The 2011 Tournament of Novels – Nominations

Did you miss last year’s NCAA Basketball tournament because you were reading  Middlemarch ? Have you ever argued with friends about the merits of  Pale Fire versus  Gravity’s Rainbow ? Then you’re a candidate to catch the march madness for fiction lovers—the second annual Tournament of Novels.

Last year sixty-four novels competed in the six round competition to determine the Greatest Novel of All Time. As you’ll recall, The Lord of the Rings dominated The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn —and sixty-two other challengers—to claim the title. Those two contenders are no longer eligible, but there are plenty of worthy books that should be on the list.

Help me narrow down the list of sixty-four by naming the ones that you’d like to see in the competition. Seeding for the 2011 brackets will begin next week and the first round on March 16.

Need some suggestions? Check out the Guardian ‘s 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read to get some ideas and then include your top five choices in the form below.