The winner of this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was just announced. The Detour, by Gerbrand Bakker; tr from the Dutch by David Colmer (in the U.S. this book was published as Ten White Geese) Exciting news! I haven’t read The Detour (or Ten White Geese) yet, but Bakker’s The Twin is one of those great books that I think … Read more
The Best Translated Book Award has announced its winner: Satantango, by László Krasznahorkai, tr. from the Hungarian by George Szirtes This was my choice this year (and Stone Upon Stone was my choice last year — seriously, this is an award worth watching!). Here are my thoughts, and congrats to all.
Today, they announced the shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The winner will be announced on June 5. Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson May We Be Forgiven, by A.M. Homes Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple NW, by Zadie Smith … Read more
The winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson The two finalists are: What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, by Nathan Englander The Snow Child, by Eowyn Ivey I’ve heard great things about The Orphan Master’s Son, but it hadn’t really tempted me. I … Read more
As you probably know, once a decade Granta unveils a selection of what they consider to be the 20 best British novelists under the age of forty. Today the new list came out, and the next issue will contain a selection from each of the following authors. Naomi Alderman Tahmima Anam Ned Beauman Jenni Fagan … Read more
Here are the six books to make the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist: The Detour, by Gerbrand Bakker; tr from the Dutch by David Colmer (in the U.S. this book was published as Ten White Geese) Bundu, by Chris Barnard; tr. from the Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns (this will be available in the U.S. on May 1, … Read more
I’m shocked! This is quite a leap from the list I expected! The winner will be selected from this list on May 3. The Planets, by Sergio Chejfec; Argentina; tr. from the Spanish by Heather Cleary (Open Letter Books) Prehistoric Times, by Eric Chevillard; France; tr. from the French by Alyson Waters (Archipelago Books) The … Read more
You’ll notice that my page is different. That was not entirely intentional. Let me explain, and once things are up and running I’m going to delete this post. I have decided, after quite a long period of struggling with the idea, to place some ads on this site. I am using a service called LitBreakers … Read more
I’ve decided to copy a feature found on Reading Matters and Savidge Reads, a kind of hall of fame/favorite authors list. I am calling mine The Mookse and the Gripes Pantheon, and you can see the complete list here. There will also be a permanent link in the upper left-hand corner of the blog. There … Read more
The ten finalists for the 2013 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award have been announced. City of Bohane, by Kevin Barry The Map and the Territory, by Michel Houllebecq Pure, by Andrew Miller 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka The Tragedy of Arthur, by Arthur Phillips Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell … Read more