National Book Awards: What Do You Think? (PHOTOS, POLL)

The National Book Foundation rolled out the nominations for the 2009 National Book Award on Wednesday, and the winners will be announced November 18. There are some familiar names and titles, and some that are less so. As in past years, the list is sure to cause some commotion, and already has. According to the AP, large publishers have long complained about the lack of big-name titles in the list. This year's list is no exception: five books out of the twenty nominated are from small university presses. Skepticism is not uncommon when it comes to any of the literature prizes, unless you're the one winning them. When Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize last week, her American publisher, Jack Macrae, said, "I never believed in prizes until this one."

EW's Shelf Life blog is already voicing frustrations about the choices. "I'm simply stunned by some of the omissions," says blogger Tina Jordan, "...the list of nominees looks inconsequential -- and the NBA looks a little silly -- when the year's truly great books are nowhere to be seen." Jordan lists Cheever: A Life, by Blake Bailey, Columbine, by Dave Cullen, The Mercy Papers, by Robin Romm, Asterios Polyp, by David Mazzuchelli, Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese, Sing Them Home, by Stephanie Kallos, A Monster's Notes, by Laurie Scheck, and This Is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper as glaring omissions.

Over at the Bookslut blog, a brief comment calls attention to the small presses that are recognized:

[O]nce again, the National Book Foundation has proved that they're in the thrall of soulless Manhattan publishing juggernauts such as...uh...Wayne State University Press? Well-played, National Book Foundation.

What we want to know, though, is what you think.

• Have you read any of the nominated titles?


• Is there anything on the list that shouldn't be there?


• What are the biggest omissions in fiction and non-fiction? (Do you think Lorrie Moore should have been nominated in fiction for example?)


• Should Dave Eggers get an honorary medal alongside Gore Vidal?

Use the participate button below to let us know what you think of the nominees, and vote on your favorite in fiction and non-fiction.

Your National Book Award Nominees

 

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FICTION AND NONFICTION:

FICTION: American Salvage, Bonnie Jo Campbell

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POETRY:
Rae Armantrout, Versed
Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again
Carl Phillips, Speak Low
Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval
Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy

YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE:
Deborah Helligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith
Phillip Hoose, Chaudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
David Small, Stiches
Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times
Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped

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Comments

[TheBaffler]

03:15 AM on 10/22/2009

Should Dave Eggers get an honorary medal alongside Gore Vidal?

Absolutely not. It cheapens the honor to Vidal, like giving the Nobel Peace Prize to people like Kissinger and Obama cheapens the award for real pursuers of peace, like MLK.

[brettrobbins]

12:10 PM on 10/19/2009

This piece should be called National Book Award Nominations: What Do You Think? (PHOTOS, POLL)" The current title implies that the awards have already been handed out.

[LovePeacock]

11:34 AM on 10/16/2009

I can't believe I'm agreeing with Entertainment Weekly, but "Cheever: A Life" is most definitely an oversight. I do appreciate the recognition that short story collections are receiving, though.

[LLLLaura]

08:10 PM on 10/15/2009

I've read Let the Great World Spin and think it's hugely overrated. The attempt to ride in on the skywalker's coattails struck me as arbitrary, a kind of literary freeloading. The story begun in the first segment might have made a decent novella, but the rest felt contrived and overworked. Not, in my view, National Book Award material.

[matics73]

06:37 PM on 10/15/2009

I have read only Let The Great World Spin, but when I read it I was blown away. A truly virtuoso performance by a writer long deserving recognition. I couldn't stop talking about it for weeks after.

Lark and Termite looks great, it's one I can't wait to get my hands on - easy enough for me, since I sell books for a living. I'll do my best to at least give the others a fair shake, but I would love to see Colum McCann win. Let The Great World Spin is a masterpiece, and I don't say that lightly.

As for EW's opinion that Jonathan Tropper's This Is Where I Leave You belongs on there, I have to emphatically disagree. I liked the book a lot, don't get me wrong. It was laugh-out-loud funny in a number of places. I recommend it to readers who liked, for example, Nick Hornby's books or John Hughes's movies. But it is by no means a literary achievement worthy of a National Book Award.

[TheUnrulyServant]

02:47 PM on 10/15/2009

The Poetry category is well-balanced and features forward-thinking poets. Carl Phillips is a very complex poet who nonetheless writes "accessible" poetry; Armantrout, Lauterbach, and Waldrop work toward the avant-garde side of things. I've never heard of Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon but will be sure to check out the book now. As Fabini said, even if you expanded the list to 100 nominees, there would be another 100 you'd leave out. I think any one of those nominees would be worthy of winning.

[Fabini]

09:30 AM on 10/15/2009

Have you read any of the nominated titles?
YES

Is there anything on the list that shouldn't be there?
NO

What are the biggest omissions in fiction and non-ficiton [sic]?
MY OWN WORKS

Should Dave Eggers get an honorary medal alongside Gore Vidal?
I HAVE NO IDEA

There are always 100 additional books that should be on the list. If the list were extended to 100, there would be another 100 that should be on it. We are wonderfully awash in abundant subjects and great writing about them.