National Book Award Nominees Announced
The National Book Award nominees were announced today, with some eclectic choices and a few of our own favorites during the year:
Fiction:
- American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
- In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
- Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
- Far North by Marcel Theroux
Nonfiction:
- Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook by David M. Carroll
- Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll
- Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin
- The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy by Adrienne Mayor
- The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles
Poetry:
- Versed by Rae Armantrout
- Or to Begin Again by Ann Lauterbach
- Speak Low by Carl Phillips
- Open Interval by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon
- Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy by Keith Waldrop
Young People's Literature:
- Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
- Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
- Stitches by David Small
- Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
- Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia
As best I can tell, the only writers who have been nominated for NBAs before are Carl Phillips and Phillip Hoose. The biggest surprise is certainly American Salvage, a debut story collection published by Wayne State University Press in their Made in Michigan Writers Series. (Our customer reviewers, four of five from Michigan, are unanimously ga-ga.) And despite all the big names with fall fiction releases, none of them made the fiction shortlist--all five of the nominees, in fact, were published in the first half of the year. The nonfiction list is all science and history, with none of the big current events books and memoirs that have made up so many of the nominees in recent years. Let the Great World Spin, Fordlandia, and Stitches have all been Best of the Month picks for us, although we didn't peg Stitches, Small's graphic memoir, as particularly a young people's book--I was surprised to see it on that list.
Winners are announced on November 18, when Gore Vidal will also receive the Distinguished Contribution to American Letters award, Dave Eggers the Literarian Award, and the Best of the National Book Awards Fiction winner will be named (voting for that remains open to the public through October 21). --Tom
schizuki on October 15, 2009 at 12:18 PM
You forgot "A Memoir of My Presidency", by Barack Obama.
It's a slam-dunk.
David Jacobson, Cleveland Heights, OH on October 15, 2009 at 02:10 PM
A HUGE error on the part of the nominating committee. To leave BHO off of this list shows the whole awards process is a travesty. Two possibilities exist: either there are no people of color on the committee or the white people who control the committee are a bunch of racists.
Nick Reynolds on October 15, 2009 at 03:28 PM
It won't matter if he's on the nominating list or not. He'll win and everyone will be wow'd, amazed and humbled by The One. Bow down to the messiah and his cult of personality. Bow down or face his wrath and the judgement of his M(sm)inions. Bow down!!
David Jacobson, Cleveland Heights, OH on October 15, 2009 at 07:34 PM
@ Nick
I'm bowing. I'm bowing as fast as I can.