As part of our efforts to uncover The Rest of The Best, we've been contacting the judges to ask what they voted for, and why. Here's Thomas Mallon:
“Sure, you can reveal my vote. It was UNDERWORLD, a book I had very complicated feelings about. Its amplitude and ambition seemed commensurate with the designation the poll wanted to make. And yet, I confess: if I'd known the RABBIT quartet was eligible, I'd have voted for it, since I think RABBIT REDUX is Updike's greatest book and one of the really great novels of the last 50 years.”