci fucking Code? A classic?

Who voted for it? Take them outside and shoot them at once!

[bill]

Originally posted by Adr.:
Hmmm...mostly graphic novels. Must get out more...

Yes, I've read some Sandman, but nowhere near all of it. I think I've only read the first storyline, A Doll's House. And I started Jimmy Corrigan, but it never grabbed me. I'll give it another stab some day.

[bill]

Da Vinci fucking Code? A classic?

Who voted for it? Take them outside and shoot them at once!

Their reasoning, I have to assume, is that in the commercial thriller genre it will be remembered and read for many, many years, and is therefore a classic. If so, they probably have a point, though I would sharply disagree with their lazy definition of "classic". Then again, this is Entertainment Weekly, so they probably loved the book.

I myself haven't read it, but I did read the first twenty-or-so pages of Angels and Demons. It was...not good. We as a species have no standards anymore.

[John Self]

my fellow Americans...

Hang on! - you're not... - no. Forget it.

I couldn't be bothered going through the list and pasting the ones I've read, but I'm going to be outrageous myself and suggest that this list is possibly not a bad idea. As has already been pointed out, there are some good books on there, as well as some completely shit ones. If Entertainment Weekly has the constituency bill suggests, then its readers may know and like some of the shit books, and may therefore be interested to look at some of the good books. ("What? The Remains of the Day? You say it's as good as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? You interest me strangely...") Well, possibly.

Just had another look at the list. There are quite a few really good books on there. And Bridget Jones's Diary is very good, bill!

[bill]

I may have come off as a bit of a snob in my earlier comments in this thread (which would be ironic, considering how I seem to have forgotten the difference between "their", "there" and "they're"). I have no problem with, and in fact have been known to love, big, best-selling commercial thrillers. It's just that there are writers of that type of book whose work is much better than Dan Brown. Why not replace it with, say, Jurassic Park? That wouldn't have bothered me in the least.

And John, you're optimism moves me, and warms my cold, black heart. If the scenario you laid out were to come to pass, than this list could be seen as a force of good. But all I can think about are the years I spent working in bookstores, and finding out that if Oprah picked, say, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, the sales for that book would go through the roof. The sales for Gaines's A Gathering of Old Men, however, would remain in the toilet.

However, I suppose I'll have to rush out and snap up Bridget Jones's Diary. Move over, Kazuo Ishiguro! There's a new girl in town! And so forth.

[Ophelia]

...And Bridget Jones's Diary is very good, bill!

Ack!!!

I can't believe anyone would think that.

I read it years ago (pre-hype) and hated the main character for her obsession with dieting and desperation for a boyfriend.

Or maybe it was the assumption that 'all women' would like Bridget Jones or would identify her. I certainly don't know anyone in my social circle that neurotic. In fact, I couldn't be friends with someone who was constantly counting calories. There are too many biscuits in the world for that sort of nonsense...

[John Self]

Ah well, in saying that Ophelia, aren't you laying the sins of the tabloids and other media who chose to identify Bridget Jones with huge swathes of the female population, at Helen Fielding's door? All she did was write a funny novel. It's not her fault that it became a phenomenon.

[bill]

Oh, so you were serious about Bridget Jones's Diary. I wasn't sure. Well, I'm still not likely to actually read it, but I should still probably try to not hate things I haven't experienced. I mean, within reason, of course.

[Ophelia]

Oh, I hate everything. It saves time in the end.

[kirsty]

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996) well, I've read the first Sandman
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)

I guess I don't mind Bridget Jones, which is basically quite funny, and DVC being on the list because, love or loathe em, it's sort of a zeitgeist thing isn't it? Like The Thorn Birds and Roots. They're the books that "everyone" was reading at a certain time.

Which is why I'm baffled by The Lovely Bones being on there. I mean, I know it was popular, but... really? I was given it, read it, thought it was mawkish and awful, but I could see why lots of people would love it. But... really? Modern classic?

[ono no komachi]

I'm intrigued to see Clockers in that list. I read it many years ago and my many-years-younger self was deeply impressed with it. It came to mind just recently as I sat down finally to watch the first episode of The Wire.

I don't have it any more - might be time to seek out another copy and see if I was right about it being good, or if it was just another case of undiscriminating youth.

[BeccaK]

Ah well, in saying that Ophelia, aren't you laying the sins of the tabloids and other media who chose to identify Bridget Jones with huge swathes of the female population, at Helen Fielding's door? All she did was write a funny novel. It's not her fault that it became a phenomenon.


OK, Bridget Jones might not be our pick for literary classic, but it's not scraping the barrel as many like to suggest. I've always liked the following extract from early in the book, since someone pointed it out to me a couple of years ago and told me why it's so clever:


I racked my brain frantically to think when I last read a proper book. The trouble with working in publishing is that reading in your spare time is a bit like being a dustman and snuffling through the pig bin in the evening. I'm halfway through Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, which Jude lent me, but I didn't think Mark Darcy, though clearly odd, was ready to accept himself as a Martian quite yet. Then I had a brainwave.

"Backlash, actually, by Susan Faludi," I said triumphantly. Hah! I haven't exactly read it as such, but feel I have as Sharon has been ranting about it so much. Anyway, completely safe option as no way diamond-pattern-jumpered goody-goody would have read five-hundred-page feminist treatise.

"Ah. Really?" he said. "I read that when it first came out. Didn't you find there was rather a lot of special pleading?"

And it's clever, because of this (I just googled "bridget jones postmodern faludi", rather than bothering to explain it myself :oops:) which I just pinched from here (http://bridgetarchive.altervista.org/unacknowledged_truth.htm):

This self-referentiality to a key feminist text like Backlash clearly places the novel in dialogue with feminism's ideas. It also illustrates several significant points: first, that Mark Darcy is well-read, open to feminist ideas, and would make a suitable boyfriend for Bridget because he is ostensibly not misogynistic; and second, Mark's critique of the Faludi text allows Fielding to include her own subtle critique of Faludi's message. Ironically, Bridget hasn't read Backlash, because doing so would invalidate or trivialize many of her concerns about love, marriage, and companionship. Reading this text might help Bridget dispel her neuroses, and channel her energy into the meaningful tasks at work. However, Faludi's text could just as well alienate a woman like Bridget, whose concerns are, to her at least, immensely valid. Instead, Bridget reads John Gray's problematic bestseller, which will confirm her fears but also give her outdated, stereotypical, prescriptive relationship advice that will eventually lead her astray. This interchange between Brid­get and Mark may seem to undermine feminism's goals; however, Fielding engages the conflicting messages about gender and romance via a humor­ous and realistic situation. Fielding subtly takes feminism (Faludi) to task for dismissing Bridget's concerns and driving her towards a seemingly sym­pathetic but ultimately anti-feminist alternative

So, whilst it clearly is just about neurotic, desperate, chain-smoking, binge-drinking 20- and 30-somethings, it's clearly not stupid.

[BeccaK]

Which is why I'm baffled by The Lovely Bones being on there. I mean, I know it was popular, but... really? I was given it, read it, thought it was mawkish and awful, but I could see why lots of people would love it. But... really? Modern classic?

For me, The Lovely Bones does feel a bit zeitgeisty. It echoes with countless news stories, names associated with abducted or abused children filling newspaper inches: Soham, Bulger, McCann, Fritzl are the ones that come instantly to mind for me.

The list reminds me of the Waterstones Best of the 20th Century that appeared, I think, in the early 90s (?). It featured Delia Smith's Classic Cookery Course and Jurassic Park rubbing shoulders with Proust and Ishiguro. As a 15-year-old, I determined to read my way through it, so I'm sure the EW list will similarly inspire silly teenagers who want to be literary, and think that this might be achieved with a copy of The Hobbit or Holes in hand.

EDIT: Reducing the two 'For me's to just one. How embarrassing; I can't write good.

[kirsty]

For me, The Lovely Bones does feel a bit zeitgeisty. For me, it echoes with countless news stories, names associated with abducted or abused children filling newspaper inches: Soham, Bulger, McCann, Fritzl are the ones that come instantly to mind for me.


Take your point. Perhaps zeitgeisty in retrospect?

[John Self]

Don't forget Becca, the Waterstone's list was a public vote.

[bill]

I'm intrigued to see Clockers in that list. I read it many years ago and my many-years-younger self was deeply impressed with it. It came to mind just recently as I sat down finally to watch the first episode of The Wire.

I don't have it any more - might be time to seek out another copy and see if I was right about it being good, or if it was just another case of undiscriminating youth.

It's also been a long time since I read Clockers, ono, but I feel pretty secure that it's every bit as good as I remember. Price is a great writer. Check out Samaritan and Lush Life (http://www.palimpsest.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3531&highlight=lush+life).

[ono no komachi]

Price... was one of the writers for a TV show that is regularly called the greatest TV show of all time (that would be The Wire).

I actually wasn't aware of his being one of the writers, but it does say something about how effectively he creates an atmosphere in the book if I was immediately reminded of it by the feel of the TV series.

[bill]

I haven't seen even one episode of The Wire yet. I know I'm missing out.

[kirsty]

I haven't seen even one episode of The Wire yet. I know I'm missing out.

Neither have I bill, but I took the plunge and bought the first series on DVD because so many people I trust have raved about it. Now must get around to watching it!

[bill]

I have season one in my Netflix queue. I really should get started on it, I suppose, but the hype for the show is so intense that it's nearly impossible to actually live up to.

[Oryx]

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)


I've read considerably more of these than on the classic lists, the ones that always start with Ulysses.

Like all lists there are (to me) glaring omissions and preposterous inclusions. This list does seem somewhat arbitrary though.

and I throw in my vote for Bridget Jones-had me laughing out loud!

[Lizzy Siddal]

and I throw in my vote for Bridget Jones-had me laughing out loud!

Me too!