海角大神

Hours ahead of the big event, buzz is building over this year鈥檚 National Book Awards, the 鈥淥scars of the publishing industry.鈥� Headline grabbers this year include Malala Yousafzai, novelist Thomas Pnychon, fictional character Bridget Jones, and the Church of Scientology.

The awards, one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the US, will be announced in four categories Wednesday night at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.

Notably absent from the event will be one of the top contenders for the fiction award, Thomas Pynchon. Notoriously private and disinclined to attend public events and participate in media appearances, Pynchon, not surprisingly, will not attend the black tie awards, Ann Godoff, president and editor in chief of Penguin Press, Pynchon鈥檚 publisher, said Monday, according to The New York Times.

Also unlikely to tune in to the ceremony is the Church of Scientology, which is upset over the nomination of a book by Lawrence Wright entitled 鈥淕oing Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief.鈥�

The book has received glowing praise and great reviews for its 鈥渄evastating critique鈥� of the Church of Scientology. And despite author Wright鈥檚 credentials (he鈥檚 a New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer Prize winner), exhaustive research, and allegedly honest intent (鈥淭hat crunching sound you hear is Lawrence Wright bending over backward to be fair to Scientology,鈥� The New York Times wrote in a piece on the book), the Church, not surprisingly, wasn鈥檛 happy about the book or its nomination as a National Book Award finalist.

A Washington Post piece on the controversy quoted a Church official calling out Wright鈥檚 鈥渟loppy research and one-sided approach,鈥� adding the author 鈥渞elies on questionable sources with axes to grind.鈥�

Who will be attending? Jhumpa Lahiri, nominated in the fiction category for her novel on fraternal tensions and Indian politics in 鈥淭he Lowland,鈥� George Saunders, for 鈥淭enth of December,鈥� George Packer, for 鈥淭he Unwinding,鈥� and of course, Lawrence Wright, for 鈥淕oing Clear.鈥�

The Awards, which don鈥檛 garner the attention other literary prizes like the Nobel attract, have tried in the past to adopt measures to gain interest and make the awards (and the books) more marketable. In the 1980s the Awards added new categories, televised the event, and created an academy just like the Oscars. They event went so far as to create awards for technical categories, like "best cover," reported NPR.聽

The blowback was intense. Many in the industry hated the changes, including prominent writers like Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, who withdrew their books and decided to boycott the event in protest of the changes.

The event organizers have since scaled back. This year changes are more modest, such as including non-writers like librarians, booksellers, and critics to the judging panels.

The dinner, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York, a luxurious Manhattan landmark known for its gilded Greek revival architecture, is famous for its opulence. More than 700 attendees will dine on baked tagliolini, loin of lamb, and tiramisu.

(Speaking of attracting attention, a separate UK National Book Awards in London later this year dedicated to reflect the public鈥檚 best-loved books 鈥� in contrast to the US National Book Awards, which some say features obscure works 鈥� has such headline-grabbers as Malala Yousafzai鈥檚 鈥淚 Am Malala鈥� and Helen Fielding鈥檚 鈥淏ridget Jones: Mad About a Boy.鈥�)

Pynchon and Lahiri are popular favorites for the fiction award. Five finalists are nominated in each of four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and 聽young people鈥檚 literature.

Here is a complete list of this year鈥檚 contenders.

Look for updates on 2013 National Book Awards winners Thursday.

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent.