This Monday, Columbia University announced the 2010 Pulitzer prize winners. The Pulitzer prize recognizes outstanding work in the areas of (print) journalism, literature, and musical composition.
Here are the winners in the categories that we here at the Blue Bookcase REALLY care about:
Fiction - Tinkers
by Paul Harding A powerful celebration of life in which a New England father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality.
Drama - Next to Normal
, music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey
A powerful rock musical that grapples with mental illness in a suburban family and expands the scope of subject matter for musicals. , music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian YorkeyHistory - Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World
by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)
a compelling account of how four powerful bankers played crucial roles in triggering the Great Depression and ultimately transforming the United States into the world’s financial leader. by Liaquat Ahamed (The Penguin Press)Biography - The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Vintage)
by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)
A penetrating portrait of a complex, self-made titan who revolutionized transportation, amassed vast wealth and shaped the economic world in ways still felt today.by T.J. Stiles (Alfred A. Knopf)Poetry - Versed by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan University Press)
A book striking for its wit and linguistic inventiveness, offering poems that are often little thought-bombs detonating in the mind long after the first reading.General Nonfiction - The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday)
A well documented narrative that examines the terrifying doomsday competition between two superpowers and how weapons of mass destruction still imperil humankind. by David E. Hoffman (Doubleday)See the complete list of winners here.
I am very excited to read and review Tinkers. Just for fun, here are some other titles that have won in the fiction category that you might recognize:
2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (read our review here)
2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (review forthcoming)
1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham (one of my favorite books -- I'll have to write up a review of that one, too)
1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison (read our review of Morrison's Paradise here)
1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Which of these winners or previous winners would you most like to see reviewed here on The Blue Bookcase?
Oh yeah! And don't forget to enter our book giveaway!
