| Year | Book | Author |
| 1998 | American Pastoral | Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin) |
| 1997 | Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer | Steven Crown |
| 1980 | The Executioner's Song | Norman Mailer (Little) |
| 1976 | Humoldt's Gift | Saul Bellow (Viking) |
| 1973 | The Optimist's Daughter | Eudora Welty (Random) |
| 1965 | The Keepers Of The House | Shirley Ann Grau (Random) |
| 1962 | The Edge of Sadness | Edwin O'Connor (Little) |
| 1958 | A Death In The Family | James Agee |
| 1955 | A Fable | William Faulkner (Random) |
| 1940 | The Grapes of Wrath | John Steinbeck |