National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction Winners and Finalists 1980-99

1.
Motherless Brooklyn
Motherless Brooklyn 3.86 avg rating — 42,131 ratings
2.
Midnight Champagne
Midnight Champagne 3.32 avg rating — 1,375 ratings
3.
The Night Inspector
The Night Inspector 3.47 avg rating — 558 ratings
4.
Disgrace
Disgrace 3.86 avg rating — 114,208 ratings
5.
The Wonders of the Invisible World
The Wonders of the Invisible World 3.85 avg rating — 403 ratings
6.
The Love of a Good Woman
The Love of a Good Woman really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9,551 ratings
7.
The Hours
The Hours 3.96 avg rating — 146,854 ratings
8.
Preston Falls
Preston Falls 3.65 avg rating — 630 ratings
9.
Birds of America: Stories
Birds of America: Stories 4.09 avg rating — 16,399 ratings
10.
No Lease on Life
No Lease on Life 3.64 avg rating — 171 ratings
11.
The Blue Flower
The Blue Flower 3.43 avg rating — 6,495 ratings
12.
Underworld
Underworld 3.95 avg rating — 33,128 ratings
13.
Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain 3.89 avg rating — 248,109 ratings
14.
Dreams of My Russian Summers
Dreams of My Russian Summers 3.82 avg rating — 4,136 ratings
15.
American Pastoral
American Pastoral 3.95 avg rating — 86,077 ratings
16.
Women in Their Beds: New and Selected Stories
Women in Their Beds: New and Selected Stories 3.79 avg rating — 545 ratings
17.
About Schmidt (Schmidt, #1)
About Schmidt (Schmidt, #1) 3.22 avg rating — 889 ratings
18.
Dancing After Hours
Dancing After Hours 4.12 avg rating — 1,723 ratings
19.
The Autobiography of My Mother
The Autobiography of My Mother 3.78 avg rating — 6,046 ratings
20.
From Bondage
From Bondage 4.01 avg rating — 84 ratings
21.
Mrs. Ted Bliss
Mrs. Ted Bliss 3.17 avg rating — 378 ratings
22.
Independence Day (Frank Bascombe, #2)
Independence Day (Frank Bascombe, #2) 3.86 avg rating — 16,625 ratings
23.
Galatea 2.2
Galatea 2.2 3.73 avg rating — 3,410 ratings
24.
Moo
Moo 3.47 avg rating — 8,498 ratings
25.
The Tent of Orange Mist
The Tent of Orange Mist
by: Paul West
3.37 avg rating — 76 ratings
26.
The Stone Diaries
The Stone Diaries 3.89 avg rating — 41,487 ratings
27.
The Prince of West End Avenue
The Prince of West End Avenue 3.88 avg rating — 354 ratings
28.
And All Our Wounds Forgiven
And All Our Wounds Forgiven 3.89 avg rating — 56 ratings
29.
A Frolic of His Own
A Frolic of His Own 3.89 avg rating — 1,725 ratings
30.
In the Time of the Butterflies
In the Time of the Butterflies 4.15 avg rating — 77,520 ratings
31.
A Lesson Before Dying
A Lesson Before Dying 3.98 avg rating — 63,055 ratings
32.
The Shipping News
The Shipping News 3.88 avg rating — 150,736 ratings
33.
Feather Crowns
Feather Crowns 3.69 avg rating — 850 ratings
34.
Vindication
Vindication 3.79 avg rating — 276 ratings
35.
The Jade Cabinet
The Jade Cabinet 4.07 avg rating — 291 ratings
36.
All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1)
All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy, #1) 4.05 avg rating — 140,285 ratings
37.
Let The Dead Bury Their Dead (Harvest American Writing Series)
Let The Dead Bury Their Dead (Harvest American Writing Series) 4.27 avg rating — 713 ratings
38.
Black Water
Black Water 3.54 avg rating — 9,291 ratings
39.
Clockers
Clockers 4.09 avg rating — 9,555 ratings
40.
Outerbridge Reach
Outerbridge Reach 3.78 avg rating — 803 ratings
41.
A Thousand Acres
A Thousand Acres 3.82 avg rating — 71,373 ratings
42.
Wartime Lies
Wartime Lies 3.75 avg rating — 1,093 ratings
43.
Typical American
Typical American
by: Gish Jen
3.42 avg rating — 1,781 ratings
44.
The Gold Bug Variations
The Gold Bug Variations 4.02 avg rating — 2,198 ratings
45.
Mating
Mating 3.84 avg rating — 5,079 ratings
46.
Rabbit at Rest (Rabbit Angstrom, #4)
Rabbit at Rest (Rabbit Angstrom, #4) 4.01 avg rating — 16,293 ratings
47.
Middle Passage
Middle Passage 3.85 avg rating — 5,410 ratings
48.
Family Pictures
Family Pictures 3.80 avg rating — 5,412 ratings
49.
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried 4.14 avg rating — 337,467 ratings
50.
Collected Stories
Collected Stories 4.21 avg rating — 914 ratings
51.
Billy Bathgate
Billy Bathgate 3.82 avg rating — 7,700 ratings
52.
The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club
by: Amy Tan
3.97 avg rating — 703,409 ratings
53.
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love 3.66 avg rating — 12,666 ratings
54.
Ordinary Love and Good Will: Two Novellas
Ordinary Love and Good Will: Two Novellas 3.87 avg rating — 1,647 ratings
55.
Spartina
Spartina 3.80 avg rating — 2,348 ratings
56.
The Middleman and Other Stories
The Middleman and Other Stories 3.59 avg rating — 643 ratings
57.
Libra
Libra 4.05 avg rating — 19,593 ratings
58.
Paris Trout
Paris Trout 3.88 avg rating — 7,017 ratings
59.
Wheat that Springeth Green (New York Review Books Classics)
Wheat that Springeth Green (New York Review Books Classics) 3.85 avg rating — 320 ratings
60.
Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories
Where I'm Calling From: New and Selected Stories 4.41 avg rating — 22,206 ratings
61.
The Counterlife
The Counterlife 3.92 avg rating — 5,446 ratings
62.
The Age of Grief
The Age of Grief 3.73 avg rating — 3,601 ratings
63.
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1)
Beloved (Beloved Trilogy, #1) 3.97 avg rating — 476,951 ratings
64.
The Bonfire of the Vanities
The Bonfire of the Vanities
by: Tom Wolfe
3.92 avg rating — 85,399 ratings
65.
Crossing to Safety
Crossing to Safety 4.16 avg rating — 49,594 ratings
66.
Kate Vaiden
Kate Vaiden 3.89 avg rating — 1,553 ratings
67.
The Beet Queen
The Beet Queen 3.87 avg rating — 14,454 ratings
68.
A Summons to Memphis
A Summons to Memphis 3.63 avg rating — 6,770 ratings
69.
The Moon Pinnace
The Moon Pinnace 3.32 avg rating — 22 ratings
70.
Roger's Version
Roger's Version 3.49 avg rating — 1,435 ratings
71.
The Accidental Tourist
The Accidental Tourist 3.90 avg rating — 107,779 ratings
72.
White Noise
White Noise 3.86 avg rating — 123,848 ratings
73.
The Old Forest and Other Stories
The Old Forest and Other Stories 3.95 avg rating — 379 ratings
74.
Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance
Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance 3.69 avg rating — 1,257 ratings
75.
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1)
Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove, #1) 4.56 avg rating — 222,349 ratings
76.
Love Medicine (Love Medicine, #1)
Love Medicine (Love Medicine, #1) 4.01 avg rating — 28,024 ratings
77.
Family Dancing: Stories
Family Dancing: Stories 3.78 avg rating — 1,633 ratings
78.
Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs 3.76 avg rating — 12,823 ratings
79.
Machine Dreams
Machine Dreams 3.75 avg rating — 890 ratings
80.
Stones for Ibarra
Stones for Ibarra really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,296 ratings
81.
Ironweed
Ironweed 3.87 avg rating — 17,431 ratings
82.
The Anatomy Lesson
The Anatomy Lesson 3.65 avg rating — 3,704 ratings
83.
Cathedral
Cathedral 4.24 avg rating — 38,961 ratings
84.
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia
During the Reign of the Queen of Persia 3.75 avg rating — 729 ratings
85.
Magnetic Field
Magnetic Field 3.86 avg rating — 266 ratings
86.
George Mills
George Mills 3.75 avg rating — 147 ratings
87.
Levitation: Five Fictions
Levitation: Five Fictions 3.94 avg rating — 123 ratings
88.
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant 3.80 avg rating — 33,712 ratings
89.
The Color Purple
The Color Purple 4.27 avg rating — 737,196 ratings
90.
Shiloh and Other Stories
Shiloh and Other Stories 3.91 avg rating — 1,401 ratings
91.
Rabbit Is Rich (Rabbit Angstrom, #3)
Rabbit Is Rich (Rabbit Angstrom, #3) 3.93 avg rating — 17,702 ratings
92.
A Flag for Sunrise
A Flag for Sunrise 3.87 avg rating — 1,120 ratings
93.
Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker 4.02 avg rating — 8,553 ratings
94.
Sixty Stories
Sixty Stories 4.18 avg rating — 6,084 ratings
95.
The Men's Club: An Expanded Edition
The Men's Club: An Expanded Edition 3.33 avg rating — 609 ratings
96.
The Transit of Venus
The Transit of Venus really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,875 ratings
97.
Loon Lake
Loon Lake 3.48 avg rating — 1,639 ratings
98.
Morgan's Passing
Morgan's Passing 3.74 avg rating — 5,207 ratings
99.
The Second Coming
The Second Coming 3.92 avg rating — 2,470 ratings
100.
So Long, See You Tomorrow
So Long, See You Tomorrow 3.90 avg rating — 14,437 ratings