The National Book Award for Fiction
The prestigious National Book Awards were established in 1950 to recognize American literary works of exceptional merit. The finalists for the fiction category (as well as other categories) are selected by independent judging panels. While sponsored for most years by the National Book Foundation, the awards from 1980 to 1986 were sponsored by the Association of American Publishers, who renamed them the American Book Awards, and made awards in many more categories. (This award description was taken from NoveList, a database dedicated to helping readers find fiction titles, award winning books, and similar titles and authors.) Visit the National Book Foundation official website for more information about this award and past winners.
All of these titles are located in the Adult Fiction section of the Library unless otherwise noted.
| 2011 | Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. |
| 2010 | Gordon, Jaimy. Lord of Misrule. |
| 2009 | McCann, Colum. Let the Great World Spin. Also available: Large Type, CD |
| 2008 | Matthiessen, Peter. Shadow Country. Also available: CD |
| 2007 | Johnson, Denis. Tree of Smoke. Also available: Large Type, eAudiobook |
| 2006 | Powers, Richard. The Echo Maker.
Also available: CD, eAudiobook |
| 2005 | Vollmann, William T. Europe Central. |
| 2004 | Tuck, Lily. The News from Paraguay. |
| 2003 | Hazzard, Shirley. The Great Fire. Also available: CD |
| 2002 | Glass, Julia. Three Junes. Also available: Large Type, CD, eAudiobook |
| 2001 | Franzen, Jonathan. The Corrections. Also available: Large Type, CD |
| 2000 | Sontag, Susan. In America. Also available: Large Type |
| 1999 | Jin, Ha. Waiting. Also available: Large Type, eAudiobook |
| 1998 | McDermott, Alice. Charming Billy. Also available: Large Type |
| 1997 | Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain. Also available: Large Type, CD, eAudiobook |
| 1996 | Barrett, Andrea. Ship Fever and Other Stories. |
| 1995 | Roth, Philip. Sabbath’s Theater. Also available: eAudiobook, Digital Player |
| 1994 | Gaddis, William. A Frolic of His Own. |
| 1993 | Proulx, E. Annie. The Shipping News. Also available: Large Type, CD |
| 1992 | McCarthy, Cormac. All the Pretty Horses. Also available: CD, eAudiobook |
| 1991 | Rush, Norman. Mating. |
| 1990 | Johnson, Charles. Middle Passage. |
| 1989 | Casey, John. Spartina. |
| 1988 | Dexter, Pete. Paris Trout. |
| 1987 | Heinemann, Larry. Paco’s Story. Also available: CD |
| 1986 | Doctorow, E.L. World’s Fair. Also available: Large Type |
| 1985 | Delillo, Don. White Noise. |
| 1984 | Gilchrist, Ellen. Victory Over Japan. |
| 1983 | Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Also available: CD |
| Welty, Eudora. The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty. | |
| 1982 | Updike, John. Rabbit Is Rich. Also available: CD, eBook |
| 1981 | Morris, Wright. Plains, Song, for Female Voices. |
| 1980 | Styron, William. Sophie’s Choice. Also available: Large Type, CD, eBook |
| 1979 | O’Brien, Tim. Going After Cacciato. |
| 1978 | Settle, Mary Lee. Blood Tie. |
| 1977 | Stegner, Wallace. The Spectator Bird. Also available: CD |
| 1976 | Gaddis, William. JR. |
| 1975 | Stone, Robert. Dog Soldiers. |
| Williams, Thomas. The Hair of Harold Roux. | |
| 1974 | Pynchon, Thomas. Gravity’s Rainbow. |
| Singer, Isaac Bashevis. A Crown of Feathers, and Other Stories. | |
| 1973 | Barth, John. Chimera. |
| Williams, John Edward. Augustus. | |
| 1972 | O'Connor, Flannery. The Complete Stories. |
| 1971 | Bellow, Saul. Mr. Sammler’s Planet. |
| 1970 | Oates, Joyce Carol. Them. |
| 1969 | Kosinski, Jerzy. Steps. |
| 1968 | Wilder, Thornton. The Eighth Day. |
| 1967 | Malamud, Bernard. The Fixer. Also available: Large Type |
| 1966 | Porter, Katherine Anne. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter. |
| 1965 | Bellow, Saul. Herzog. Also available: CD |
| 1964 | Updike, John. The Centaur. |
| 1963 | Powers, James Earl. Morte d’Urban. |
| 1962 | Walker, Percy. The Moviegoer. |
| 1961 | Richter, Conrad. The Waters of Kronos. |
| 1960 | Roth, Philip. Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories. Also available: eAudiobook |
| 1959 | Malamud, Bernard. Magic Barrel. |
| 1958 | Cheever, John. The Wapshot Chronicle. |
| 1957 | Morris, Wright. The Field of Vision. |
| 1956 | O'Hara, John. Ten North Frederick. |
| 1955 | Faulkner, William. A Fable. |
| 1954 | Bellow, Saul. The Adventures of Augie March. Also available: CD |
| 1953 | Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Also available: CD |
| 1952 | Jones, James. From Here to Eternity. |
| 1951 | Faulkner, William. The Collected Stories of William Faulkner. Also available: CD |
| 1950 | Algren, Nelson. The Man with the Golden Arm. |