No one.
A tad anticlimactic? I think so. I noticed the empty category of Pulitzer Prizes when reading The Oregonian this morning. The mystery is afoot–as Tarzan from Survivor would say.
Imagine my thankfulness to Publishers Lunch when they graciously emailed an explanation to me. And all their other subscribers, I suppose. But it still saved me an hour or so by rough estimate of rabbit trailing around the internet to find out why and how novels are nominated and who chooses the winners and all those other questions now buzzing in your minds.
Here’s the deal: 341 books were in the running and three were chosen as finalists. The Pale King by the late David Foster Wallace, Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, and the novella Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. The majority of the 20-person judging board didn’t agree on one so NO ONE gets the prize. I’m sorry, but that seems wrong, wrong, wrong. What a heartbreak for the finalists!
Yeah, that seems wrong to me too. But maybe it’s because, even though I write nothing like the kinds of books chosen for the Pulitzer, when I was a kid, I thought it would be totally cool to win one.
It does seem unfair yet to be nominated would be an honor.
So could I have nominated your book and the half dozen other outstanding books I read this year?
It might be something to keep in mind for avid readers like myself!
I agree, Danica. Can you imagine putting “Pulitzer prize winning author” in your signature line??
Delores, nominate away! 🙂 Thanks for the sweet words.