After months of study, conversation, review and dialogue, the Board of Directors for the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) has announced the finalists for the prestigious 2010 award. The announcement was made by former NBCC winners and finalists on January 22, 2011, to a packed house at the WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Center in New York City. The individual winners for each category will be honored in an awards ceremony at the New School in NYC on March 10, 2011.
About the National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle was established thirty-seven years ago and is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of some 600 book reviewers who appreciate quality writing and wish to communicate their finds to appreciative others. It receives some support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The NBCC is managed by a 24-member Board of Directors, elected to their post to serve three-year terms. Board members are writers, book reviewers and literary critics. The current board president is Jane Ciabattari, a Kansas native and acclaimed short story writer.
The group’s board maintains a blog, Critical Mass, which issues FAQs and press releases about the NBCC awards and reviews the books chosen as this year’s finalists. Critical Mass also provides literary criticism throughout the year and commentary on writing and publishing.
The organization is open to membership from a diverse cross-section to insure lively discussion and appreciation of reading and literature. Paid memberships start at $15 for students. Both voting and non-voting memberships are available.
Finalists for the 2010 NBCC Award
Six categories are represented: Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Biography, Autobiography, Poetry and Criticism. Ordinarily, each category is limited to five finalists. However, a tie in the Autobiography division resulted in six finalists.
The finalists for each category along with their publication and publisher are listed below. Information is provided compliments of the Critical Mass blog.
Fiction Category Finalists
- Jennifer Egan, A Visit From The Goon Squad, Knopf
- Jonathan Franzen. Freedom. Farrar, Straus And Giroux.
- David Grossman, To The End Of The Land. Knopf.
- Hans Keilson.Comedy In A Minor Key. Farrar, Straus And Giroux
- Paul Murray. Skippy Dies. Faber & Faber.
Biography Category Finalists
- Sarah Bakewell. How To Live, Or A Life Of Montaigne. Other Press
- Selina Hastings. The Secret Lives Of Somerset Maugham: A Biography. Random House.
- Yunte Huang. Charlie Chan: The Untold Story Of The Honorable Detective And His Rendezvous With American History. Norton.
- Thomas Powers. The Killing Of Crazy Horse. Knopf.
- Tom Segev. Simon Wiesenthal: The Lives And Legends. Doubleday
Autobiography Category Finalists
- Kai Bird, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978, Scribner
- David Dow, The Autobiography of an Execution, Twelve
- Christopher Hitchens Hitch-22: A Memoir, Twelve
- Rahna Reiko Rizzuto, Hiroshima in the Morning, Feminst Press
- Patti Smith, Just Kids, Ecco
- Darin Strauss, Half a Life, McSweeney’s
Criticism Category Finalists
- Elif Batuman. The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Terry Castle, The Professor and Other Writings. Harper
- Clare Cavanagh. Lyric Poetry and Modern Politics: Russia, Poland, and the West Yale University Press
- Susie Linfield. The Cruel Radiance University of Chicago Press
- Ander Monson. Vanishing Point: Not a MemoirGraywolf
Nonfiction Category Finalists
- Barbara Demick. Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. Spiegel & Grau
- S.C. Gwynne. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American, Scribner
- Jennifer Homans. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet. Random
- Siddhartha Mukherjee. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Scribner
- Isabel Wilkerson. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. Random
Poetry Category Finalists
- Anne Carson. Nox New Directions
- Kathleen Graber. The Eternal City Princeton University Press
- Terrance Hayes. Lighthead Penguin Poets
- Kay Ryan. The Best of It Grove
- C.D. Wright. One with Others: [a little book of her days]. Copper Canyon
The NBCC blog, Critical Mass, will highlight each of the books selected as a finalist in its "30 Books in 30 Days" series. Finalists for the 2010 NBCC Award will read from their work on February 4 at the NYC New School, and the winners will be celebrated on March 10 with an Awards Ceremony at the same location.
Join the Conversation