NY Times Book Review goes lowbrow for the week...

...here are the results of a poll of the literati as to the best novel of last 25 years. The article is being published this Sunday in the Times Book Review. The winner, sadly imho, is Beloved. I don't know how they can, in good conscience, pass up Roth for Morrison. (I loved Underworld, but I understand that it was destined for the number 2 slot). I don't think there is any question that Phillip Roth is the greatest living American writer. I guess American Pastoral isn't "big" enough for the win. But, that's the beauty of the book--it has the page turning qualities of a detective novel with the lyric language of Faulkner and the thematic content of Dostoevsky. American Pastoral isn't confusing, it is a straight attempt at the great american novel, without whistles or bells. And it comes as close as anything I've ever read to hitting the mark.

Also, its fun to note that Jonathan Safen Foer WAS a judge by Norman Mailer WAS NOT. ouch. double ouch.