Alright I'm a day late on this one but I just wanted to do a quick post...
Yesterday the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. For a complete list of the winners you can go here but here's the list as it would pertain to this blog (and that's what's really important, right?):
FICTION - "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan (Alfred A. Knopf)
DRAMA - "Clybourne Park" by Bruce Norris
HISTORY - "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery" by Eric Foner (W. W. Norton & Company)
BIOGRAPHY - "Washington: A Life" by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press)
POETRY - "The Best of It: New and Selected Poems" by Kay Ryan (Grove Press)
GENERAL NONFICTION - "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Scribner)
I'm going to be honest, I really haven't heard of most of these. The Emperor of All Maladies...yes. A Visit from the Goon Squad...no. And I haven't READ any of them! Does that make me a bad reader?
What about the rest of you? Have you read any of these? What do you think of the winners? Any destined to become future classics?
Sound off below!
7 comments:
I should be receiving A Visit From the Goon Squad any day now, for review. I can't wait. As for the rest of these, I've heard of the Emperor of Maladies, but haven't read any of them.
Emperor of Maladies sold well in my store and it got great reviews, but I read so little nonfiction that I probably won't pick it up. we've booked the author for his paperback tour, though.
Visit from the Goon Squad I read a couple of months ago (review is on my blog if you're interested)...I think it's more of an interesting read than a great one. I didn't care much about any of the characters and felt pretty cold towards it, but the narrative structure is interesting. I'm glad I read it but I will never revisit it.
Well, I'm so glad you said that, because - apart from a faint toll of a bell with Visit from the Goon Squad - I know nothing about any on the list...and was just wondering if I might be the worst-read person in the western hemisphere! (perhaps a tiny excuse not being in the US, but even so...)
I've seen the Washington book around someplace, either in store or BN online. But I've not heard of the others.
I did read A Visit From the Goon Squad, but I didn't love it. It was indeed an interesting book, in that its structure was unexpected and, I guess, postmodern (is that what the kids are calling it these days? there was a whole chapter in PowerPoint, after all). But it didn't involve me emotionally at all. I'd read another of Egan's novels previously, though, and disliked that one too, so maybe I should have known.
My interests trend towards the nonfiction, so I was familiar with the History (well deserved), Biography (not his best work) and General Nonfiction selections. I also had heard about Egan's book, but as soon as I discovered that it wasn't about the actual Goon Squad I lost interest.
Well at least a bunch of people have heard of the Good Squad one so I just feel totally silly ;)
I suggest people read As the Crowe Flies' review. It was very good and I think made me decide I didn't want to read the book.
Post a Comment