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See Free Stuff for Up-to-date Awards Lists you may copy. The Pulitzer Prize, established in 1917, is announced each spring. Named for American publisher Joseph Pulitzer, the award is presented by Columbia University on the recommendation of a Pulitzer Prize board, and tends to honor fiction that explores American historical or contemporary themes. The prize is a certificate and $10,000. Follow the links on the titles below to full book reviews. The links in the green boxes take you to Amazon.com.
Buy at Amazon:
Buy at Amazon: 2005 Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. In 1956, a 77 year-old preacher in failing health writes a letter to his 6 year-old son that becomes a meditation on the turbulent relationship between fathers and sons, and an exploration of the harsh times on the Midwestern prairies that shaped him. 2004 The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Twenty years before the Civil War, Henry -- a black man and a former slave -- lives an unusual life as the owner of a plantation and slaves of his own.
Buy at Amazon: 2002 Empire Falls by Richard Russo. The middle-aged owner of a diner is caught up in the downfall of his once-important family in a small mill town in Maine.
2000 Interpreter Of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Nine stories explore India and the Indian viewpoint. 1999 The Hours by Michael Cunningham. One day passes for three women: Virginia Woolf in the 1920s recovering from a breakdown; Laura, a 1950s housewife reading Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway; and modern-day Clarissa planning a party for a dying lover. 1998 American Pastoral by Philip Roth. A nice guy marries his childhood sweetheart; their daughter inexplicably grows up to be a terrorist. 1997 Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser. An entrepreneur in early New York City pushes his creative vision to madness as he builds bigger and stranger hotels. 1996 Independence Day by Richard Ford. The sequel to The Sportswriter. A divorced real estate agent tries to fix his troubled relationship with his son over Fourth of July weekend. 1995 The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. A woman's life from birth through old age and death reflects 20th century America. 1994 The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. A painfully shy newspaper writer loses his unfaithful wife and retreats with his aunt and two daughters to his ancestral home on Newfoundland where he becomes drawn into the lives of the eccentric locals. Also won the 1993 National Book Award. 1993 A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain by Robert Olin Butler. Fifteen stories about Vietnamese immigrants in Louisiana. 1992 A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. A modern update of King Lear. A woman uncovers dark secrets when her manipulative father promises to turn his vast farm over to her and her sisters, but then cuts the youngest from his will. 1991 Rabbit At Rest by John Updike. The insecure hero retires, frets about dying, and squabbles with his cocaine-addicted son. 1990 The Mambo Kings Play Songs Of Love by Oscar Hijuelos. A flamboyant Cuban bandleader and his timid, talented brother immigrate to New York City in the 1950s to find adventure and fame. 1989 Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler. An irritating road trip tests a middle-aged couple's marriage: he's a realist and she's a meddler who believes in igniting people's potential. 1988 Beloved by Toni Morrison. A murdered child haunts a former slave woman who struggles for a new life after the Civil War. Toni Morrison received the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. 1987 A Summons To Memphis by Peter Taylor. A genteel family moves from Nashville to Memphis where the father, disappointed in business, ruins the lives of his children. 1986 Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. Two aging cowboys risk their lives in an epic cattle drive from Texas to Montana. 1985 Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. Two American professors doing research in England are sexually frustrated. 1984 Ironweed by William Kennedy. In the 1930s, an alcoholic ex-baseball player must face his past. 1983 The Color Purple by Alice Walker. A young black woman tells through her prayers of her rise from a life of abuse and poverty. Also won the 1983 National Book Award. 1982 Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike. The immature hero owns a thriving Toyota dealership, fantasizes about wife-swapping, and falters through a turbulent relationship with his son. Also won the 1982 National Book Award. This is a continuation of Updike's Rabbit books about a former basketball star (not a baseball star). 1981 A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. A conceited scholar lives in New Orleans, supported by his mother, until fate forces him to get a job. 1980 The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer. Based on the true story of murderer Gary Gilmore. 1979 The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever. Beautiful stories about New England consumers in the 1950s and 1960s. 1978 Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson. Humor abounds in stories about the interactions of black people and white people. 1977 no award 1976 Humbolt's Gift by Saul Bellow. In the 1950s, a writer torn between pursuing commercial success or artistic integrity learns from the example of his eccentric mentor. Saul Bellow received the 1976 Nobel Prize for Literature. 1975 The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Confederate and Union soldiers fight and die during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. 1974 no award 1973 The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty. When a beloved judge dies, his daughter arranges the funeral, keeps the family from squabbling, and mourns the passing of a courtly Southern way of life. 1972 Angle Of Repose by Wallace Stegner. A man confined to a wheelchair sorts through old documents and letters to piece together the hard life and marriage of his long dead grandparents who were pioneers on the western frontier. 1971 no award 1970 Collected Stories by Jean Stafford. These wry, unsentimental stories show women coping with the hazards of life. 1969 House Made Of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday. A Native American returns from WW II and seeks healing through his ancestors' traditions. 1968 The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron. A preacher incites slaves to rebel one hot summer in 1831 in Virginia. Based on historical fact. 1967 The Fixer by Bernard Malamud. A Jewish handyman endures imprisonment and brutal oppression in Czarist Russia just before the First World War, but he never loses his sense of compassion for others. 1966 The Collected Stories Of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter. A legendary master offers this collection of American classics. 1965 The Keepers Of The House by Shirley Ann Grau. In the deep South, a wealthy white widower and his black housekeeper secretly fall in love and have children, knowing that there will be consequences for those children when their secret is discovered. 1964 no award 1963 The Reivers by William Faulkner. A boy and two friends steal a motor car and set out on a comic adventure. William Faulkner received the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature. 1962 The Edge Of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor. An Irish-American priest questions his faith. 1961 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Two children in the 1930s South find their idyllic life changed forever when their lawyer father defends a black man in court, and their small town gives up its secrets. Harper Lee never published another book after this one. 1960 Advise And Consent by Allen Drury. The Soviet Union and China face off in a nuclear war. 1959 The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor. |
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Noteworthy Links: Wonderquest - Science Q/A! The Connection - Tech blog! Author site - John the Eunuch Historical Mystery series, Cozy Mystery List for all your cozy mystery needs, Obsidian Bookshelf - reviews of gay-themed fiction. |
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THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION
