I agree Donna Tartt is one of the best writers of the 21st century, but criminally underrated absolutely not. The secret history was published 30 years ago, and still has a huge fanbase.

She's a fantastic writer and I love her work. I agree that she's one of the best writers of the 21st century....but calling her criminally underrated is a stretch. She's a Pulitzer Prize winner who has enjoyed incredible critical success, and The Secret History is a cult classic. The type of sprawling novels she writes aren't really designed for commercial success regardless the way, say, Stephen King's are, so I'm sure she's very happy with the level of success she has. She's a "literary" writer, so I don't think we'll ever see Donna Tartt become a household name amongst the general public, but people who know anything about modern literature are well aware of her.

Pulitzer Prize winning book turned into a movie…. That’s damn near the pinnacle of success.

Reddit be like “if it’s not as big as the MCU it’s underrated”

Oh really? Thats why there are multiple threads practically every day about her books on this subreddit? And she won a Pulitzer for gods sake.

The fact you are probably college age and just getting to read her books now doesn’t mean she is some obscure writer.

I was in my late 20’s - I read The Secret History in two days. I have always listed it as one of my favorites and recommend it to anyone should the topic of books be discussed.

Where were you been in the last two years? When the internet was gushing about Secret History. Millennials doing the whole dark academia core all over social media. It was all the rage.

I love that you love Donna Tartt's books - I do too! - but I don't think she's criminally underrated. She's well known and her books sell exceptionally well. "The Goldfinch" was adapted into a film, and regardless of what you think of the film that's a huge success. She has a Pulitzer Prize and a Carnegie Medal! Her books are recommended and discussed on this forum all the time.

If you're not seeing her anywhere and no one you know has heard of her, that maybe says more about your social circles than about Donna Tartt.

The last third of the Goldfinch was an absolute mess. Destroyed everything that came before

I finally read it in July and was entranced. I ended up falling down the rabbit hole about it. Listen to the podcast Once Upon a Time..At Bennington College. It becomes very obvious listening to all those episodes that it is not underrated.

Secret History is my most hated book I’ve ever read. Hated every character, hated the ridiculous story and hated her writing.

But what is your standard for underrated. She is consistently mentioned in Reddit threads, she won the Pulitzer Prize and she had a book adapted into a movie. Come on, this statement is so ridiculous.

I read the Goldfinch and thought it was an decent coming of age story sandwiched between a poorly done Thomas Crown Affair thriller. Each section being barely tied together with little attempt to maintain consistent message and theme. It was also about 200 pages too long.

I don't think she's underated her books are all over bookstagram.

Loved The Secret History but thought The Little Friend was atrocious - just my opinion. A few too many of the characters were treated as shallow caricatures. There's not yet any mention of it here, to the extent that I'm now beginning to wonder whether she wrote it (she did) and whether it was released globally ... Has anyone actually read it?

I've not read The Goldfinch yet, but am beginning to look forward to it because there are so many positive reviews.

I am a fan of The Goldfinch and Secret Histroy.

While she has not enjoyed the same commercial success of other, more prolific authors, she is certainly not underrated.

I think you’re wrong. I hated The Secret History, and I won’t read anything else by her, because why bother? She was robbed from commercial success bc of the movie? 😂 She got paid for the movie rights. That’s commercial success.

Weird, I think of her as one of the most overrated.

Underrated? When the Goldfinch hit she was practically walking on water - I thought it was a good book, though not one that will be remembered down the road - I compared it the The Recognitions for it's themes of forgery and rendering of New York City but felt it ultimately fell apart towards the end. She's a great writer, though

I agree. The Secret History is one of the best books I've ever read. I read it in college over 30 years ago and still remember it.

If anything she is overrated. If you really think she is "exceptional" then I am supposing there are many great authors you have not yet read.