The New York Times reports that, according to an informal survey of writers, critics, and "literary sages," the best novel of the last twenty-five years is Toni Morrison's Beloved. Near the top of the list are works by Cormac McCarthy, John Updike, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Marilynne Robinson, and a few others who won't surprise you--the point being that the list strikes me as largely predictable and, as much as I adore some of the writers on it, consequently uninspired. Perhaps that should be the tenor of such a list; perhaps my problem is that the legendary Updike, Roth, and DeLillo have never really done it for me (though I was very pleased to see Robinson, McCarthy, and Norman Rush on the list); perhaps there's nothing wrong or surprising about a list that presumes an almost absolute correlation between the greatest literary hits of the past quarter century and the best works produced during that time--but I have my doubts. Have a look at the list, see if it omits anything you think it ought to include, and, as always, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.

If I had to name one writer whose absence from the list appears to me to be glaring, I'd go with Annie Proulx. If I had to name two, I'd say Jeffrey Eugenides. Of Proulx's work, my favorite is That Old Ace in the Hole; of Eugenides,' The Virgin Suicides. The Shipping News and Middlesex are close seconds.

Sorry but Toni Morrison just has never pushed any buttons for me at all. I just cannot get into any of her works. After about 50 pages I pass the book along to anyone else around.

I will go along with Erin on Annie Proulx.

Have you discovered LibraryThing? It's great for all of us book people.

5{est novel of the last 25 years was Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler. (don't know if it qualifies for the list because it's Canadian.) It's probably too un-pc for the NYTimes . The Liberty Campaign by Jonathan Dee was another good one.

Oops, first words of previous post should have been "IMO best"

I will offer that The Shipping News can satisfactorily hold one's attention but that the protagonist, his loves, and his relations are assemblages of assigned characteristics, not integrated wholes that you come to see in the course of the narrative as you might come to know a person. Both the initical suffering and the eventual flourishing of the protagonist come to seem contrived.

The potshot/asides directed at the Catholic Church and sundry evangelicals are gratuitous and a distraction.

Allan,how about MR's "Solomon Gursky":to me that is his book for the ages.
Erin:have you read "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" by Susanna Clarke?If you haven't,then what a treat you have!Trust me.
Scott