Three Percent #22: Best Fiction of 2011

Since the year is coming to an end, it seemed like the perfect time for us to start creating our “best of” lists for 2011. We decided to start with the best fiction that we read over the past year. Our list is pretty idiosyncratic, and all the titles mentioned are worth checking out.

You’ll have to listen to the podcast to get all our recommendations, but here are a few highlights:

• The Pale King by David Foster Wallace

Definitely one of the huge books of 2011, and one that Tom actually reviewed for the sports blog Deadspin.

• The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector, translated by Ben Moser

Everyone who knows me is going to get sick of hearing me go on and on and on about how excellent this book is and how impressed I am with Ben’s translation. Can’t wait for the four new Lispector translations to come out . . .

• Noir by Robert Coover

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, and I think Tom’s finally officially convinced me.

• Lightning by Jean Echenoz, translated by Linda Coverdale

Because Tesla is always cool.

Since not a single one of my students had heard of Sung Tongs (it came up in a proofreading/editing exercise I gave them, and no one caught the error), we decided to use Animal Collective’s Grass as this week’s music.

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