Not one, not two, but three books by bestselling author and Syracuse University professor of English George Saunders were included in The New York Times list of The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Saunders, who teaches in the Creative Writing M.F.A. program in the College of Arts and Sciences, was joined on the list by three former M.F.A. faculty: Junot Diaz, Mary Gaitskill and Sigrid Nunez. The rankings were compiled based on the votes of 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers.

Books by A&S-affiliated authors and their rankings are listed below.

• #85, Pastoralia (2000) by George Saunders
• #68, The Friend (2018) by Sigrid Nunez
• #63, Veronica (2005) by Mary Gaitskill
• #54, Tenth of December (2013) by George Saunders
• #18, Lincoln in the Bardo (2017) by George Saunders
• #11, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) by Junot Diaz

View the full New York Times list.

Saunders' book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (2021), also came in at #33 on Oprah Daily's list of The Best Nonfiction of the Past Two Decades.