April 8, 2002

2:51 PM

The Pulitzer Prizes 2002.The New York Times gets 7; Richard Russo's "Empire Falls" gets Best Fiction; and Best On-Screen Kiss goes to Britney Spears and the guy from "Crossroads" because it made jurists William Safire and Henry Louis Gates Jr. "all teary-eyed."
posted by adrober (10 comments total)

Damn, I was sure that Monkey was going to get it for General Non-Fiction and "Monkey and His Monk Friends" at www.himonkey.net
posted by amphigory at 3:14 PM on April 8, 2002

Best on-screen kiss was undoubtedly in Amelie at the end. Aww! And that didn't even have tongues. Having said that, I'm sure the judges were emotional at Britney finally breaking her duck..
posted by boneybaloney at 3:36 PM on April 8, 2002

I don't think William Safire wrote - or saw - the sentence that accompanies the prize for criticism:

Awarded to Justin Davidson of Newsday, Long Island, New York, for his crisp coverage of classical music that captures its essence.

Shoddy, no? You'd think Davidson covered classical music that captured its own essence!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:18 PM on April 8, 2002

They ain't making them (Pulitzers) like they used to.
posted by mikegre at 4:29 PM on April 8, 2002

Its worth noting that until this year (in which the NYT received SEVEN Pulitzers), the record number of prizes received by a single paper in a year was three. I value the Times as much as the next liberal, but this is absurd. Can't wait until the "Jews staged 9/11" theories start to incorporate an Arthur Sulzburger/Thomas Friedman plot to nab all the Pulitzers.
posted by gsteff at 4:31 PM on April 8, 2002

Here's a link to the LA Times winner for feature writing.

It's about the man who left his toddler in a truck while hunting, and the tot wandered off and froze to death. The father later shot himself. The piece really gives readers an in-depth look at a horrible case.
posted by GaelFC at 5:10 PM on April 8, 2002

Glad to see Russo in that list! Great book, though not his best (imho). The Risk Pool is a great read of his.
posted by fony_name at 6:48 PM on April 8, 2002

Yes, Miguel, but that he does so "crisply" makes all the difference (or not).
:)
posted by G_Ask at 7:04 PM on April 8, 2002

fony_name: I thought the same. I really love Russo's work. I usually push Straight Man first because it's just so funny. Russo is a genius.
posted by swerve at 9:33 PM on April 8, 2002

GaelFC---thanks for the link. That was very moving and prize-worthy indeed.
posted by adrober at 9:46 PM on April 8, 2002