This is a selection of Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction (with GEMs highlighted). The list includes links for several associated items which may be available online for each book: (a) Wikipedia page, (b) e-book, and (c) audiobook. There is also a column called “More info” with links to optional posts on each book.

Note that the list is sortable by each column. (Multiple levels of sorting are possible by sorting more than one column in succession, from lowest to highest.) You can also do an instant filtering of the table by entering a character string in the ‘Search’ field.

Based on my personal preferences, I have not listed every book which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  My tastes in literary fiction, which I believe line up with most people’s, lean towards good storytelling and interesting characters rather than elegant prose, long passages which don’t advance the story, and a stream-of-consciousness narrative style which is often favored by critics but which the majority of readers find boring.  I believe the best books combine elegant writing with a great story and great characters, which makes you want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next.  In my opinion, only a subset of the Pulitzer Prize winners meet these criteria, and I hope most of the visitors to this site will agree!

Please share any comments or suggestions on this list by filling out this form. You can use the same form to express interest in becoming a contributor to the site and also request downloadable PDF files for many of the books below.

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Year Author Category Book Title GEM! Comments Wiki page E-book Audiobook More info
1918 Tarkington, Booth Novel The Magnificent Ambersons
1920 Wharton, Edith Novel The Age of Innocence
1922 Lewis, Sinclair Novel Arrowsmith gem.png
1927 Wilder, Thornton Novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1931 Buck, Pearl S. Novel The Good Earth
1936 Mitchell, Margaret Novel Gone with the Wind gem.png
1939 Steinbeck, John Novel The Grapes of Wrath gem.png
1946 Warren, Robert Penn Novel All the King's Men gem.png
1951 Hemingway, Ernest Novelette The Old Man and the Sea gem.png
1951 Wouk, Herman Novel The Caine Mutiny gem.png
1960 Lee, Harper Novel To Kill a Mockingbird gem.png
1971 Stegner, Wallace Novel Angle of Repose
1975 Bellow, Saul Novel Humboldt's Gift
1981 Updike, John Novel Rabbit is Rich 3rd book in "Rabbit" series
1982 Walker, Alice Novel The Color Purple gem.png
1985 McMurtry, Larry Novel Lonesome Dove
1988 Tyler, Anne Novel Breathing Lessons
1990 Updike, John Novel Rabbit at Rest 4th book in "Rabbit" series
1991 Smiley, Jane Novel A Thousand Acres
1999 Lahiri, Jhumpa Short Stories Interpreter of Maladies
2016 Whitehead, Colson Novel The Underground Railroad
Showing 1 to 21 of 21 entries