Interpreter of Maladies — Jhumpa Lahiri (1999)

Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning debut collection—nine stories on the Indian-American experience and diaspora—proved short fiction can be both formally traditional and culturally urgent. The title story, about an Indian guide confessing love to a tourist, and "This Blessed House" are among the finest stories of the 1990s, with Lahiri's precise prose earning a 4.2 average rating from 15,000+ reviews on Goodreads—better than the average debut collection by 1.5 points. Her emotional depth rivals Cathedral in its quiet power.