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Literary Fiction · 1980s

Best Literary Fiction of the 1980s

The best literary fiction books first published in the 1980s, ranked — a focused list of 27 titles.

Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson · 1980 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Raymond Carver · 1981 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
Chronicle of a Death Foretold Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 1981 Essential Read Get it on Amazon →
The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende · 1982 Essential Read See details →
The Color Purple Alice Walker · 1982 Essential Read See details →
The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor · 1982 Essential Read See details →
Waterland Graham Swift · 1983 Essential Read See details →
The Wasp Factory Iain Banks · 1984 Essential Read See details →
Nights at the Circus Angela Carter · 1984 Essential Read See details →
The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros · 1984 Essential Read See details →
White Noise Don DeLillo · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Perfume Patrick Suskind · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Annie John Jamaica Kincaid · 1985 Essential Read See details →
Beloved Toni Morrison · 1987 Editor's Choice See details →
The New York Trilogy Paul Auster · 1987 Essential Read See details →
Matilda Roald Dahl · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho · 1988 Essential Read See details →
Breathing Lessons Anne Tyler · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie · 1988 Essential Read See details →
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro · 1989 Essential Read See details →
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan · 1989 Essential Read See details →
A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving · 1989 Essential Read See details →
Midnight's Children Salman Rushdie · 1981 Recommended See details →
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera · 1984 Recommended See details →
Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy · 1985 Recommended See details →
Love in the Time of Cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 1985 Recommended See details →
Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami · 1987 Recommended See details →

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