Blood Meridian initially received little recognition, but has since been recognized as a masterpiece and one of the greatest works of American literature. Some have called it the Great American Novel.[4] American literary critic Harold Bloom praised Blood Meridian as one of the 20th century's finest novels.[30] Aleksandar Hemon has called it "possibly the greatest American novel of the past 25 years".[31] David Foster Wallace named it one of the five most underappreciated American novels since 1960[32] and "[p]robably the most horrifying book of this [20th] century, at least [in] fiction."[33]
Time magazine included Blood Meridian in its "Time 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005".[34] In 2006 The New York Times conducted a poll of writers and critics regarding the most important works in American fiction from the previous 25 years, and Blood Meridian was a runner-up.[35]
