The finalists for the annual National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Award have been announced, offering up the customary shortlists of great fiction and nonfiction. In addition, the John Leonard Prize for best debut novel was awarded to Yaa Gyasi for Homegoing; the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing went to Michelle Dean (check out her 2016 Year in Reading); and Margaret Atwood took home the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award.
The NBCC Award will be presented March 17 in a public ceremony.
Fiction
- Michael Chabon, Moonglow (our interview with Chabon)
- Louise Erdrich, LaRose
- Adam Haslett, Imagine Me Gone
- Ann Patchett, Commonwealth
- Zadie Smith, Swing Time (the author’s Year in Reading; our review)
Nonfiction
- Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Lisa Lucas and Imbolo Mbue on the book)
- Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive Idea of Racist History of Racist Ideas in America
- Jane Mayer, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires behind the Rise of the Radical Right
- Viet Thanh Nguyen, Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War (edited by our own Zoë Ruiz!)
- John Edgar Wideman, Writing to Save a Life: The Louis Till File
