National Book Award finalists are announced
Junot Diaz, Dave Eggers, Robert Caro, Anthony Shadid, Louise Erdich, Katherine Boo. It鈥檚 tough to gather a more distinguished group of writers.
These are among the finalists for the esteemed National Book Award, the Pulitzer of the book world, announced Wednesday morning on MSNBC鈥檚 Morning Joe.
In a departure from years past, this year鈥檚 finalists includes some of the country鈥檚 most prominent and popular writers, authors, novelists, and poets who have gained literary respect as well as commercial success.
Dominican-born writer Junot Diaz, still spinning from being awarded a 鈥済enius鈥� grant by the MacArthur Foundation last week, is nominated for his collection of short stories, 鈥淭his is How You Lose Her.鈥� (Diaz also won a Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, 鈥淭he Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.鈥�)
The list also includes the late New York Times journalist and foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid for his memoir, 鈥淗ouse of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East.鈥� Shadid died earlier this year on a reporting assignment for the Times in Syria.听
Other non-fiction nominees include 鈥�The Passage of Power,鈥� Robert Caro鈥檚 fourth book on Lyndon Johnson; 鈥�Behind the Beautiful Forevers,鈥� Katherine Boo鈥檚 account of life in a Mumbai slum; 鈥淭he Boy Kings of Texas,鈥� by Domingo Martinez; and 鈥淚ron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe,鈥� Anne Applebaum鈥檚 history of how Communism took over Eastern Europe.
Fiction nominees include Louise Erdich鈥檚 鈥淭he Round House,鈥� Dave Eggers鈥� 鈥�A Hologram for the King,鈥� Kevin Powers鈥� 鈥淭he Yellow Birds,鈥� and Ben Fountain鈥檚 鈥�Billy Lynn鈥檚 Long Halftime Walk.鈥�
A few themes we鈥檙e seeing this year: By and large, the finalists are more well-known and more widely read than in years past when nominations went to relatively obscure works that sold few copies, a source of criticism.
In the fiction category, the works tend to address struggles faced in modern American life such as financial struggle, foreclosure, and rising college tuition in 鈥淎 Hologram for the King,鈥� and post-traumatic stress disorder and other fallout from the Iraq war, as in debut novels 鈥淭he Yellow Birds鈥� and 鈥淏illy Lynn鈥檚 Long Halftime Walk.鈥�
Finalists in poetry include 鈥淏ewilderment: New Poems and Translations,鈥� by David Ferry; 鈥淗eavenly Bodies,鈥� by Cynthia Huntington; 鈥淔ast Animal,鈥� by Tim Seibles; 鈥淣ight of the Republic,鈥� by Alan Shapiro; and 鈥淢eme,鈥� by Susan Wheeler.
In young people鈥檚 literature, finalists include 鈥淕oblin Secrets,鈥� by William Alexander; 鈥淥ut of Reach,鈥� by Carrie Arcos; 鈥淣ever Fall Down,鈥� by Patricia McCormick; 鈥淓ndangered,鈥� by Eliot Schrefer; and 鈥淏omb鈥� by Steve Sheinkin.
Winners in each of four categories (Fiction, Non-fiction, Young Adult, and Poetry) will be announced Nov. 14 in New York. Each receives $10,000, and, far more valuable, a serious boost in their literary reputation and book sales.
Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.
