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The finalists for the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction have been announced (here). The winner will be named on March 26.
- Lost Memory of Skin, by Russell Banks
- The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories, by Don DeLillo
- The Artist of Disappearance, by Anita Desai
- We Others: New and Selected Stories, by Steven Millhauser
- The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
The only one I’ve read is We Others, and I fully endorse it (my review here). I’m happy to see two of the finalists are short story collections.
After working nearly 40 hours over the weekend, including all night Sunday, we finally finished a substantial part of the work that has kept me from my family and from this blog. I will have substantially more time! To ease back into things, a simple announcement everyone has probably already heard by now anyway: the NBCC finalists have been announced.
Fiction
- Open City, by Teju Cole
- The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides
- The Stranger’s Child, by Alan Hollinghurst
- Binocular Vision, by Edith Pearlman
- Stone Arabia, by Dana Spiotta
Nonfiction
- A World on Fire: Britain’s Crucial Role in the American Civil War, by Amanda Foreman
- The Information, by James Gleick
- To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918, by Adam Hochschild
- Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary War, by Maya Jasanoff
- Pulphead: Essays, by John Jeremiah Sullivan
Autobiography
- One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, A Marriage, and the Language of Healing, by Diane Ackerman
- The Memory Place, by Mira Bartók
- Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America, by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts
- It Calls You Back: An Odyssey Through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing, by Luis J. Rodríguez
- Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War, by Deb Olin Unferth
Biography
- Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of the Revolution, by Mary Gabriel
- George F. Kennan: An American Life, by John Lewis Gaddis
- Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life, and Lost, 1934-1961, by Paul Hendrickson
- Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, by Manning Marable
- Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, by Ezra F. Vogel
Criticism
- Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything, by David Bellos
- Otherwise Known as the Human Condition: Selected Essays and Reviews, by Geoff Dyer
- The Ecstasy of Influence, by Jonathan Lethem
- Karaoke Culture, by Dubravka Ugresic
- Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music, by Ellen Willis
Poetry
- Core Samples from the World, by Forrest Gander
- Kingdom Animalia, by Aracelis Girmay
- Space, in Chains, by Laura Kasischke
- The Chameleon Couch, by Yusef Komunyakaa
- Devotions, by Bruce Smith
Of the fiction, I have read only Teju Cole’s Open City, which I liked a great deal, though I have yet to review it here. I began The Stranger’s Child and simply wasn’t enjoying it enough to finish — and I don’t feel now that I should go back and try again. I have both The Marriage Plot and Binnocular Vision, and my plan for the last six months has been to read those, but other things keep jumping up the line. Soon, perhaps.
For the nonfiction, I have read many of the essays in John Jeremiah Sullivan’s Pulphead that were published (perhaps in different form) in a variety of magazines and journals over the past few years. I think he’s an exceptional writer and a great essayist. This one goes highly recommended.
Then I have to skip down to criticism before I have anything else to say, and that is that I have read the title essay to Dubravka Ugresic’s Karaoke Culture and found it delightful and funny. I will review that book here when I get through more of the essays.
And for poetry, I’m only familiar with Forrest Gander’s lovely Core Samples from the World, which is a nice compilation of poetry and photography. I never know what to say about poetry, so I review it rarely here, but this is a nice book.
Tonight the winners of the 2011 National Book Awards were announced.
Fiction: Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
Nonfiction: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt
Poetry: Head Off and Split, by Nikky Finney
Young Peoples’ Literature: Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
Despite the fact that I was initially uninterested, I actually did acquire all but one of the fiction finalists after looking into them further. The one I did not pick up: Salvage the Bones. I will, though, someday.
Happy Halloween! If you’re looking for a bit of literary horror, you can’t do much better than the Granta 117, the horror issue. This issue features “horror” writing from some writers whose names might spring up when “horror” is mentioned, but there are also many I never would have thought of in this context. Here are the contents:
- “False Blood” by Will Self
- “Your Birthday Has Come and Gone” by Paul Auster
- “Poem” by D.A. Powell
- “Brass” by Joy Williams
- “The Starveling” by Don DeLillo
- “The Mission” by Tom Bamforth
- “She Murdered Mortal He” by Sarah Hall
- “A Garden of Illuminating Existence” by Kanitta Meechubot
- “Deng’s Dogs” by Santiago Roncagliolo
- “The Infamous Bengal Ming” by Rajesh Parameswaran
- “The Ground Floor” by Daniel Alarcón
- “Insatiable” by Mark Doty
- “The Colonel’s Son” by Roberto Bolaño
- “The Dune” by Stephen King
- “Diem Perdidi” by Julie Otsuka
Now, when I say “literary” horror, I don’t necessarily mean what most people would think of when they hear the word “horror.” Let me explain. When I got the issue, I flipped through it and saw that Alarcón’s story was short. I’ve only read one thing by him, but I liked it and wondered how on earth he’d do with a horror story. I wasn’t disappointed in the story, which takes us to where a bunch of actors are putting on a fight club, but it was obvious that “horror” was being interpreted broadly. Not the creepy willies I’d expected, but not a bad thing in my opinion.
I then went to the beginning and read Will Self’s “False Blood.” Again, horror was being interpreted loosely, but this was an astonishing bit of personal nonfiction where Self tells about a blood condition he’s been suffering through. The writing is exquisite, and the exploration of addiction is truly horrific. You can read a shorter version of the essay at the Guardian website here.
From what others say, there are some classic creepy stories here, but I am still working through it. I suggest you do the same!
Apparently some time early Friday morning, my webhost had a server die, and it happened to be the server my data was on. When they finally got my stuff transferred to another server, I guess it still takes some time for other ISPs to redirect traffic. Consequently, even though my site was up, people still couldn’t see it, including me. I believe that enough time has passed that ISPs all over have figured out where my website currently sits (I have no idea what all of this means, by the way). So, after a day and a half down, I found out that they’d also lost the last week’s worth of data, which meant two posts and I don’t know how many comments (not too many). I have the posts back up, but the comments are gone for good. I’m sorry for this and I hope that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again.
I also couldn’t write any post for this weekend, so I’d like to direct you instead to this interesting essay about the life and death of The American Book Award (a populist movement that replaced the National Book Award during the greater part of the 1980s) that was in the New York Times Book Review today. Click here for the article.
This evening, the winner for the 2011 Man Booker Prize was announced:
- The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes
It has been a troubled year for the Man Booker Prize. When awarding the Man Booker International Prize to Philip Roth, judge Carmen Callil resigned. It seemed the only folks who showed up for the Best of Beryl Bainbridge Prize (the now annual off-shoot to the main award) were the crickets. Jonathan Talor, Chair of the Booker Foundation, claimed the Man Booker International Prize, which has had only four winners, was now the world’s premier literary prize and superior to the Nobel Prize. Then the judges of the real Booker Prize got criticized to no end (I was not on their side) for choosing “readable” books that “zip along.” Well, the most literary title won. I’m looking forward to reading The Sense of an Ending. Barnes has been shortlisted three times before, and his winning this year was far from a foregone conclusion though many thought it the best book on the shortlist. Will this put a stop to the criticism?
Today the 2011 National Book Award Finalists were announced on Oregon Public Radio. Winners will be announced on November 16.
Young People’s Literature
- My Name Is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
- Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
- Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy, by Albert Martin
- [EDIT to withdraw**]
Shine, by Lauren Myracle - Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt
- [EDIT to add*] Chime, by Franny Billingsley
Poetry
- Head Off & Split, by Nikky Finney
- The Chameleon Couch, by Yusef Komunyakaa
- Double Shadow, by Carl Phillips
- Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems: 2007 – 2010, by Adrienne Rich
- Devotions, by Bruce Smith
Nonfiction
- The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism, by Deborah Baker
- Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, by Mary Gabriel
- The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt
- A Life of Reinvention: Malcolm X, by Manning Marable
- Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout, by Lauren Redniss
Fiction
- The Sojourn, by Andrew Krivak
- The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht (my review here)
- The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
- Binocular Vision, by Edith Pearlman
- Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
As usual, I don’t have a lot to say about any of the categories other than fiction (and even there, I don’t have a lot). Of the titles for young people, my wife has talked to me about Shine, which apparently is about a hate crime and apparently describes it fairly graphically. Some parents were in an uproar, saying things like we shouldn’t let our children see such things. Apparently the first time a child should confront a hate crime is when one is actually being perpetrated. To acknowledge in a book for young people that kids are dying all over the country due to hate is apparently inappropriate. From my tone, you can see I disagree. I just hope the book itself is good and isn’t getting nominated simply because of the issue.
Of the fiction titles, the only one I have read is The Tiger’s Wife. I hoped Eugenides’ new (is it too new? — I just checked and no it isn’t; books published between December 10, 2010 and November 30, 2011 were eligible) book would be on there, as I wanted more of an excuse to read it sooner than later. I have Edith Pearlman’s Binocular Vision (again, my wife got it for me months ago), and I see I need to pull it out. I don’t really know much about the other titles, but I’m not, at this point, dying to go read the whole list. That’s more due to past experience with the NBA (and, in particular, the Booker) as it is to these books. For the record, I found enjoyment in The Tiger’s Wife, but I didn’t love it.
*UPDATE (October 12, 2011)
What an embarrasment! In the comments below, Michael, a local Mookse and Gripeser, brought this to my attention: It turns out that in the YA category, Lauren Myracle’s Shine was not supposed to be a finalist. There was a miscommunication — obviously, and the judges’ real finalist was Franny Billingsley’s Chime. (Click here for the BBC news article.) Shine, Chime, I guess that we should have seen this coming since it seems 9 out of 10 YA novels have those similar one-word titles. Yes, a miscommunication, and apparently several misteps along the way that prevented some kind of double check. They have decided not to eliminate Myracle at this point; rather, they have added Chime as the sixth finalist. I can appreciate the organizers’ desire to avoid embarrassing Myracle by removing her from consideration, but, honestly . . . She isn’t going to win since the judges didn’t make her a finalist in the first place. Also, can she ever really use the “National Book Award Finalist” in good faith? Well, to limit the embarrasment, the public line is not that it was a mistake to include Shine but that the judges decided to add Chime to the list as well.
**UPDATE (October 17, 2011)
Today Lauren Myracle withdrew her book from the list of finalists, apparently at the request the National Book Foundation (see the PW report here). What a devastating week this must have been for her, all due to major failures on the part of the National Book Foundation. The error reportedly occurred when the organization misheard the judges report the finalists over the phone! What a stupid way to pass a list on. And how stupid that there was never a double check. There will be from now on, I assume (perhaps wrongly). This whole thing was entirely foreseeable and avoidable, but I guess most stupid errors are. The National Book Foundation is rightfully embarrassed. I wonder what changed their mind: they were initially going to keep Shine on the list, though already tainted. Honestly, it’s a bit surprising Myracle didn’t voluntarily withdraw sooner, and without prompting from the Foundation. It’s not like she was going to win, and I have a hard time imagining ever wanting to publish the next book with the “National Book Award finalist” blurb, knowing that it was more of a clerical error. I know sales are sales, but I have a hard time believing that was the motivating factor. It is possible that Myracle was more interested in making sure her book got some publicity because of its content: hate crimes against gay youths. It seem reasonable to me to keep the book there, regardless of the embarrassment, so that some people will at least consider its message. And some benefit came about from this anyway: as partial penance, the National Book Foundation is donating $5000 to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, a LGTB rights organization (click here for their page).
Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality” (see the press release here).
For those who keep track, he is the first poet to win since 1996, when Wislaw Szymborska won. However, he is the eighth European to win the in the last ten years. However, again, he is the first Scandinavian to win since 1974, when Eyvind Johnson shared the award with Harry Martinson.
I haven’t read a word written by Tranströmer, despite the fact that his name is always toward the top of the list of Nobel potentials and the fact that two of my favorite publishers have published books by him (New Directions published The Great Enigma: New Collected Poems and Graywolf Press published The Half-Finished Heaven: The Best Poems of Tomas Tranströmer).
My wife and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of our third child (and our third son). He was born Monday evening, and everyone is doing great. Today we are all home enjoying some rest time, and I thought I’d get on here briefly to celebrate with you all. To mark this occasion, it’s time to give away a couple of books.
This “celebration” is not sponsored by any publisher. I am promoting two of my favorites: New Directions and NYRB Classics. So fantastic are the books these two publishers release annually that I am quite confident even if I read books only from their lists I would be satisfied. I would love to give away a brand new copy of one books from each of their lists. So, here is the basic outline of the giveaway:
- Leave a comment.
- In the comment list one New Direction title and one NYRB Classics title from the lists provided below.
- I will draw two names at random on the night of Saturday, October 1. One name will get its New Directions choice, and the other its NYRB Classics choice.
- I will ship anywhere, so this is open to international readers. If you have way too many books already, please enter anyway; if you win you can choose to donate your book to, say, a library.
- If the book the winner chooses is for any reason not available for me to purchase, I reserve the right to request the winner choose another book or forfeit (I don’t anticipate this happening because all of these books should be readily available).
Below find the lists. I have chosen both older and recent books from New Directions and NYRB Classics. For example, Helen DeWitt’s Lightning Rods is hot off the press and I haven’t read it yet. Others I have reviewed and have recommended many times here since this blog began (which was, incidentally, just a few weeks before the birth of my second son).
From New Directions, please choose one of the following books and leave a comment:
- Helen DeWitt: Lightning Rods
- Gert Hofmann: Lichtenberg & the Little Flower Girl (my review here)
- César Aira: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (my review here)
- László Krasznahorkai: The Melancholy of Resistance (my review here)
- Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
- B.S. Johnson: The Unfortunates (my review here)
- Horacio Castellanos Moya: Tyrant Memory
- Evelio Rosero: Good Offices
- Javier Marías: All Souls
- Muriel Spark: Not to Disturb (my review here)
From NYRB Classics, please choose one of the following books and leave a comment:
- Brian Moore: The Mangan Inheritance
- Gilbert Highet: Poets in a Landscape
- J.L. Carr: A Month in the Country (my review here)
- Milton Rokeach: The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
- Theodor Fontane: Irretrievable
- John Williams: Butcher’s Crossing (my review here)
- Jean Stafford: The Mountain Lion
- Brian Moore: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (my review here)
- Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
- Penelope Mortimer: The Pumpkin Eater
Feel free to spread the word, though I realize that may dilute your chances of winning. Best wishes to all, and good luck!
I haven’t covered the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize on this blog before, but it’s high time I start — it’s a prize worth watching. Here’s a description from the prize webiste (which you can find here): “The 2011 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize is worth €35,000 to the winning author of a collection of short stories published for the first time, in English anywhere in the world [. . .].” Collections of previously published works are not eligible, but translations are.
For those who don’t know, Frank O’Connor was a master of the form. Earlier this year, Melville House published a beautiful edition of O’Connor’s study of the short story, The Lonely Voice. I read it and loved it. I don’t agree with all he said, but it was refreshing, so refreshing, to have someone taking the form seriously, not as just a shrunken novel or as apprentice work. I highly recommend The Lonely Voice and hope someday — perhaps as part of an extended series on short stories — to review the book itself.
Anyway, the prize itself has been in existence since 2005, when Yiyun Li won with her debut collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (which also won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the Guardian First Book Award). The other five winners up to 2010 are Haruki Murakami, Miranda July, Jhumpa Lahiri, Simon Van Booy, and Ron Rash.
This year’s winner was announced last week:
- Saints and Sinners by Edna O’Brien (my wife got me this collection earlier this year, but I still haven’t read it).
The other finalists:
- Death is Not an Option, by Suzanne Rivecca
- The Empty Family, by Colm Tóibín
- Marry or Burn, by Valerie Trueblood
- Light Lifting, by Alexander MacLeod (my review here)
- Gold Boy, Emerald Girl, by Yiyun Li
My wife got me a copy of Saints and Sinners earlier this year that I still haven’t read, and I also have a copy of The Empty Family I need to get through.
Thanks to John Self, today I saw an article on the Guardian website by judge Chris Power (click here). In it, he says a number of things that struck a cord with me, this one the most: “If it was between this shortlist and the Booker’s, I know which one I’d read.”
Besides stating that his favorite was Li’s collection (which would have made her the first two-time winner of the prize), Power also lists a few books that didn’t make the shortlist that he recommends:
- American Masculine, by Shann Ray
- Circus Bulgaria, by Deyan Enev
- What I Didn’t See, by Joy Fowler
- Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, by Danielle Evans
- Crime, by Ferdinand von Schirach
- Volt, by Alan Heathcock (my review here)
I have a copy of American Masculine that I’m looking forward to and Volt is one of my favorite reads of the year.
So, I’ll repent, update some parts of this site, and make sure the Frank O’Connor Award gets noticed here.
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