The Magus by John Fowles. AMAZING.

I don't want to call something the "best" piece of fiction of the last 25 years, since I read from the gut and don't want to have to defend my picks, so I'll mention two of my favorites instead. Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love", and John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany".

nevermind.. last 25 years. scratch my entry. sorry.

First of all, Winter's Tale better damn well be one of those exceptions, or you're in trouble. That was actually one that sprang to mind - before I saw the list - in my quick brain-perusal of books I've read that would fit in that category. I think Blood Meridian belongs in that list, too.

Also: Infinite Jest (Wallace), Cryptonomicon (Stephenson), Baroque Trilogy (Stephenson - although I'm not quite 2/3 through, I think it's a pretty incredible accomplishment), Notable American Women (Marcus) . . .

All right, perhaps I'm not qualified to vote, as my knowledge of pre-90s literature is pretty slim, but those were some that came to mind off the top of my head.

Bedouin Hornbook by Nathaniel Mackey.

Speaking of Stephenson, Levislade, I just finished reading Snow Crash and it kinda blew me away.

the 911 commission report was truly a triumph of the imagination. Thought i also believe Cienna Madrid's "The Flames of Passion" may represent the high water mark of American Literature.

Chuck Palahniuk.

Snow Crash is on my list, Cienna - thanks for the recommendation. The Baroque Trilogy will be occupying me for some time, and I might need to read somebody else for a little while after that.

Thoroughly enjoyed the black loser humor of Tristan Eglof's (RIP) Lord of the Barnyard.

Golden Gate by Vikram Seth.

middlesex by Eugenides

OMG!!! the corrections! it ROKZ!

no, actually, american, ummm, maybe The book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow. was the within the past 25 years?

middlesex will work as well.

Nigger Scholar says that Dostoyevsky is better than any of the people you mention.

You should really check out Russian Novels if you want to read the best authors.

Yes, but the Russian authors, um, weren't American. And, though there's been some good Russian literature, the ones you're referring to are probably more than 25 years ago.
Levislade: Winter's Tale was an exception to my complaints, but as far as I'm concerned, Helprin hasn't written anything good since.
Also, I think Stephenson's best books are ahead of him, and tremendous applause is due to anyone who has the patience and the time to read the Baroque Cycle in its entirety. I thought Infinite Jest was daunting...

How much of the Baroque Cycle did you read? I almost stopped after Quicksilver, which was something of a slog, but I decided to barrel ahead, and I think he really picked up the pace with The Confusion, which is a much quicker read with more action and humor.

I happened to read Infinite Jest at exactly the right time in my life, when I had little to consume my time or brain. I actually finished it in two weeks, which amazes me to this day.

My problem with Stephenson is that his books fall apart in the middle. I love the first half and then... it's like he writes the first half and hands it off to someone else.

I got as far as Quicksilver--I went to a publisher-sponsored dinner with him and just hearing him talk about it made me want to read it--and I just couldn't summon the will to go any further. Maybe I'll take it with me on vacation. I could use a hernia.
And I read Infinite Jest pretty quickly as well, with a similar sense of shock, but I actually prefer Wallace's Broom of the System, which would be right up there on my list of best books as well.

I highly recommend you take up The Confusion. Who knows, I could end up hating the final book, but I am enjoying this one immensely.

I read Broom of the System, and it had its moments, but overall I didn't find it as compelling as Infinite Jest, and the "ending" really pissed me off.

Kristi, I haven't had that feeling with any of the Stephenson I've read - which books are you referring to?

Levislade- Snow crash is diffrent than any of his other work and much diffrent than the Baroque cycle. You could probably read the two, one after the other, without getting sick of his style.

"First of all, Winter's Tale better damn well be one of those exceptions, or you're in trouble. That was actually one that sprang to mind - before I saw the list - in my quick brain-perusal of books I've read that would fit in that category"

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Levislade. "Winters Tale" is the one book I always recommend to friends looking for a good read, and one of the handful of books I intentionally purchase extra copies of when I run across it, just so I can give them away.

World to Literary Community: "Zzzzzzzzzz..."

This is a good list.
'Geek Love' and 'The Corrections.' are excellent choices. Best fiction of the last 25 yrs. has to include the great and overlooked 'Lost Scrapbook' by Evan Dara. I also have to push William Vollman, who is definitely gunning for literary immortality with his latest, 'Europe Central.'

And no list with this ambition is complete without a mention of Dennis Cooper ('Safe'), Rebecca Brown ('The Terrible Girls') and William Gibson ('Neuromancer.')

It's worth pointing out that I really really love 'Jesus' Son.' Its inclusion on this list gives the whole thing a shade more credibility.

Neuromancer is not Gibson's best book, although it is probably his most influential. I liked "All Tommorow's Parties," the best.
How about Umberto Eco, I would suggest "Foucault's Pendulum."

Umberto Eco is Italian.

Uh, yeah.
How about China Meiville then. He single handedly renewed my faith and interest in dark fantasy.

prodigal summer. barabara kingolver.

prodigal summer. barabara kingolver.

How about Colson Whitehead for that matter?

Thank you, Hunter, for mentioning Neuromancer: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." (I can quote it from memory.) And I never quite got over Dancer from the Dance. Holleran really nailed our tenuous ability to connect with each other.

Cryptonomicon was pretty good. I'd also recommend Sewer, Gas and ELectric by Matt Ruff.

As for THE BEST book of the last 25 years... fuck. This sort of shit is so subjective, unqualified and unquanitifiable. It's a question not worth answering.

Say what you want about Richard Ford's themes, but the two Frank Bascombe novels are terrific. My favorite of the past 25 years that would have any chance of winning a poll like this is probably All the Pretty Horses by McCarthy. Another favorite is The Brothers K by David James Duncan, someone from your neck of the woods. I also wish a Richard Russo novel had made the list, but it's tough to choose one -- I'd say The Risk Pool.

'Blood Meridian', hands down. Runners up: Russell Hoban's 'Riddley Walker', Rebecca Brown's 'The Gifts of the Body', Pynchon's 'Mason & Dixon', Stephen Wright's 'M31', Vollmann's 'The Royal Family', the stories of Alice Munro, Denis Johnson's 'Jesus' Son' and 'Fiskadoro'....

Why has no one anywhere mentioned Paul Auster?

The Brothers K by David James Duncan - an absolutely amazing novel entwining baseball, buddhism, and four brothers' broken paths through the Sixties. Brilliant.