Be Your Own Editor

The time has come for “Best of the Year” lists for 2006: best-dressed celebrities, best small-appliance designs, and oh, yeah, best books. As I, unlike people who get paid to be book critics, don’t have time to read every important work of fiction released in a given year, I’ve decided to approach this semi-scientifically. I’ve consulted about 15 “Best Books of the Year” lists, which I’ve tried to vary by geographical region and type of publication (online and off, highbrow and low). Now I hereby present to you, in reverse order of the number of mentions, the most-cited fiction of 2006: The Best of the Best. If you believe the critics.

4 Mentions:

Arthur & George, by Julian Barnes
In this historical novel, Barnes tells the interwoven tales of two men in Victorian England: Arthur (who happens to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and George, a down-on-his-luck fellow whom Arthur attempts to help.

The Echo Maker, by Richard Powers
Powers received some long-deserved recognition this year with this, his ninth and most accessible novel, which won the National Book Award. In it, a young man awakens from a coma with a rare brain disorder that causes him to believe his beloved sister is an imposter.

The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
A novel about a small community in the Himalayas dealing with life, love, politics, and a son trying to make his way in America.

Talk Talk, by T. C. Boyle
The always intriguing Boyle gives us a novel about identity theft and one woman’s cross-country road trip to find the person who used hers to commit crimes.

5 Mentions:

After This, by Alice McDermott
McDermott, whose Charming Billy won the National Book Award, brings her subtle, knowing, and poignant voice to this novel about a middle-class Irish Catholic family making their way through post-World War II America.

Everyman, by Philip Roth
Roth’s latest novel examines a middle-aged man examining himself after being diagnosed with a serious illness.

Suite Française, by Irene Nemirovsky
Besides its writing, this recently unearthed novel is powerful and heartbreaking for three reasons: the subject matter, German-occupied France during World War II; the fact that it’s unfinished; and the reason it’s unfinished–Nemirovsky, a French Jew, was sent to Auschwitz and died there.

6 Mentions:
All Aunt Hagar’s Children: Stories, by Edward P. Jones
Jones explores the human condition in this collection of short stories, some published in The New Yorker, about the denizens of Washington, D.C. Not the politicians, the real people.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
Some have called it pretentious, but most critics seem to think this much-talked-about debut novel actually lives up to its hype. The super-smart heroine who knows everything uses her super-smartness and knowledgeability to unravel the mystery surrounding two deaths. Hey, anything that celebrates knowledge in this day and age is okay by me.

Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories, by Deborah Eisenberg
Eisenberg has long been considered a master of the short story, and this collection of tales again demonstrates why. Plus the cover is very cool.

9 Mentions

The Lay of the Land, by Richard Ford
This, the third and perhaps most acclaimed in Ford’s series of novels about protagonist Frank Bascombe (following The Sportswriter and Independence Day), finds him experiencing the pangs of middle age in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election.

10 Mentions

The Emperor’s Children, by Claire Messud
Read a wry, biting portrait of a bunch of self-absorbed, misguided Manhattanites—then watch them suddenly have to deal with 9/11. One of the most effective treatments of the event in fiction so far.

11 Mentions

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! Can a book be both bleak and beautiful? Hopeless and hopeful? About both the deepest loneliness and strongest love imaginable? This book achieves all of the above. I admit to being a huge fan of McCarthy’s “Border Trilogy,” which, if you haven’t read it, should not be judged by the movie version of All the Pretty Horses. The best of that bunch, in my opinion, is The Crossing. Great stuff, and his latest arguably tops it.

There you have it… I was going to include a list of the year’s best nonfiction, but the most frequently cited books on those lists mostly concerned how much we’ve screwed things up in Iraq, so it would’ve looked bleaker than a Cormac McCarthy novel. But a few of particular note are:

Lawrence Wright’s The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (self-explanatory)

Taylor Branch’s At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68, the third in his seminal trilogy on the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, author Michael Pollan’s eye-opening exploration of the ecological origins of what we eat in America.

For those of you who enjoy poetry, the hands-down critical fave this year was former U.S. poet laureate Louise Gluck’s Averno. You may also want to check out the newest collection from Nobel winner Seamus Heaney, District and Circle, one of his finest in years.

Now, before you start writing to tell me how lame or ignorant or mainstream my picks are, remember that this is a list compiled from other people’s lists… You can rest assured that if I read a book I think aspiring authors should read, I’ll tell you about it. I can vouch for The Echo Maker, Suite Française, The Road, and District and Circle. If you hate any of those, feel free to tell me what an idiot I am. As for the others, I take no responsibility. I’m just the messenger.

Enjoy! And if you have any recommendations of your own, please submit a comment below and share them.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 18th, 2006 at 12:51 am and is filed under Must-reads for Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.