I am a big awards buff (is that even a word?), and I follow most of the major prizes, not just in literature, but film and music as well.
After the surprising verdict at the National Book Awards (well, surprising to me at any rate), where Jaimy Gordon won for Misrule, I was quite looking forward to the nominees for the prestigious Book Critics Circle Award. Alas, I have not read one of the five contenders ... yet. And, shockingly, there is not a single duplicate from the National Book Award nominees list, and that includes Gordon's novel!
So here is who made the cut: Jennifer Egan for "A Visit From The Goon Squad" (not surprising, as she was on almost everybody's best-of-the-year list), Jonathan Franzen for "Freedom" (ditto), David Grossman for "To The End Of The Land" (which I confess I had never heard of before this announcement), "Comedy In A Minor Key" by Hans Keilson (sort of a surprise; and what's really awesome is that he's 101 years old), and Paul Murray for Skippy Dies. So, one woman, two books translated into English from another language, one blockbuster, and one sort of hip, wild card (Murray).
I hope to read most of these before the winner is announced in March, and as always, I'll keep you updated on my progress.
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