The Booker’s Dozen: The 2017 Booker Longlist

Prizes
July 26, 2017 | 8 3 min read

In the fourth year that the Booker Prize has been open to U.S. authors, four American authors again make the longlist, including National Book Award and Pulitzer-winner Colson Whithead. Arundhati Roy is the lone former winner on the list. Notable names like George Saunders, Paul Auster, Zadie Smith and Mohsin Hamid make for formidable competition alongside three debut novels.

All the Booker Prize longlisters are below (with bonus links where available):

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Prizes

Digging into the 2012 IMPAC Longlist

Prizes
November 8, 2011 | 3 min read
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has unveiled its massive 2012 longlist. Recall that libraries around the world can nominate books for the prize, and these nominations, taken together, comprise the longlist. This year there are 147 novels on the list, nominated by 122 libraries in 45 countries. All of the books must have been published in English in 2010 (including translations). Because of the award’s global reach and egalitarian process, it’s always interesting to dig deeper into the longlist. Taken as a whole, the literary proclivities of various countries become evident, and a few titles recur again and again, revealing which books have made a global impact on readers. Overall favorites: books that were nominated by at least seven libraries. Room by Emma Donoghue (20 libraries representing Australia, England, France, Ireland, the Maldives, New Zealand, and the United States) The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (13 libraries representing Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United States) Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (12 libraries representing Canada, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the United States) To the End of the Land by David Grossman (10 libraries representing Brazil, Canada, Germany, and the United States) Purge by Sofi Oksanen (8 libraries representing Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland) Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (7 libraries representing the Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States) You can also look at the list and see which books are favorites in different countries. Several books were nominated by multiple libraries in the same country. Here’s a few: In Canada, Annabel by Kathleen Winter In Germany, Fame by Daniel Kehlmann In Ireland, Skippy Dies by Paul Murray In the Netherlands, Counterpoint by Anna Enquist and The Book Club by Marjolijn Februari There were also several countries with only one library nominating just one or two books. Here are a few of those: From Bermuda, Gorée: Point of Departure by Angela Barry From Cyprus, A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible by Christy Lefteri From Hungary, One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakaruni From India, Serious Men by Manu Joseph From Japan, The Book of Heroes by Miyuki Miyabe
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Prizes

More Awards

Prizes
October 23, 2003 | 2 min read
So, they announced the nominees for the National Book Award yesterday. Interesting choices. Here they are with some comments:Drop City by T. C. Boyle: I read this one about a year ago. The book is definitely better than some of the, in my opinion, duds he has produced of late, but it does not come close to surpassing his three best books: The Tortilla Curtain, World's End, and one of my all-time favorites, Water Music.The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard: I haven't read this one, but I have a copy. If you would like to read it and write a little review for this website, I will send the book to you at my expense. Any takers?The Known World by Edward P. Jones: I have not read this one but I hear it's quite good. It was extremely well-reviewed.A Ship Made of Paper by Scott Spencer: This one came out a while back and was also well reviewed, although I only ever seemed to hear Scott Spencer fans talking about it.Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins: this one slipped under my radar because this is the first I've heard of it. I know, not very helpful.My pick to win: The Known World by Edward P. JonesAnd the nominees for non-fiction are.... (drum roll):Gulag by Anne Applebaum: I read this book and was completely floored by it. Applebaum was able to get to the heart of a multi-generational tragedy that affected literally tens of millions of people yet is curiously underrepresented in history books. Bravo to her for braving the horrors and writing an unflinching book.The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home by George Howe Colt: this one was very well reviewed, and, though the subject matter is rather quaint and sentimental, it is pretty clever to follow the history of a house across many generations. Apparently, Colt does a good job of it.Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin by John D'Emilio: This one pretty much slipped under my radar as well. Rustin is the man responsible for organizing the historical Civil Rights March on Washington.Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire: This one came out a while ago to not a whole lot of fanfare. It is pretty highly regarded, and is a must read for folks who are interested in Cuba.The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson: This one was a huge seller. The book provides a healthy dose of historical true crime excitement as it traces the steps of a serial killer who terrorized the Chicago Worlds Fair at the turn of the century. Would love to read this one.My pick: I hope Applebaum wins, but I think the award will go to Colt.For all the details and author bios as well as the nominees in the childrens and poetry categories go to the National Book Award website.
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Vollmann and Didion win National Book Awards

Prizes
November 16, 2005 | 2 min read
After a decidedly quiet run up to this year's National Book Awards, the winners have been announced. William T. Vollmann, known, it seems, more for his graphomania than any of his books in particular, has won for his novel, Europe Central. Back in April, when the book came out, Tom LeClair in the New York Times called Europe Central Vollmann's "most welcoming work, possibly his best book." In the next sentence, LeClair calls Vollmann "an off-putting writer, sometimes intentionally so," and perhaps the judges figured now, when Vollmann has written a more accessible (or shorter, though only for Vollmann could 832 pages be considered short) book, is the time to give him the plaudits he deserves.The non-fiction award went, unsurprisingly, to Joan Didion for her heart-wrenching and much praised memoir of the year following the death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, The Year of Magical Thinking. In the Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley called it "a lacerating yet peculiarly stirring book."The other winners are: for poetry, Migration by W.S. Merwin and for young people's literature, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. You can see all the Finalists listed here.
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8 comments:

  1. Great list, though I would love to have seen Sara Baume’s “A Line Made by Walking” included.

  2. Why do people keep referring to Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo as his debut novel? He already published The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil. Ironic considering that you have another article on succinct books!

  6. Novel vs. novella is a matter of semantics. Many Fremch novels are under 40k words. I think several of Francoise Sagan’s novels are shorter than The Brief and Terrifying Reign…

  7. “Why do people keep referring to Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo as his debut novel?”

    Ask him. He says it as much as anyone.

  8. The Booker is increasingly irrelevant as a literary prize, especially since it became open to America, shutting out writers from the Commonwealth. Or perhaps it is just me, maybe I am done with prize lists. Steve Heighton (Canada) and Margaret Drabble (England) wrote (IMO) the best books in 2017.

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2010 National Book Award Finalists Announced

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October 13, 2010 | 1 3 min read
Award season is hitting its stride, and this year’s National Book Award finalists have been announced. This year's fiction list includes something of an invasion from overseas, with Peter Carey, surely the first Booker shortlister to also be a National Book Award finalist (but eligible for both because the Australian-born author is now a U.S. citizen), and Lionel Shriver, who, though a U.S. citizen is often more commonly associated with London, where she makes her home. The nomination for Shriver validates a provactively titled piece that ran in these pages this year, Lionel Shriver: America’s Best Writer?, which suggested that she deserves far more critical attention. Rounding out the fiction list are Nicole Krauss, recently lauded as a New Yorker "20 Under 40" writer, and a pair of relative unknowns Jaimy Gordon and Karen Tei Yamashita, each writing for small indie presses, McPherson and Coffee House, respectively. Also notable, the fiction finalist number four women versus one male author, and Jonathan Franzen and his blockbuster literary novel Freedom are nowhere to be found. The other big name to note is rocker Patti Smith, who earned a nod for her memoir. Here’s a list of the finalists in all four categories with bonus links and excerpts where available: Fiction: Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (excerpt) Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon Great House by Nicole Krauss (excerpt) So Much for That by Lionel Shriver (excerpt) I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita (excerpt) Nonfiction: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (excerpt) Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9-11, Iraq by John W. Dower (excerpt) Just Kids by Patti Smith (excerpt) Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward by Justin Spring (excerpt) Every Man in This Village Is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan K. Stack (excerpt) Poetry: The Eternal City by Kathleen Graber (excerpt [pdf]) Lighthead by Terrance Hayes (poem) By the Numbers by James Richardson (poem) One with Others by C.D. Wright (poems) Ignatz by Monica Youn (poem) Young People's Literature: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine Dark Water by Laura McNeal Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
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The People’s Choice

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March 23, 2004 | 2 min read
Back in January I briefly made mention of something called the WHSmith Award. It's a British award that is determined by public opinion. People vote from a list of nominated finalists to determine the best book of the year. After 148,000 votes cast, they have announced the winners in eight categories, including the latest Harry Potter in the fiction category, Brick Lane by Monica Ali for best debut novel, Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer for travel books, and Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country?, in something called the "factual" category. So as not turn over complete control to the masses, the also give out an award called the "Judges' Choice," which was awarded to the American writer, Richard Powers for his dense critical favorite, The Time of Our Singing. As I said when I first found out about this award, I would be very interested to see the results of an American award determined by popular vote. A lot more Americans read than people think, so an astute businessperson could, in my opinion, do quite well creating an award like this to fill the void. Here are the complete results of the 2004 WHSmith Awards.
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