The Best Novels You've Never Read

From New York Magazine, May 28, 2007: Sixty-one critics reveal their favorite underrated book of the past ten years.

"Talk to any critic and you’ll hear about a book you must read-often one you were begged to read by some reviewer when it came out, but which quickly slipped off your radar. Such is the plight of critics. Which is why we decided, with the help of the National Book Critics Circle, to ask professional critics (and some other writers) to pick the best under-the-radar book of the past ten years or so. We sought out novels, but a few memoirs popped up. And though we’d never have presumed to forecast the results, we did expect some consensus and certainly one clear winner-a buried genius everyone agreed was primed for a Roberto Bolano-style resurrection. We were delightfully foiled. These picks were idiosyncratic, contentious (that writer’s underrated? Really?), with no two alike. Until one novelist surged ahead to victory-garnering a whopping two votes."