American fiction, 1945 to 1999

Song of Solomon

“Morrison's 1977 novel — the one that won her the Nobel — follows Milkman Dead across three generations of a Black family in Michigan and the South. Obama has spoken about Morrison as a writer who made her understand that Black life deserved the full weight of literary form, not just documentary attention.”Michelle Obama

Beloved

“Toni Morrison's novel was Oprah's personal obsession long before she selected it. She produced and starred in the 1998 film adaptation after years of trying to bring it to screen. On her show she called it the book she would want with her on a desert island.”Oprah Winfrey

Rabbit at Rest

“I finally made it through the entire Rabbit series. This book was by far the weakest of the four, and it still makes my top 5 list. Updike is, in my opinion, the best fiction writer of the last century.”Andrew Wilkinson