They announced the finalists this morning. The winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 14.
Fiction:
- This Is How You Lose Her, by Junot Díaz
- A Hologram for the King, by Dave Eggers
- The Round House, by Louise Erdrich
- Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain
- The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers
Nonfiction:
- Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944 – 1956, by Anne Applebaum
- Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo
- The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon B. Johnson, Vol. 4, by Robert A. Caro
- The Boy Kings of Texas, by Domingo Martinez
- House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East, by Anthony Shadid
Poetry:
- Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations, by David Ferry
- Heavenly Bodies, by Cynthia Huntington
- Fast Animal, by Tim Seibles
- Night of the Republic, by Alan Shapiro
- Meme, by Susan Wheeler
Young People’s Literature:
- Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander
- Out of Reach, by Carrie Arcos
- Never Fall Down, by Patricia McCormick
- Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer
- Bomb: The Race to Build — and Steal — the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin
I usually pay some attention to this prize, but I don’t think I will this year. I liked Oscar Wao, but Diaz’s stories seem to be just more of the same from what I have read. And while I am not normally an Eggers fan anokatony’s positive review of his book did spark some curiosity. The other three don’t interest me very much.
If Junot Diaz wins I will give up reading, enter a monastery, and devote the rest of my life to making liqueurs.
Junot Diaz still prompting a bit of ire I see…I rather liked This Is How You Lose Her.
While I’m not familiar with these particular titles, the fiction authors on the list strike me as very uninspired choices. They seem like a list of the usual suspects.
I’m not excited by this list, either, and as Lee well knows I am getting more and more cranky about Diaz. Good thing they weren’t listening to me :)
I agree – I don’t see anything on the fiction list that makes me want to pay attention long enough to find out the winner. Even the non-fiction list: 2 memoirs and Behind the Beautiful Forever (while not a memoir strikes me as being in the same vein) leaves me – as cbjames said – “uninspired”.
Unfortunately, this is a problem I often have with the National Book Award. I wish they’d throw a curve ball once in a while, or do something, to liven things up.
This does seem a very tame set of books, very light stuff. I see a clear winner, Trevor! I have read Billy Lynn and it’s thoroughly enjoyable fluff. But I’m slightly surprised to see both that and The Yellow Birds on there.
So, Trevor, I’m wondering about Erdrich’s first place novel. Have you read this book? Or Egger’s? I admire both authors but often find myself with mixed reactions to their work.
Also, I wanted your opinion about “Awards.” Of all the award lists you dip into, which do you trust to choose the best books. And by “best books,” I’m not referring to the most prestigious, quirky, political, or popular with the masses (as in sold the most copies). I mean which, in your humble opinion, award list serves up consistent good solid literature? Very curious about your response.
I still haven’t read the Erdrich, Sharon, though it happens to be the only one on the list that I have and care to read at this point (other than Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers in the nonfiction category). I have heard both good and bad about The Round House, but I really like Erdrich and am anxious to read it. I even have it with me right now (though I haven’t started it).
As for awards in general — hmmmmmm. I have a troubled and murky history.
I do watch many and am always interested in the outcome, though these days I’m more and more passive about it all. For example, I would have read The Round House anyway, and still would not have read any of the four other finalists had it won (I feel I’ve read enough Junot Diaz and Dave Eggers, though surely their names will continue to crop up through the years).
I used to try to pick up most of the books on the awards lists . . . I think that is why I don’t care as much any more: too often, reading these lists caused a severe bout of reading fatigue when the judges and I just didn’t see eye to eye. It’s not that I think they should only recognize books I like, but juries each year have different criteria (readability, politics, “new”), and I feel okay skipping out if they don’t seem to match mine. I’m disillusioned, I guess, and rely more on a few trusted bloggers and publishers to give me book recommendations because these have been the most consistent. That said, I still pay attention to the awards and am always tempted to give the books a shot. If nothing else, it’s fun to know what’s going on and get involved in discussions about the books.
But there is one award list I trust to choose the best books (meaning, consistent good solid literature): the relatively young Best Translated Book Award. They give a 25-book longlist, whittle that down to ten, and then announce the winner. In recent years, I have experienced more pure literary joy going through those books than any of the other awards lists. I haven’t always preferred their winner (in fact, in one year, I really didn’t like the book that won at all), but going through the 25 titles on the longlist is a lot of fun and always introduces me to a to-me obscure author who’s been steadily and quietly mastering his or her craft over the past century, like Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, whom I would not have heard of were it not for this prize (which recognized his very first translation into English in 2011 though he’d been writing for forty years). This prize also is not limited to books written in the last year but rather to books translated in the last year. That way, we get books written in the 1920s by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky and Robert Walser, giving us who like modernism a treat. The list is varied, comes from many countries, contains a variety of styles (they are one of the awards that considers collections of short stories). Yes, definitely the Best Translated Book Award.
Other than that, I will continue to pay close attention to the Man Booker Prize, because historically I’d say it has given me the most pleasure, recognizing J.M. Coetzee, Iris Murdoch, Penelope Fitzgerald, Kazuo Ishiguro, William Trevor, etc. It’s been disappointing in certain years, but you never know when there will be an excellent year.
Also, I will continue to read whatever book wins the Pulitzer, though mostly due to a slight desire for cultural awareness than out of any belief it consistently chooses the best books.
I’m interested in any one else’s thoughts on this matter, too. Please share.
I just finished Erdich’s “The Round House” and, although I liked it, I have to admit I was expecting more… or maybe I was expecting less. Among other things, the book aims to work as a mystery/thriller and so it comes with a wide cast of characters and a ton of plot. That’s fine, but it makes for a difficult mix when you’re also trying to show what life is like for Native Americans in North Dakota. For example, I have a hard time really believing and understanding the life of the main character when, due to the plot contrivances, his life is so complicated and extraordinary. If anyone else has read the book, I’d love to know your thoughts.
I have started the book, Joe. I’m not far in, but I am happy to be back with Erdrich. I love her rhythm. From what I’ve heard, the problems people have seem to revolve around balance, so I am anxious to see how it goes.