I left off fifty years ago, in 1974, in my silly response list to The Atlantic’s silly list of “The Great American Novels.” Today, here’s the rest of my run, spanning 1975-1999.
1975
The Atlantic selected
Corregidora, Gayl Jones
Biblioklept selects
J R, William Gaddis
The Dead Father, Donald Barthelme
1976
The Atlantic selected
Speedboat, Renata Adler
Biblioklept selects
Roots, Alex Haley
Speedboat, Renata Adler
1977
The Atlantic selected
Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Biblioklept selects
The Public Burning, Robert Coover
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison
Players, Don DeLillo
1978
The Atlantic selected
A Contract With God, Will Eisner
Dancer From the Dance, Andrew Holleran
The Stand, Stephen King
Biblioklept selects
An Armful of Warm Girl, W.M Spackman
Airships, Barry Hannah
(It might as well be a novel.)
1979
The Atlantic selected
The Dog of the South, Charles Portis
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
Biblioklept selects
Suttree, Cormac McCarthy
The Dog of the South, Charles Portis
1980
The Atlantic selected
Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
The Salt Eaters, Toni Cade Bambara
Biblioklept selects
Great Expectations, Kathy Acker
The Shadow of the Torturer, Gene Wolfe
1981
The Atlantic selected
Little, Big: Or, the Fairies’ Parliament, John Crowley
Biblioklept selects
Cities of the Red Night, William S. Burroughs
1982
The Atlantic selected
Oxherding Tale, Charles Johnson
Biblioklept selects
The Terrible Twos, Ishmael Reed
1983
The Atlantic selected
nothing.
Biblioklept selects
Angels, Denis Johnson
1984
The Atlantic selected
Machine Dreams, Jayne Anne Phillips
Biblioklept selects
Blood and Guts in High School, Kathy Acker
Neuromancer, William Gibson
1985
The Atlantic selected
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
Biblioklept selects
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
Masters of Atlantis, Charles Portis
Days Between Stations, Steve Erickson
1986
The Atlantic selected
A Summons to Memphis, Peter Taylor
Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
Biblioklept selects
Hatchet, Gary Paulsen
1987
The Atlantic selected
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Dawn, Octavia E. Butler
Biblioklept selects
Beloved, Toni Morrison
1988
The Atlantic selected
nothing
Biblioklept selects
Breaking and Entering, Joy Williams
Wittgenstein’s Mistress, David Markson
1989
The Atlantic selected
Geek Love, Katherine Dunn
Tripmaster Monkey, Maxine Hong Kingston
Biblioklept selects
Geek Love, Katherine Dunn
1990
The Atlantic selected
Dogeaters, Jessica Hagedorn
Biblioklept selects
Tehanu, Ursula K. Le Guin
1991
The Atlantic selected
American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, Julia Alvarez
Mating, Norman Rush
Biblioklept selects
Gringos, Charles Portis
1992
The Atlantic selected
Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Biblioklept selects
Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson
Negrophobia, Darius James
Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
1993
The Atlantic selected
So Far From God, Ana Castillo
Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg
The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
Biblioklept selects
Palestine, Joe Sacco
1994
The Atlantic selected
nothing
Biblioklept selects
A Frolic of His Own, William Gaddis
The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy
1995
The Atlantic selected
Native Speaker, Chang-rae Lee
Sabbath’s Theater, Philip Roth
Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena María Viramontes
Biblioklept selects
The Lost Scrapbook, Evan Dara
1996
The Atlantic selected
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Biblioklept selects
Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
1997
The Atlantic selected
I Love Dick, Chris Kraus
Underworld, Don DeLillo
Biblioklept selects
Mason & Dixon, Thomas Pynchon
Underworld, Don DeLillo
1998
The Atlantic selected
nothing
Biblioklept selects
Cartesian Sonata, William H. Gass
1999
The Atlantic selected
The Intuitionist, Colson Whitehead
Biblioklept selects
Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem
2000 and after…
The Atlantic’s list for books post-2000 contains some books that I think will hold up decades from now, but I’d predict more misses than hits. There are a handful of novels I would’ve added or substituted from the post-1999 selections, but I see no reason to go forward. Ultimately, I enjoyed going through the Atlantic list, taking note of some titles I was unfamiliar with as well as ones I’ve been overdue to check out. I’ve undoubtedly missed so, so many titles from my own list; if anything’s absence is egregious, let me know in a comment.
Biblioklept 
Your additions, at least those I have read, are good choices. Leaving Naked Lunch out, as The Atlantic did was to overlook the best fiction of its type ever. Both you and The Atlantic overlooked A Canticle for Leibowitz, by William M. Miller Jr. Might be the best sci-fi book ever.
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