Fiction CategoryThis year's National Book Award Finalists were announced on October 14. The winner will be announced at the 60th National Book Awards Dinner and Ceremony on Wednesday, November 18. For fiction readers, here's a list of the finalists, plot synopsis included. Visit the NBA website to read author interviews and to find links to author web sites.
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Fourteen gutsy short stories about life in rural Michigan, the author's home ground.
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
In 1974 Manhattan, a radical young Irish monk struggles with personal demons while making his home among Bronx prostitutes, a group of mothers shares grief over their lost Vietnam soldier sons, and a young grandmother attempts to prove her worth.
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
A volume of linked stories describes the intertwined lives of landowners and their retainers on the Gurmani family farm in Pakistan, in a collection that explores such themes as culture, class power, and desire.
Lark and Termite by Jayne Ann Phillips
Lark and Termite by Jayne Ann Phillips
Set during the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, this is the story of two children --Lark, on the verge of adulthood, and her brother, Termite, a child unable to walk and talk but filled with radiance --who grow up with their mother and aunt while their soldier-father fights for his life during the chaotic early months of the Korean War.
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Far North by Marcel Theroux
Out on the far northern border of a failed state, Makepeace -- sheriff and perhaps the last citizen -- patrols the city ruins, salvaging books but keeping the guns in good repair.
