This week, The New Yorker is announcing the longlists for the 2019 National Book Awards. This morning, we present the ten contenders in the category of Fiction. Earlier this week, we published longlists for Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.

Source: The 2019 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction | The New Yorker

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post, here’s the long list for the fiction category the National Book Awards.

One criticism, I often hear for these awards and the Pulitzer Prizes for fiction is that most people have either never heard of, much less read, many of the winners.

That makes me wonder whether the fiction awards really focus on work that is viable, important, and in tune with the times or if they focus on material which is so far off the beaten track that they are actually oblivious to the times.

What do you think?

Here’s the list from New Yorker Magazine:

Taffy Brodesser-Akner, “Fleishman Is in Trouble”
Random House / Penguin Random House

Susan Choi, “Trust Exercise”
Henry Holt & Company / Macmillan Publishers

Kali Fajardo-Anstine, “Sabrina & Corina: Stories”
One World / Penguin Random House

Marlon James, “Black Leopard, Red Wolf”
Riverhead Books / Penguin Random House

Laila Lalami, “The Other Americans”
Pantheon Books / Penguin Random House

Kimberly King Parsons, “Black Light: Stories”
Vintage / Penguin Random House

Helen Phillips, “The Need”
Simon & Schuster

Julia Phillips, “Disappearing Earth”
Alfred A. Knopf / Penguin Random House

Ocean Vuong, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”
Penguin Press / Penguin Random House

Colson Whitehead, “The Nickel Boys”
Doubleday / Penguin Random House

I’ve read The Nickel Boys and, while it was powerful, I thought it had an author’s trickery in it that kept it from working for me.

–Malcolm