National Book Award Finalists

I'm about two weeks late in mentioning this, but the finalists for this year's National Book Awards were announced earlier this month. Here's the list:

Fiction:

American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Far North by Marcel Theroux

Non Fiction:

Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook by David M. Carroll
Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species by Sean B. Carroll
Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City by Greg Grandin
The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy by Adrienne Mayor
The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles

Poetry:

Versed by Rae Armantrout
Or To Begin Again by Ann Lauterbach
Speak Low by Carl Phillips
Open Interval by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon
Transcendental Studies by Keith Waldrop

Young People's Lit

Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Stitches by David Small
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia

I'm familiar with many of the titles, from working in a bookstore, but I haven't read a single one of them myself.

The best part of this year's National Book Awards, though, is that they've chosen Gore Vidal as the recipient of the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. It's certainly about time!

Speaking of Gore, I did buy his new pictorial memoir, Snapshots In History's Glare. There wasn't a whole lot of new information for someone who'd already read his two earlier memoirs, but the pictures were really worth the price of the book and when you add in Gore's commentary and captions, it really is a must have for any fan. There were a lot of interesting shots I'd never seen before, including copies of letters written by Gore or friends of his (such as Paul Newman).

Most fascinating of all, I think, were the copies of just a few of the letters from gay men who wrote to Vidal after the publication of The City and the Pillar in 1948. They were moving and depressing all at the same time, a portrait in miniature of that era when the closet was the norm.