The most celebrated novel of the past 15 years? The award goes to....

June 15, 2009

Today, the good folks over at the Millions tally up the most prize-winning novels of the past 15 years – from "Atonement," by Ian McEwan, to "Waiting," by Ha Jin, and everything in between.

The list, blogger C. Max Magee explains, was "compiled in the same spirit that one might tally up batting titles and MVPs to determine if a baseball player should be considered for the Hall of Fame. These awards nudge an author towards the 'canon' and secure them places on literature class reading lists for decades to come."

So which novel claimed the top spot? According to the Millions, that honor goes to "The Known World," by Edward P. Jones, which has claimed 11 major awards since 1995. Second place goes to Jonathan Franzen's magnificent "The Corrections," which won 9 awards, and third place goes to "Underworld," by Don DiLillo (DiLillo's name, incidentally, is spelled on the list as DiLillio – an odd little error. Hope it didn't contribute to the results.)