This evening, they announced the longlist for this year’s National Book Award for Fiction (see the longlist for Nonfiction here, for Young People’s Literature here, and for Poetry here; shortlists will be announced on October).
- An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine
- The UnAmericans, by Molly Antopol
- Wolf in White Van, by John Darnielle
- All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
- Redeployment, by Phil Klay
- Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
- Thunderstruck & Other Stories, by Elizabeth McCracken
- Orfeo, by Richard Powers
- Lila, by Marilynne Robinson
- Some Luck, by Jane Smiley
Thanks to Lee, we have reviews of Redeployment (here) and Orfeo (here) already. I’ll be reading Lila soon, as I’m a huge fan of Marilynne Robinson. How are the others?
There was one more finalist for the longlist which I don’t see listed here: ‘Thunderstruck & Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken.
Am I missing it?
Of the three I have read – Redeployment, All the Light We Cannot See & Orfeo, I thought Redeployment was exceptional. Doerr was a decent read. I didn’t really care for Orfeo at all. Although I can appreciate his talent and intelligence, I have yet to truly enjoy anything I’ve read by Powers. I can’t say I feel too excited by any of the other entries.
I wanted to love Molly Antopol’s stories and while some were good, I wasn’t wowed like I expected to be. Kind of surprised to see it on the list.
Looking forward to hearing about Marilynne Robinson’s novel!
-Dana
Well, I’ll be. I did miss Thunderstruck & Other Stories — thanks Will!
I love how Powers splits readers down the middle like nobody’s business. I love his stuff: I think he can be hard work but I think Orfeo is a real triumph.
I have fond memories of the Phil Klay book. I’d love to see one of those stories in particular filmed.
Otherwise, a few writers there I know nothing about, always good.
John Self at the Asylum has reviewed Elizabeth McCracken’s Thunderstruck & Other Stories. His response was quite positive. I am half way through this collection and so far the stories have been really good.
If John likes it that’s very reliable, and you do, rads, so I’ll get one!