Omnivoracious

The Most Bookery Booker: Down to Six

The Booker Prize potentates (in the persons in this go-round of judges Victoria Glendenning, Mariella Frostrup, and John Mullan) have chosen six finalists for the Best of the Booker prize (out of the 41 Booker winners eligible):

• Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (1999 winner)
• The Ghost Road by Pat Barker (1995)
• Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (1988)
• Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)
• The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (1974)
• The Siege of Krishnapur by J.G. Farrell (1973)

Notable snubs? Life of Pi? The English Patient? Possession? (Those are at least among the most popular winners in the US.) At this point, the selection of the winner is up to "you": that is, you can vote for the winner on the Man Booker website, although at this hour I can't see how to do it. Not that I could really do so myself in good conscience: it reveals me as either poorly read or Anglophobic* (or both!) that I've read exactly none of the well-known nominees. But nevertheless I'll root (and even vote) for The Siege of Krishnapur for the sole reason that it's published in the States by New York Review Books, whose exquisite taste has never ever steered me wrong.

And meanwhile, the required gripes. Yes, I enjoy book awards with some shamelessness, and I don't even mind the idea of a Best of the Booker. But what's embarrassing about this one is the prizegivers' lack of patience. Because they did this once before, for the Booker's 25th anniversary (the winner: Midnight's Children). So is it their 50th anniversary now? No, it's just the 40th. They just couldn't wait, could they? Ten years is a long time when you're itchy for PR in the downtime between fall prize seasons. But at this rate of accelerated impatience they'll want to do this again for the 45th anniversary, and before long they'll be running an updated contest every year: "Will Rushdie hold the title for one more year?" Even I might stop posting on the subject at that point. --Tom

*--I notice in retrospect that only two of the six are actually English by birth and upbringing--and some people even consider Farrell Irish--so maybe I should rephrase this to Commonwealthphobic.

Down River wins the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Novel

Last night, at an awards banquet in New York City, the Mystery Writers of America announced their 2008 Edgar Award winners. We were thrilled to see that John Hart took home the award for Best Novel for Down River, which made our Top 100 list of editors' picks for the Best Books of 2007. Among the other terrific reads (and in-house Amazon favorites) in the winners' circle are Tana French's remarkable debut In the Woods and Katherine Marsh's The Night Tourist. Check out the full list of winners and finalists below. --Anne

Best Novel:

· Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
· Priest by Ken Bruen
· The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
· Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman
· Down River by John Hart -- Winner!

Best First Novel by an American Author:
· Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell
· In the Woods by Tana French -- Winner!
· Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard
· Head Games by Craig McDonald
· Pyres by Derek Nikitas

Best Paperback Original:
· Queenpin by Megan Abbott -- Winner!
· Blood of Paradise by David Corbett
· Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks
· Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill
· Who Is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall  

Best Fact Crime:
· The Birthday Party by Stanley Alpert
· Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi -- Winner!
· Chasing Justice by Kerry Max Cook
· Relentless Pursuit by Kevin Flynn
· Sacco & Vanzetti by Bruce Watson

Best Critical/Biographical Work:
· The Triumph of the Thriller by Patrick Anderson
· A Counter-History of Crime Fiction by Maurizio Ascari
· Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou
· Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley -- Winner!
· Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy by Jean Gould O'Connell

Best Young Adult:
· Rat Life by Tedd Arnold -- Winner!
· Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney
· Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
· Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin
· Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston  

Best Juvenile:
· The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
· Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman
· Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn 
· The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh -- Winner!
· Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things by Wendelin Van Draanen  

Breaking News: Richard Morgan Wins Arthur C. Clarke Award

As reported here via text message, Richard Morgan has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Thirteen (published as Black Man in England). Thirteen made Amazon's best SF/Fantasy list last year.

Now Morgan has one more reason for readers to pick up the book. Last year in an exclusive Amazon interview, we asked him to tell us what made Thirteen special. His response then? "It is, by all critical accounts, the best thing I’ve written so far. It’s stuffed full of contentious material that, whether you agree with it or not, will give you conversational ammunition at dinner parties for months to come. Shock and Awe your guests with Provocative Genetic Science! It’s my first conscious attempt at a world that is not dystopian--roll up and see a cheery(ish) future society, one you might not actually mind living in for a change. It has a very unpredictable storyline--I know this because I had no idea where my characters were going half the time, and if I couldn’t guess, it’s unlikely the reader will either. If thirteen is a thriller, it certainly isn’t what the gaming community would call 'mission-based'. It isn’t as long as "Against the Day", and is therefore both easier and lighter to hold while reading. You could take it with you on the bus, easy.

Nebula Award Winners Announced

Breaking News: Michael Chabon wins the Nebula Award for best novel. The Yiddish Policemen's Union was announced the winner last night at the Nebula Award banquet in Austin, Texas. Michael Moorcock was awarded the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award. For the full list of winners, visit Locus Online.

This Is Why I Wish I Lived in New York (Although I Don't, Really)

Denis Johnson, who couldn't be at the ceremony last fall to accept his National Book Award (his wife Cindy did in his stead) for Tree of Smoke because he was reporting in Iraq, gave in recompense a reading from a work in progress at Manhattan's New School. Paper Cuts reports that he was, among other things, handsome and funny:

“This is from my work in progress,” he said. “It’s a short novel. Pretty literary stuff. But you’re sophisticated New Yorkers. You can handle it.”

The scene he read was about a gambler in debt to his bookie, the two of them driving around in a Cadillac with a big gun in the glove compartment. The sentences were not trippy or jazzy or mystical or visionary. They were not sprawling. Johnson read a couple of pages, then mugged a double take at his manuscript. “What the —? Where’s the literary? I thought I put something literary in my suitcase, but this is just cheap pulp fiction.” He grinned at us. Really, he explained, this was from a novel that will be serialized in Playboy, about a man down on his luck who meets a damsel in distress. He read on, turning the pages, pausing occasionally to drink from a water bottle or to laugh at one of his lines.

--Tom

IACP Cookbook Awards: 2008 Winners Announced

Last night, at an awards ceremony in New Orleans, the International Association of Culinary Professionals announced their 2008 cookbook award winners. Paul Johnson's Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood took home the top honor, Cookbook of the Year. John Wiley & Sons led the pack with four awards total, with Fish Forever taking Cookbook of the Year and the Single Subject Category.

On Friday morning I printed out the list of the nominees and, Oscar pool-style, checked off the titles I thought would win in each category (with a Cookbook of the Year write-in), put it in a sealed envelope and filed it away to compare and contrast once the IACP picks were revealed. Let's just say, thank goodness I didn't hit the casinos this weekend as my projections were an abysmal one for fourteen. Bring on the Beards!

--BTP

2008 Winners and Finalists

Cookbook of the Year:
Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood by Paul Johnson

American:
Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer and Paula Disbrowe
A Love Affair with Southern Cooking by Jean Anderson
The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman--Winner!

Bread, Other Baking, and   Sweets:
Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader and Lauren Chattman--Winner!
Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor by Peter Reinhart
Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Chefs and Restaurants:
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto--Winner!
Pier by Greg Doyle, Grant King, and Katrina Kanetani

Compilations:
Baking Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at the Culinary Institute of America by The Culinary Institute of America and Darra Goldstein
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Techniques for the Artisan Confectioner by The Culinary Institute of America and Peter P. Greweling--Winner!
Mark Bittman's Quick & Easy Recipes from the New York Times by Mark Bittman

First Book (The Julia Child Award):
Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake by Elizabeth Falkner
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto--Winner!
Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey by Efisio Farris and Jim Eber

Food Photography and Styling:
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist by A.J. Rathbun--Winner!
Rosa's New Mexican Table by Roberto Santibanez

Food Reference/Technical:
Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting, and Enjoying Fine Chocolates by Clay Gordon
Food: The History of Taste by Paul Freedman--Winner!
Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America by Rowan Jacobsen    

General:
Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook by Jacques Pepin
Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You A Better Cook by Jamie Oliver--Winner!
Cooking by James Peterson

Health and Special Diets:
Allergy-Free Cookbook by Alice Sherwood
Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide & Cookbook by Bonnie Sanders Polin and Frances Towner Giedt
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman--Winner!

International:
Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey by Efisio Farris and Jim Eber
The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan
Turquoise by Greg and Lucy Malouf--Winner!

Literary Food Writing:
Beans: A History by Ken Albala
Julia Child by Laura Shapiro--Winner!
The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg

Single Subject:
Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood by Paul Johnson--Winner!
The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss
Vegetables: Recipes and Techniques from the World's Premier Culinary College by The Culinary Institute of America

Wine, Beer, or Spirits:
Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist by A.J. Rathbun
IMBIBE! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, A Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich
The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson--Winner!

Jane Grigson Award (Tie):
Beans: A History by Ken Albala
To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and the Battle for the Wine Bottle by George M. Taber

Design Award:
Egg

2008 Eisner Award Finalists Announced

(Just one half of one table of comics considered during last year's judging weekend.)

The Eisner Award finalists for best comics/graphic novels have been announced, in a dizzying array of categories. So many categories, in fact, that I'm just going to let Amazon readers peruse it all themselves, and say I'm happy to see such imaginative fare as Shaun Tan's The Arrival, Jeff Lemire's Essex County, Jason Shiga's Bookhunter, and Matt Kindt's Super Spy making the list. The 2008 Eisner Awards judging panel consisted of John Davis (director of pop culture markets, Bookazine), Paul DiFilippo (SF and comics author), Atom! Freeman (owner of Brave New World Comics in Santa Clarita, CA), Jeff Jensen (senior writer, Entertainment Weekly), and Eva Volin (supervising children's librarian for the Alameda Free Library in Alameda, CA).

Having been a judge last year, knowing how much effort goes into the process, it's mind-blowing that they survive the experience. In addition to their regular reading, the judges are flown to San Diego and basically locked in a room for an entire weekend to read anything they've missed and to thrash out the finalists.

Tiptree Award Winner: Sarah Hall's Daughters of the North

The James Tiptree Jr. Award has been announced, and the winner is Sarah Hall for Daughters of the North (published in 2007 in England under the title The Carhullan Army). The winner will be celebrated on May 25 at Wiscon, a convention held in Madison, Wisconsin, and receives $1,000. The jurors for the award were Charlie Anders, Gwenda Bond (chair), Meghan McCarron, Geoff Ryman, and Sheree Renee Thomas.

As stated in the press release for the award, "The James Tiptree Jr. Award is presented annually to a work or works that explore and expand gender roles in science fiction and fantasy. The award seeks out work that is thought-provoking, imaginative, and perhaps even infuriating. [It] is intended to reward those women and men who are bold enough to contemplate shifts and changes in gender roles, a fundamental aspect of any society."

Judge Bond wrote of the winning novel, also a winner of European literary awards, “Hall does so many things well in this book – writing female aggression in a believable way, dealing with real bodies in a way that makes sense, and getting right to the heart of the contradictions that violence brings out in people, but particularly in women in ways we still don't see explored that often. I found the writing entrancing and exactly what it needed to be for the story; lean, but well-turned.”

"James Tiptree Jr." was the pen name of Alice Sheldon, whose short stories were, as the Tiptree administrators point out, "notable for their thoughtful examination of the roles of men and women in our society."

2008 Pulitzers Announced

There's no doubt a lot of back-slapping going on the Washington Post newsroom this afternoon (and, as someone who grew up on the Post, it's always a pleasure to read a headline like this in the New York Times: "Washington Post Wins 6 Pulitzer Prizes"), but in bookland, here are the winners of the 2008 Pulitzers (two finalists in each category are announced at the same time as the winners):

• Fiction: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (finalists: Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson and Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal)
• History: What God Hath Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe (finalists: Nixon and Kissinger by Robert Dallek and The Coldest Winter by David Halberstam)
• Biography: Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson (finalists: The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein by Martin Duberman and The Life of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader)
• General Nonfiction: The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander (finalists: The Cigarette Century by Allan Brandt and The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross)
• Poetry (two winners!): Time and Materials by Robert Hass and Failure by Philip Schultz (finalist: Messenger by Ellen Bryant Voigt)
• Drama: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts (finalists: Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang (not in print yet, apparently) and Dying City by Christopher Shinn)

Also, breaking with their recent tradition of honoring deceased jazz geniuses, the board gave Bob Dylan a Special Citation for his "lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." And when I went to see if Mark Feeney, who won the Criticism prize for his writing on film and art for the Boston Globe, had published any books, I found this, which, for someone like me who has pretty much memorized All the President's Men, looks like candy: Nixon at the Movies: A Book About Belief.

Meanwhile, my remark last week that the Pulitzer had in recent years been pretty consistently picking the consensus choice for best novel of the year was certainly confirmed, as their choice of Oscar Wao follows the National Book Critics Circle award and his recent victory in the 2008 Tournament of Books, as well as wide-ranging critical love (and high praise in these parts too). The big surprise on the list above is Eden's Outcasts, which flew under the radar (or least my radar) since its release last August, although our six customer reviewers were unanimous in their praise. Glad to see it will be finding more readers. And for a nice side note on fiction finalist Lore Segal (also author of the fabulous Tell Me a Mitzi) see the last question in our interview with her former student Matthew Sharpe, who dedicated Jamestown to her. Our list of previous Pulitzer winners is here. --Tom

P.S. I didn't think this through until after posting, but what exactly makes The Years of Extermination a General Nonfiction book and What God Hath Wrought a History book? Doesn't the presence of a date range in your subtitle pretty much guarantee you belong in History?

IMPAC Impact?

The shortlist for the--[deep breath]--2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award was announced yesterday. In typical IMPAC fashion (they begin their process by announcing a reallylonglist of 137 nominees), the shortlist is pretty long at eight books:

• The Speed of Light by Javier Cercas (Spain)
• The Sweet and Simple Kind by Yasmine Gooneratne (Sri Lanka)
• De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage (Lebanon/Canada)
• Dreams of Speaking by Gail Jones (Australia)
• Let It Be Morning by Sayed Kashua (Israel)
• The Attack by Yasmina Khadra (Algeria)
• The Woman Who Waited by Andrei Makine (Russia)
• Winterwood by Patrick McCabe (Ireland)

As I've mentioned before, the IMPAC is one of the more idiosyncratic awards around notable for, along with its infinite longlist, a) its giant (100,000-euro) prize, which, with current exchange rates, dwarfs any US prize; b) its lengthy nomination process, which results in a shortlist of often fairly old books--many of this year's, you may notice, were published in the US in 2006, and one, Dreams of Speaking, has apparently even had time to go out of print here; and c) its interesting and authentically international choices. Last year, for instance, the prize helped put Per Petterson's late-breaking hit Out Stealing Horses on the map.

And speaking of awards, don't forget that the last big 2007 book prizes, the Pulitzers, are announced on Monday. They are pretty much the opposite of the IMPAC, since they don't announce the nominees beforehand (they just quietly list, in the tiniest type possible, two finalists along with the winner). As the last award of the season, the Pulitzers have lately come to seem like they anoint the consensus book-of-the-year pick (The Road, Gilead, The Known World, and Middlesex in recent years), and this year they can play tiebreaker between Denis Johnson's NBA-winning Tree of Smoke and Junot Diaz's NBCC-winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. --Tom

Trust no one over 14: The Children's Choice Book Awards

I know. I know. Another set of book awards. But this one is actually different, I promise. This time the kids get to decide who wins.

Finalists have been posted for the first-ever Children's Choice Book Awards (sponsored by the Children's Book Council). Finalists in the following categories were determined through the CBC's Children's Choices program, which means that they were chosen by kids from all over the country:

Favorite Book, Grades K to 2

Dino Dinners by Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping by Eileen Christelow
Frankie Stein written by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Kevan Atteberry
Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark written by Ken Geist, illustrated by Julia Gorton
Tucker's Spooky Halloween by Leslie McGuirk

Favorite Book, Grades 3 to 4

Babymouse #6: Camp Babymouse by Jennifer L. Holm and Matt Holm
Big Cats: Hunters of the Night by Elaine Landau
Magic Treehouse #38: Monday With a Mad Genius written by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Sal Murdocca
The Richest Poor Kid (Another Sommer Time Story) written by Carl Sommer, illustrated by Jorge Martinez
Wolves  by Duncan Searl (Smart Animals series)

Favorite Book, Grades 5 to 6

Beowulf: Monster Slayer written by Paul D. Storrie, illustrated by Ron Randall
Encyclopedia Horrifica:The Terrifying TRUTH! About Vampires, Ghosts, Monsters, and More by Joshua Gee
Ghosts by Stephen Krensky (Monster Chronicles series)
The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley by Amy Lissiat and Colin Thompson
When the Shadbush Blooms written by Carla Messinger with Susan Katz, illustrated by David Kanietakeron Fadden

Kids can also vote on finalists in these categories, which were essentially the top-selling books of 2007:

Author of the Year

Anthony Horowitz for Snakehead (Alex Rider Adventure Series) (ages 9 to 12)
Erin Hunter for The Sight (Warrior: Power of Three, Book 1) (ages 9 to 12)
Jeff Kinney for Diary of Wimpy Kid (ages 9 to 12)
Rick Riordan for The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book Three, grades 6 to 9)
J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (YA)

Illustrator of the Year 

Jan Brett for The Three Snow Bears (ages 4 to 8)
Ian Falconer for Olivia Helps with Christmas (ages 4 to 8)
Robin Preiss Glasser for Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy (ages 4 to 8)
Brian Selznick for The Invention of Hugo Cabret (ages 9 to 12)
Mo Willems for Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (ages 4 to 8)

Children have until May 4 to cast their votes at bookstores, school libraries, or online. (Actually, anyone can vote on the website, but of course we know that you'll all stick to the honor system.) Winners will be announced during Children's Book Week, which runs May 12-18.--Heidi

5 Young Lions and 20 Oranges

The New York Public Library (and Young Patron Ethan Hawke) announced the shortlist for this year's Young Lions Award ($10,000 to "a promising author under the age of 35"). (Speaking of youth, I'm thinking of creating a new literary award for which any writer younger than me--and suddenly, there are many--will be eligible, to be known as the Logan's Run Prize.) Last year's winner was Olga Grushin for The Dream Life of Sukhanov, and this year's contenders are

• Ron Currie Jr., God Is Dead
• Ellen Litman, The Last Chicken in America
• Peter Nathaniel Malae, Teach the Free Man
• Dinaw Mengestu, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
• Emily Mitchell, The Last Summer of the World

By the way, I haven't read The Last Summer of the World (ok, I'll confess: I haven't read any of the five, but the Mengestu is a big favorite around here), but the raves for it from PW and Booklist on our page made me think I'd really like it, and then I noticed in the Customer Reviews this short note from Steve Kettmann:

I wrote the Publishers Weekly review reprinted above, and want to add a follow-up: Few novels I've read in recent years have stayed with me as much as the Last Summer of the World. I find myself often wanting to recommend it to people, so I'll do that here as well. A beautifully written, deeply imagined book that is a pleasure to read.

Now I want to read it even more...

And meanwhile, to continue with awards I'm not eligible for, I'm a little late in catching up with the Orange Prize longlist, which was revealed last week, but a reader requested the links and I'm happy to provide. (The Orange Prize, to refresh your memory, is given to a novel written in English by a woman and published in the UK between the previous April and the current March. This year's gender objections lodged by Tim Lott and A.S. Byatt.) Here's the full longlist (not all are available in the US yet, so I've marked those links that go to our UK site):

• The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
• The Room of Lost Things by Stella Duffy (UK)
• The Keep by Jennifer Egan
• The Gathering by Anne Enright
• The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (UK)
• The Master Bedroom by Tessa Hadley
• Fault Lines by Nancy Huston (UK; in US in October)
• Sorry by Gail Jones (UK, in US in June)
• The Outcast by Sadie Jones
• The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg (UK)
• When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson
• In the Dark by Deborah Moggach (UK)
• Mistress by Anita Nair
• Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
• The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
• The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer
• The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
• Monster Love by Carol Topolski (UK)
• The Road Home by Rose Tremain (UK)
• Lottery by Patricia Wood

The shortlist is announced April 15, the winner on June 15. --Tom

It Must Be Something in the Air: Science Fiction Awards Frenzy!

Wow. You turn your back for one second and SF award announcements pop up like colorful exotic weeds.

First, the Philip K. Dick Award goes to Omnivoracious favorite M.J. Harrison for Nova Swing, then the British SF Association Awards in London announce another favorite Ian McDonald as the winner for best novel with Brasyl. (Those crazy Brits also annointed Brian Aldiss' Non-Stop as Best Novel of 1958, marking a really odd trend in SF of literary time travel.)

And, finally, the Prometheus Awards for "best Libertarian SF" of 2007 announced their finalists. It's a virtual monopoly, with all five novels published by Tor: Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell, The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod, Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner, The Gladiator by Harry S. Turtledove, and Ha'Penny by Jo Walton. Apparently, there's not a single libertarian at Eos, Bantam, and Del Rey, et al.

What this means for Tor isn't clear, but I would expect startling effects. As the libertarian infiltration continues, the publisher will no doubt seek readers without the tyranny of bookstores or printed pages. Editors will declare their desks separate sovereign territories and render them tax-free. The Flat-Iron Building Tor occupies--narrow enough as it is--will become a libertarian stronghold, with the hundred thousand different libertarian flags flying overhead.

Which is another way of saying awards season has me delirious. (But, seriously, what's up with the BSFA awarding a best novel from 1958? Did they forget to do it...in 1958?)

James Beard Foundation Awards: 2008 Finalists Announced

Following last Monday's reveal of the 2008 IACP finalists, today the James Beard Foundation announced their nominees for 2008 (along with a snazzy update to their website).  Hailed as "the Oscars of the food world," the Beards honor cookbooks, chefs, journalists, food writers, and food and beverage professionals. Winners will be announced in a black-tie ceremony at Lincoln Center on Sunday, June 8.

Ten Speed Press led the pack with the most IACP nominations and continues their run with the most James Beard nods (6 total, including their Celestial Arts imprint).

Titles Nominated in More Than One Category: The Country Cooking of France (International, Photography)

Total Nominations Per Publisher:

Ten Speed Press: 6
John Wiley & Sons: 5
HarperCollins: 4
Artisan: 3
Penguin Books: 3
Stewart, Tabori & Chang: 3
Chronicle Books: 2
University of California Press: 2
W.W. Norton & Company: 2
Bloomsbury: 1
DK Publishing: 1
Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 1
Flammarion: 1
Kyle Books: 1
Little, Brown & Co.: 1
Scribner: 1

Congratulations to Amazon in-house favorite Junot Díaz (who seems to make almost every book-awards shortlist), who was nominated for the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award in the Broadcast Media Awards category for his piece "He'll Take El Alto," which ran in last September's Gourmet. He's up against Alan Richman and Francine Prose.

And on the Seattle front, we raise a glass of Veuve to these local nominees:

Tom Douglas (Outstanding Restaurateur)
Canlis (Outstanding Service)
Maria Hines, Tilth (Best Chef: Northwest)
Holly Smith, Cafe Juanita (Best Chef: Northwest)
Ethan Stowell, Union (Best Chef: Northwest)
Jason Wilson, Crush (Best Chef: Northwest)
Maneki (American Classics Award)
Sara Dickerman (Multimedia Writings on Food)

Hugo Award Finalists Announced

The 2008 Hugo Award finalists have been announced on the website for the 2008 World SF Convention. The nominees in the novel category are as follows:

The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins, Fourth Estate)

Brasyl by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)

Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer (Tor; Analog Oct. 2006-Jan/Feb. 2007)

The Last Colony by John Scalzi (Tor)

Halting State by Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit)

The Hugo Award is perhaps the most venerable of the science fiction awards and tends to provide a core sample of the "center of genre" in any given year, sometimes with what might call "celebrated outsiders" getting a nod (in this case Chabon). The best book on the list, for my money, however, is Brasyl by Ian McDonald and I'll be crossing my fingers that the Scotsman gets the win. The winners will be announced at the World SF Convention in Denver, held August 6-10 this year. Congratulations to all of the finalists!

IACP Cookbook Awards: 2008 Finalists Announced

The cookbook award season is officially on the front burner. Earlier this evening the International Association of Culinary Professionals announced the 2008 finalists for their annual cookbook awards. If the James Beard Awards are the "Oscars of the food world," then that would probably make the IACP awards the gourmet Golden Globes.

As in past years, the  "International" aspect of the IACP awards comes into play with the occasional title that isn't that familiar (or easy to locate) in the States (Pier and Turquoise anyone?). While Ten Speed Press had five featured finalists, I was disappointed that one of my favorite books they published in 2007, David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop didn't make the cut. The same goes for two of my other favorite titles from last last year, David Pasternack's The Young Man and the Sea and Gina DePalma's Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen.

It's always difficult to predict the winners, but when thinking about Cookbook of the Year, I'd start by seriously considering any title nominated in more than one category. Using this less-than-sure-fire method, here are this year's double-nominees: Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges (Chefs and Restaurants, Food Styling and Photography), Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking (Chefs and Restaurants, First Book), Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey by Efisio Farris and Jim Eber (First Book, International), and Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist (Food Photography and Styling; Wine, Beer, or Spirits). The prolific Mark Bittman is also nominated twice, but for two different books: Mark Bittman's Quick & Easy Recipes from the New York Times and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food.

Full disclosure: We are over-the-moon thrilled for Amazon's very own A.J. Rathbun, all-around raconteur and author of the IACP double-nominee, Good Spirits. Congratulations, A.J.! This year's winners will be announced on Friday, April 18 at an awards ceremony in New Orleans, LA.

--BTP

2008 Finalists

American:
Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans by Susan Spicer and Paula Disbrowe
A Love Affair with Southern Cooking by Jean Anderson
The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman

Bread, Other Baking, and   Sweets:
Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers by Daniel Leader and Lauren Chattman
Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor by Peter Reinhart
Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Chefs and Restaurants:
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto
Pier by Greg Doyle, Grant King, and Katrina Kanetani

Compilations:
Baking Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at the Culinary Institute of America by The Culinary Institute of America and Darra Goldstein
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Techniques for the Artisan Confectioner by The Culinary Institute of America and Peter P. Greweling
Mark Bittman's Quick & Easy Recipes from the New York Times by Mark Bittman

First Book (The Julia Child Award):
Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake by Elizabeth Falkner
Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking by Masaharu Morimoto
Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey by Efisio Farris and Jim Eber

Food Photography and Styling:
Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges by Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist by A.J. Rathbun
Rosa's New Mexican Table by Roberto Santibanez

Food Reference/Technical:
Discover Chocolate: The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting, and Enjoying Fine Chocolates by Clay Gordon

Food: The History of Taste by Paul Freedman
Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America by Rowan Jacobsen    

General:
Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook by Jacques Pepin
Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You A Better Cook by Jamie Oliver
Cooking by James Peterson

Health and Special Diets:
Allergy-Free Cookbook by Alice Sherwood
Cleveland Clinic Healthy Heart Lifestyle Guide & Cookbook by Bonnie Sanders Polin and Frances Towner Giedt
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman

International:
Sweet Myrtle and Bitter Honey by Efisio Farris and Jim Eber
The Country Cooking of France by Anne Willan
Turquoise by Greg and Lucy Malouf

Literary Food Writing:
Beans: A History by Ken Albala
Julia Child by Laura Shapiro
The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy by Sasha Issenberg

Single Subject:
Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood by Paul Johnson
The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss
Vegetables: Recipes and Techniques from the World's Premier Culinary College by The Culinary Institute of America

Wine, Beer, or Spirits:
Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist by A.J. Rathbun
IMBIBE! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, A Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar by David Wondrich
The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson  

How Not to Write x 27

I'm a bit late in coming to it (via the Virginia Quarterly Review blog), but the editors of the Willesden Herald, having reaped a balance of fame and scorn for deciding, via the person of their final judge Zadie Smith, not to award their short story prize