Year
|
Winner
|
Work
|
Genre(s)
|
Author's origin
|
Finalists
|
1980
|
|
Norman Mailer (1923–2007)
|
The Executioner's Song
|
Little, Brown (1979)
|
True crime novel
|
New Jersey
|
- William Wharton, Birdy
- Philip Roth, The Ghost Writer
|
1981
|
|
John Kennedy Toole (1937–1969)
|
A Confederacy of Dunces (posthumous win)
|
Louisiana State University Press (1980)
|
Picaresque novel
|
Louisiana
|
- Frederick Buechner, Godric
- William Maxwell, So Long, See You Tomorrow
|
1982
|
|
John Updike (1932–2009)
|
Rabbit Is Rich
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1981)
|
Novel
|
Pennsylvania
|
- Robert Stone, A Flag for Sunrise
- Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping
|
1983
|
|
Alice Walker (b. 1944)
|
The Color Purple
|
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1982)
|
Epistolary novel
|
Georgia
|
- Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
- Chaim Grade, Rabbis and Wives
|
1984
|
|
William Kennedy (b. 1928)
|
Ironweed
|
Viking Press (1983)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
- Raymond Carver, Cathedral
- Thomas Berger, The Feud
|
1985
|
|
Alison Lurie (1926–2020)
|
Foreign Affairs
|
Random House (1984)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
- Diana O'Hehir, I Wish This War Were Over
- Douglas Unger, Leaving the Land
|
1986
|
|
Larry McMurtry (1936–2021)
|
Lonesome Dove
|
Simon & Schuster (1985)
|
Western novel
|
Texas
|
- Russell Banks, Continental Drift
- Anne Tyler, The Accidental Tourist
|
1987
|
|
Peter Taylor (1917–1994)
|
A Summons to Memphis
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1986)
|
Novel
|
Tennessee
|
- Donald Barthelme, Paradise
- Norman Rush, Whites
|
1988
|
|
Toni Morrison (1931–2019)
|
Beloved
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1987)
|
Novel
|
Ohio
|
- Diane Johnson, Persian Nights
- Alice McDermott, That Night
|
1989
|
|
Anne Tyler (b. 1941)
|
Breathing Lessons
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1988)
|
Novel
|
Minnesota
|
- Raymond Carver, Where I'm Calling From
|
1990
|
|
Oscar Hijuelos (1951–2013)
|
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1989)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
- E. L. Doctorow, Billy Bathgate
|
1991
|
|
John Updike (1932–2009)
|
Rabbit At Rest
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1990)
|
Novel
|
Pennsylvania
|
- Linda Hogan, Mean Spirit
- Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
|
1992
|
|
Jane Smiley (b. 1949)
|
A Thousand Acres
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1991)
|
Domestic Realism
|
California
|
- David Gates, Jernigan
- Robert M. Pirsig, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals
- Don DeLillo, Mao II
|
1993
|
|
Robert Olen Butler (b. 1945)
|
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
|
Henry Holt (1992)
|
Short story collection
|
Illinois
|
- Alice McDermott, At Weddings and Wakes
- Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water
|
1994
|
|
E. Annie Proulx (b. 1935)
|
The Shipping News
|
Charles Scribner's Sons (1993)
|
Novel
|
Connecticut
|
- Philip Roth, Operation Shylock: A Confession
- Reynolds Price, The Collected Stories
|
1995
|
|
Carol Shields (1935–2005)
|
The Stone Diaries
|
Random House (1993)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
- Grace Paley, The Collected Stories
- Joyce Carol Oates, What I Lived For
|
1996
|
|
Richard Ford (b. 1944)
|
Independence Day
|
Alfred A. Knopf (1995)
|
Novel
|
Mississippi
|
- Oscar Hijuelos, Mr. Ives' Christmas
- Philip Roth, Sabbath's Theater
|
1997
|
|
Steven Millhauser (b. 1943)
|
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer
|
Crown Publishers (1996)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
- Joanna Scott, The Manikin
- Ursula K. Le Guin, Unlocking the Air and Other Stories
|
1998
|
|
Philip Roth (1933–2018)
|
American Pastoral
|
Houghton Mifflin (1997)
|
Novel
|
New Jersey
|
- Robert Stone, Bear and His Daughter: Stories
- Don DeLillo, Underworld
|
1999
|
|
Michael Cunningham (b. 1952)
|
The Hours
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1998)
|
Historical fiction
|
Ohio
|
- Russell Banks, Cloudsplitter
- Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible
|
2000
|
|
Jhumpa Lahiri (b. 1967)
|
Interpreter of Maladies
|
Houghton Mifflin (1999)
|
Short story collection
|
Rhode Island (born in London, United Kingdom) (lives in Rome, Italy)
|
- Annie Proulx, Close Range: Wyoming Stories
- Ha Jin, Waiting
|
2001
|
|
Michael Chabon (b. 1963)
|
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
|
Random House (2000)
|
Historical fiction
|
Washington, D.C.
|
- Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde
- Joy Williams, The Quick and the Dead
|
2002
|
|
Richard Russo (b. 1949)
|
Empire Falls
|
Alfred A. Knopf (2001)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
- Colson Whitehead, John Henry Days
- Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections
|
2003
|
|
Jeffrey Eugenides (b. 1960)
|
Middlesex
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2002)
|
Family saga
|
Michigan
|
- Andrea Barrett, Servants of the Map: Stories
- Adam Haslett, You Are Not a Stranger Here
|
2004
|
|
Edward P. Jones (b. 1950)
|
The Known World
|
Amistad Press (2003)
|
Historical fiction
|
Washington, D.C.
|
- Susan Choi, American Woman
- Marianne Wiggins, Evidence of Things Unseen
|
2005
|
|
Marilynne Robinson (b. 1943)
|
Gilead
|
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2004)
|
Epistolary Novel
|
Idaho
|
- Ward Just, An Unfinished Season
- Ha Jin, War Trash
|
2006
|
|
Geraldine Brooks (b. 1955)
|
March
|
Viking Press (2005)
|
Historical fiction
|
New York (born in Sydney, Australia)
|
- Lee Martin, The Bright Forever
- E. L. Doctorow, The March
|
2007
|
|
Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933)
|
The Road
|
Alfred A. Knopf (2006)
|
Post-apocalyptic fiction
|
Rhode Island
|
- Alice McDermott, After This
- Richard Powers, The Echo Maker
|
2008
|
|
Junot Díaz (b. 1968)
|
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
|
Riverhead Books (2007)
|
Novel
|
New Jersey (born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
|
- Lore Segal, Shakespeare's Kitchen
- Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke
|
2009
|
|
Elizabeth Strout (b. 1956)
|
Olive Kitteridge
|
Random House (2008)
|
Interrelated short stories
|
Maine
|
- Christine Schutt, All Souls
- Louise Erdrich, The Plague of Doves
|
2010
|
|
Paul Harding (b. 1967)
|
Tinkers
|
Bellevue Literary Press (2009)
|
Debut novel
|
Massachusetts
|
- Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
- Lydia Millet, Love in Infant Monkeys
|
2011
|
|
Jennifer Egan (b. 1962)
|
A Visit from the Goon Squad
|
Alfred A. Knopf (2010)
|
Interrelated short stories
|
Illinois
|
- Jonathan Dee, The Privileges
- Chang-rae Lee, The Surrendered
|
2012
|
Not awarded
|
- Karen Russell, Swamplandia!
- David Foster Wallace, The Pale King (posthumous nominee)
- Denis Johnson, Train Dreams
|
2013
|
|
Adam Johnson (b. 1967)
|
The Orphan Master's Son
|
Random House (2012)
|
Novel
|
South Dakota
|
- Eowyn Ivey, The Snow Child
- Nathan Englander, What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank
|
2014
|
|
Donna Tartt (b. 1963)
|
The Goldfinch
|
Little, Brown and Company (2013)
|
Novel
|
Mississippi
|
- Philipp Meyer, The Son
- Bob Shacochis, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul
|
2015
|
|
Anthony Doerr (b. 1973)
|
All the Light We Cannot See
|
Charles Scribner's Sons (2014)
|
War novel
|
Ohio
|
- Richard Ford, Let Me Be Frank with You
- Joyce Carol Oates, Lovely, Dark, Deep
- Laila Lalami, The Moor's Account
|
2016
|
|
Viet Thanh Nguyen (b. 1971)
|
The Sympathizer
|
Grove Press (2015)
|
Debut novel
|
California (born in Buôn Ma Thuột, Vietnam)
|
- Kelly Link, Get in Trouble: Stories
- Margaret Verble, Maud's Line
|
2017
|
|
Colson Whitehead (b. 1969)
|
The Underground Railroad
|
Doubleday (2016)
|
Alternate historical novel
|
New York
|
- Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone
- C. E. Morgan, The Sport of Kings
|
2018
|
|
Andrew Sean Greer (b. 1970)
|
Less
|
Little, Brown and Company (2017)
|
Satirical novel
|
Washington, D.C.
|
- Hernan Diaz, In the Distance
- Elif Batuman, The Idiot
|
2019
|
|
Richard Powers (b. 1957)
|
The Overstory
|
W. W. Norton & Company (2018)
|
Novel
|
Illinois
|
- Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers
- Tommy Orange, There There
|
2020
|
|
Colson Whitehead (b. 1969)
|
The Nickel Boys
|
Doubleday (2019)
|
Novel
|
New York
|
- Ann Patchett, The Dutch House
- Ben Lerner, The Topeka School
|
2021
|
|
Louise Erdrich (b. 1954)
|
The Night Watchman
|
Harpercollins (2020)
|
Novel
|
Minnesota
|
- Daniel Mason, A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth
- Percival Everett, Telephone
|
2022
|
|
Joshua Cohen (b. 1980)
|
The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family
|
New York Review Books (2021)
|
Novel
|
New Jersey
|
- Francisco Goldman, Monkey Boy
- Gayl Jones, Palmares
|