For "over a half-century since its inception, the National Book Awards continues to recognize the best of American literature, raising the cultural appreciation of great writing in the country while advancing the careers of both established and emerging writers. . ." The winner in each category receives a medallion and a cash award of $10,000.

The latest winner of the National Book Award for fiction is featured below along with a complete list of all previous recipients of the National Book Award for fiction. We also provide links to National Book Award winners in other categories and a link to our index of all book awards featured on Happy Dead Trees. 

The latest winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

2007 - Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson [2008 winner will be announced fall 2008]

All past winners of the National Book Award for Fiction

1950 - The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren

1951 - The Collected Stories Of William Faulkner by William Faulkner

1952 - From Here To Eternity by James Jones

1954 - The Adventures Of Augie March by Saul Bellow

1955 - A Fable by William Faulkner

1956 - Ten North Frederick by John O'Hara

1957 - The Field Of Vision by Wright Morris

1958 - The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever

1959 - The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud

1960 - Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth

1961 - The Water Of Kronos by Conrad Richter

1962 - The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

1963 - Morte D'Urban by J. F. Powers

1964 - The Centaur by John Updike

1965 - Herzog by Saul Bellow

1966 - The Collected Stories Of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter

1967 - The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

1968 - The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder

1969 - Steps by Jerzy Kosinski

1970 - Them by Joyce Carol Oates

1971 - Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow

1972 - The Complete Stories Of Flannery O'Connor by (you guessed it) Flannery O'Connor

1973 - Chimera by John Barth

1974 - Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon  &  A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer

1975 - Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone  &  The Hair Of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams

1976 - JR by William Gaddis

1977 - The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner

1978 - Blood Ties by Mary Lee Settle

1979 - Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien

1980 - Sophie's Choice by William Styron

1981 - Plain Song by Wright Morris

1982 - Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike

1983 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker

1984 - Victory Over Japan: A Book Of Stories by Ellen Gilchrist

1985 - White Noise by Don DeLillo

1986 - World's Fair by E. L. Doctorow

1987 - Paco's Story by Larry Heinemann

1988 - Paris Trout by Pete Dexter

1989 - Spartina by John Casey

1990 - Middle Passage by Charles Johnson

1991 - Mating by Norman Rush

1992 - All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

1993 - The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

1994 - A Frolic Of His Own by William Gaddis

1995 - Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth

1996 - Ship Fever and Other Stories by Andrea Barrett

1997 - Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

1998 - Charming Billy by Alice McDermott

1999 - Waiting by Ha Jin

2000 - In America by Susan Sontag

2001 - The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

2002 - Three Junes by Julia Glass

2003 - The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

2004 - The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck

2005 - Europe Central by William T. Vollmann

2006 - The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

2007 - Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

2008 - Will be announced fall 2008

The National Book Award for Nonfiction > > > 

The Official Website of the National Book Awards

(Visit our Book Awards Index for a complete list of the dozens of book awards listed on Happy Dead Trees.)