2016 National Book Awards
November 16, 2016 3:53 PM Subscribe
Tonight, the National Book Foundation will honor and celebrate some of the year's best American literature at the 2016 National Book Awards ceremony. Hosted by Larry Wilmore, the event will be livestreamed, or you can follow on Twitter at #NBAwards. If you can't wait for bookish goodness, the recording of last night's readings by the finalists is available; Young People's Literature finalist Nicola Yoon called it one of the most inspiring nights of her life. This season hasn't been without controversy, however: the various ways the awards reflect the current state of publishing have been criticized but also defended.
Interesting how LeClair's criticism of the awards seemed so much more author-focused than book-focused.
posted by Etrigan at 4:38 PM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Etrigan at 4:38 PM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
> Interesting how LeClair's criticism of the awards seemed so much more author-focused than book-focused.
Huh? I have literally no idea what you mean; there are detailed discussions of individual books. In general it's an excellent and eye-opening essay.
posted by languagehat at 5:13 PM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
Huh? I have literally no idea what you mean; there are detailed discussions of individual books. In general it's an excellent and eye-opening essay.
posted by languagehat at 5:13 PM on November 16, 2016 [1 favorite]
LeClair's point about the nomination process seems valid - publishing houses should be limited in the number of nominations put forward, it's crazy that's not already in place.
That said, the rest of his argument seems to be that he just doesn't like the current crop of finalists. Which, yeah, that's fine - contemporary lit doesn't do a ton for me either right now - but I think he is mistaking the trends of current fiction (plot heavy with a preference for family drama) with quality. It's not that Another Brooklyn is necessarily bad (haven't read it), but that it has different goals than more modernist/post modernist books like Europe Central. His tastes as a critic lean toward the latter, other judges are currently preferring the former. They're both right.
It looks like he responded to Taylor's lithub piece in the comments as well. Seems like Taylor took his dislike of contemporary fiction to be a reaction against the broadening representation in the NBA (audience and authors), LeClair pretty explicitly refutes that point.
posted by Think_Long at 6:17 PM on November 16, 2016
That said, the rest of his argument seems to be that he just doesn't like the current crop of finalists. Which, yeah, that's fine - contemporary lit doesn't do a ton for me either right now - but I think he is mistaking the trends of current fiction (plot heavy with a preference for family drama) with quality. It's not that Another Brooklyn is necessarily bad (haven't read it), but that it has different goals than more modernist/post modernist books like Europe Central. His tastes as a critic lean toward the latter, other judges are currently preferring the former. They're both right.
It looks like he responded to Taylor's lithub piece in the comments as well. Seems like Taylor took his dislike of contemporary fiction to be a reaction against the broadening representation in the NBA (audience and authors), LeClair pretty explicitly refutes that point.
posted by Think_Long at 6:17 PM on November 16, 2016
Of all the ways to talk about Jacqueline Woodson's coming-of-age novel, comparing it negatively to Clifford Geertz is not one I would've anticipated.
posted by thetortoise at 6:35 PM on November 16, 2016
posted by thetortoise at 6:35 PM on November 16, 2016
I was so happy to see the results and the bits of the ceremony that I watched. It was truly inspiring for me and, man, WHO KNEW that John Lewis was writing graphic novels? Guess I'll start reading graphic novels now! I was actually hoping for The Association of Small Bombs to win the fiction prize, but I admit that was based, not on a reading of Underground Railroad, but on my opinion of Whitehead since The Intuitionist. Now I guess I've got another book on my TBR list.
posted by janey47 at 10:02 AM on November 17, 2016
posted by janey47 at 10:02 AM on November 17, 2016
WHO KNEW that John Lewis was writing graphic novels?
And he goes to comic cons and cosplays as himself, because John Lewis ran out of fucks to give before most of us were born.
posted by Etrigan at 10:06 AM on November 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
And he goes to comic cons and cosplays as himself, because John Lewis ran out of fucks to give before most of us were born.
posted by Etrigan at 10:06 AM on November 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
And he goes to comic cons and cosplays as himself, because John Lewis ran out of fucks to give before most of us were born.
Not only will I start reading graphic novels, but now I'll have to be going to COMIC CON! Come on, there's no better literary award than a literary award that makes such a huge difference in one person's life!
posted by janey47 at 10:11 AM on November 17, 2016
Not only will I start reading graphic novels, but now I'll have to be going to COMIC CON! Come on, there's no better literary award than a literary award that makes such a huge difference in one person's life!
posted by janey47 at 10:11 AM on November 17, 2016
conjuring images of Henry Miller and Picasso playing croquet
posted by clavdivs at 10:51 AM on November 17, 2016
posted by clavdivs at 10:51 AM on November 17, 2016
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posted by mixedmetaphors at 3:56 PM on November 16, 2016