Which Steven Millhauser novel won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?

Martin Dressler won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and its author was Steven Millhauser.

Published in 1996, Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer follows an ambitious young man in late-19th-century New York City. Martin rises from work in his immigrant father’s cigar shop to employment at a hotel, then builds increasingly elaborate restaurants and hotels of his own.

The novel uses Martin’s entrepreneurial imagination to explore the promise and instability of the American Dream. His grand projects suggest progress, luxury, and limitless possibility, but their scale also hints at emptiness and disconnection. That blend of historical detail, fantasy, and psychological unease is characteristic of Millhauser’s fiction.

The Barnum Museum is another well-known Millhauser title, but it is a short-story collection, not the Pulitzer winner. Little Kingdoms and Edwin Mullhouse are also Millhauser works, which makes the alternatives plausible distractors. Martin Dressler was additionally a finalist for the 1996 National Book Award.