Photo: Michael Lionstar
Photo: Michael Lionstar

The Underground Railroad, an inventive and searing take on slavery in 1850s Georgia, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction Monday, adding to author Colson Whitehead’s list of accolades and bolstering the case for the book to be included in the pantheon of Great American Novels.

Published on Aug. 2, Railroad also won the 2016 National Book Award in November.

The novel, which had significant pre-publication buzz, became an instant best seller when Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club in August. (Whitehead, 47, also was USA TODAY’s 2016 Author of the Year.)

Last year, post-vacation, President Obama gave the book a boost, saying Americans should read it. If Whitehead is breaking out the champagne, who can blame him?

For the complete story, vsit USAToday.com/Life/Books.

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