National Book Award 2010 Winners Announced

The National Book Award winners were revealed last night at the 61st National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. Pat Conroy announced the National Book Award finalists on October 13, which included a previous National Book Award Winner, two previous Finalists, thirteen women -- the largest number of women Finalists in a single year in the Awards' history -- and six books from small, independent presses.

Here are the winners:

Fiction: "Lord of Misrule," by Jaimy Gordon
Nonfiction: "Just Kids," by Patti Smith
Poetry: "Lighthead," by Terrance Hayes
Young people's literature: "Mockingbird," by Kathryn Erskine
Lifetime achievement award: Tom Wolfe

Do you think the right books were chosen?

See a slide show of all the finalists:

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Peter Carey's "Parrot and Olivier in America"

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Fiction

10 American Heroes You Didn't Know About

The 10 Most Common Phobias (PHOTOS)

14 Ambitious Amateurs Who Made It Big (PHOTOS)

7 Sex Myths Debunked

11 People You Don't Want To Be Friends With

Processed Food: 9 Nasty Truths About The Meals You Eat (PHOTOS)

Fiction

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Total comments: 88 | Post a Comment

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Comments

[bblueskye]

02:26 AM on 11/19/2010

Patti Smith's "Just Kids" was one of the best bios/memoirs that I have read. She really put together some of their best moments, and she explained quite a bit about that interesting relationship. I'd say she deserves the success for that book.

[c-tom]

01:44 AM on 11/19/2010

Who were the runners-up for the lifetime award?

[brooke276]

09:41 PM on 11/18/2010

If I can save anyone who reads this, it will be worth it. "Lord of Misrule" is absolutely 100% UNREADABLE. Absolute piece of rubbish. I literally came out of the room and told my husband "What the f*^& did I just read?"

[MSchlagel]

07:30 PM on 11/18/2010

I can't offer an opinion as to the fiction winner. But in the case of Patti Smith...

YES, YES, YES.

Just Kids is a beautifully written account of two unique people whose childhoods seem so classically post-WWII American and whose adult lives placed them in the forefront of American culture. People still have such viceral responses to their work. Perhaps this is because Smith and Mapplethorp are/were so deeply passionate about their art, their friends and family.

When Patti Smith was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she told the story of her mother who had one request when her daughter entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "sing your mother's favorite song, the one I like to vacuum to." (Rock 'n' Roll N——-). It still makes me smile when I think of it.

[buzzcuts]

07:02 PM on 11/18/2010

God I love Patti Smith. She has been an inspiration and beacon to me since I first discovered her
way back in the seventies. Well deserved. Bravo Patti. Long may you rock on.

[Rozanna]

06:00 PM on 11/18/2010

Congratulations to Patti Smith. I look forward to reading her book.

[columbo0808]

05:06 PM on 11/18/2010

I just finished reading Patti Smith's "Just Kids" and it absolutely deserved to win. Just an awesome book that's well written and I could pick it up and re-read it again - now. Congrats Patti!

[Goliadkin]

03:35 PM on 11/18/2010

Go Patti! What a visionary.

[Gary Baker]

03:08 PM on 11/18/2010

Wasn't Lord Of Misrule just published? How can it already be a winner?

[GDI]

04:29 PM on 11/18/2010

I was wondering about that myself. How are these books judged? By ARCs? Outlines submitted by the authors?

[Al Maginnes]

07:52 AM on 11/19/2010

Publishers can submit the books before the publication date.

[The Iron Cage]

09:14 PM on 11/18/2010

It only takes a few days to read a book...

[whatthel]

03:08 PM on 11/18/2010

Good for Patti Smith. I saw her in concert, in 77. It was a great show.

[sowsear]

02:41 PM on 11/18/2010

"Just Kids" is a beautiful book, a detailed, fascinating portrait of the New York scene in the late 60s-70s, a moving, personal account of a deep, abiding friendship.

[swensonj]

02:04 PM on 11/18/2010

Thanks for this chance to judge them by their covers.

[utopiarunt]

01:55 PM on 11/18/2010

Kudos Patti. Always envious of her involvement with my two favorite men - Todd Rundgren and Bruce Springsteen. Yikes! Doesn't get much better than that, AND she and Todd are twins separated at birth.. (esp. in the early 70's they were soo similar in appearance, and attitude.)

[PhillyQuaker]

06:23 AM on 11/19/2010

I used to serve drinks to one of Todd's sisters at a bar I worked at in State College in the mid-seventies. Someone told me she was Todd's twin sister - nice young lady and extremely well dressed.

[elanenergy]

01:54 PM on 11/18/2010

I'm always late in reading the best books. Pat Conroy, however, cannot write them fast enough. He is a beautiful voice and an expansive storyteller. I'm glad to see so many women on the list.

[Paintio]

01:53 PM on 11/18/2010

Patti Smith, wisdom she has it. Gift she is it. Plus, plus.......the Rock and Roll, she has it too.