This morning, the finalists for the 2014 National Book Award were announced.
Fiction:
- All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
- An Unnecessary Woman, by Rabih Alameddine
- Lila, by Marilynne Robinson
- Redeployment, by Phil Klay
- Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Nonfiction:
- Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, by Roz Chast
- No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes, by Anand Gopal
- Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, by John Lahr
- Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, by Evan Osnos
- The Meaning of Human Existence, by Edward O. Wilson
Poetry:
- Faithful and Virtuous Night, by Louise Glück
- Second Childhood, by Fanny Howe
- This Blue, by Maureen N. McLane
- The Feel Trio, by Fred Moten
- Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudia Rankine
Young People’s Literature:
- Threatened, by Eliot Schrefer
- The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, by Steve Sheinkin
- Noggin, by John Corey Whaley
- Revolution: The Sixties Trilogy, Book Two, by Deborah Wiles
- Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
I can’t help but note that not one of the four “original” U.S. writers on the Booker longlist made this shortlist. One column I read yesterday after the Booker announcement suggested the four were “chosen to fail” — I’m not sure I would go that far, but they did seem a strange selection.
I’ve read none of these and can’t say that the descriptions of any inspire me to go out and buy a copy. I’ll keep watching, just in case.
I think you might quite like Anthony Doerr, Kevin. He does have a style that I think you’d take to – I may be miles off there but do cast a glance over it if you get chance.
I’ve heard good things about the fiction, but I haven’t read any other than a bit of Lila, which I’m a fan of (I know you do not enjoy Robinson’s work, Kevin). I’m also interested in Doerr. If I get to it, I’ll let you know, Kevin!