# The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners of the 1980s

The ten books awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction from 1980 to 1989.

- 22 votes · 10 items
- Aug 20, 2026 · bibliophile_chicago
- https://even.best/en/l/994/the-pulitzer-prize-for-fiction-winners-of-the-1980s

## Top 10

1. **Lonesome Dove — Larry McMurtry** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — 1986. Two retired Texas Rangers drive cattle to Montana.
2. **Ironweed — William Kennedy** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — 1984. A drifter returns to Albany during the Depression.
3. **A Confederacy of Dunces — John Kennedy Toole** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — 1981. Ignatius J. Reilly in New Orleans; published after the author's suicide.
4. **Rabbit Is Rich — John Updike** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 1982. Rabbit Angstrom, now a prosperous car dealer.
5. **The Executioner's Song — Norman Mailer** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1980. The life and execution of Gary Gilmore.
6. **Foreign Affairs — Alison Lurie** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1985. Two American academics in London.
7. **A Summons to Memphis — Peter Taylor** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1987. A son called home to stop his father remarrying.
8. **The Color Purple — Alice Walker** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — 1983. Celie's letters in the rural South.
9. **Beloved — Toni Morrison** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 1988. A former slave haunted by her dead daughter.
10. **Breathing Lessons — Anne Tyler** (-2 · ▲0 ▼2) — 1989. A long-married couple drive to a funeral.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.