Joseph Epstein (Fabulous Small Jews, Snobbery) takes a look at the glut of awards, literary and otherwise in a Wall Street Journal piece: “All this prize-giving has made the field of culture rather like one of those progressive preschools where, on graduation day, even the most hopeless child is given a prize for not actually maiming his classmates.”
Awash in awards
The Booker Has Landed
Aravind Adiga of India has won the Booker Prize for his debut novel The White Tiger. In the official announcement, head judge Michael Portillo said “In the end, The White Tiger prevailed because the judges felt that it shocked and entertained in equal measure. The novel undertakes the extraordinarily difficult task of gaining and holding the reader’s sympathy for a thoroughgoing villain. The book gains from dealing with pressing social issues and significant global developments with astonishing humour.” An excerpt of the book is available, as well.See Also: The Longlist.
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The Twin Wins the IMPAC
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has announced its winner: Gerbrand Bakker’s The Twin. The book was previously on the Best Translated Book Award shortlist. See Also: The IMPAC longlist and shortlist.
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And the Winner Is…
The final judgments are in and The Tournament of Books winner has been crowned. It was a close match, 11-6, and my vote ended up going to the winner. Go check it out. (And read both of these books, they’re great.)
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Old Names and New on the Booker Shortlist (With Excerpts)
Hilary Mantel is the headline name on the 2012 Booker shortlist as she looks to repeat the stunning success of her first Thomas Cromwell book, Wolf Hall. Alison Moore and Jeet Thayil make the list with their first novels. The longlist was offered here with some excerpts a month ago, but since you might not have gotten around to them then, we’ll offer the same with the shortlist below.
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng (review)
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy (excerpt, review)
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (excerpt 1, excerpt 2, review)
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore (excerpt [pdf])
Umbrella by Will Self (YouTube video of author reading)
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil (Millions review, excerpt)
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2014 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners Announced
The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Award have been announced in New York City. The award is voted on by critics and considers all books in English (including in translation), no matter the country of origin. The winners in the various categories and some supplementary links:
Fiction: Marilynne Robinson, Lila (“Marilynne Robinson’s Singular Vision“)
Nonfiction: David Brion Davis, The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation (excerpt)
Autobiography: Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant (excerpt)
Criticism: Ellen Willis, The Essential Ellen Willis
Biography: John Lahr, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (The Duality of the Human Psyche: On John Lahr’s Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh)
Poetry: Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (A Year in Reading: Tiphanie Yanique)
Previously: The finalists
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