"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, May 7, 2020

And the Pulitzer Prize for literature goes to...

The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction:


The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

"A spare and devastating exploration of abuse at a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida that is ultimately a powerful tale of human perseverance, dignity and redemption."

Here is my review of the book, which I read for book club in September of 2019. It was a hard book to read because the subject, based on facts, is very alarming and upsetting. But it is such a well-written, thoughtful book. It really mustn't be missed.

The Pulitzer Prize committee also named two finalists:


I adored this book. My review is here.
 
"Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. At the center of this past is the odd, but alluring Dutch house."
 
I haven't read this book yet, but it does sound compelling.
 
"This is the story of a family's struggles and strengths, and the challenge of raising a good son in a culture of toxic masculinity. It is also a riveting prehistory of the present: the collapse of public speech, the trolls and tyrants of the new right, and the ongoing crisis of identity among white men."

I always want to read the best of the best. Pulitzer Prize winning novels never seem to disappoint me.

-Anne

7 comments:

  1. I'm happy that we read two of the books for BC. Should we consider the third one for our next set of books?

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    1. I was pretty pleased that we had read the winner and one of the finalists, too. If you look at previous winners and finalists, we have a pretty good track record, reading at least one of the books for the past five or six years.

      I haven't read The Topeka School, but it does sound compelling, though it doesn't have the same high reviews as Dutch House and Nickel Boys on Goodreads. So I don't know what to think.

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  2. I have Nickel Boys and I loved hearing the author speak, but I've yet to read the book.

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  3. I really need to read this one.

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  4. You must have some book club if you picked the winner plus a finalist to read. Nickel House looks like it would be a tough subject.

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  5. I have Nickel Boys on my TBR shelf so know I'll get to it sooner or later. I was excited to see that it won the Pulitzer.

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  6. I read all three of these last year .... and I thought Colson's was the winner in my mind. He deserved it more than the others. It's amazing he has won it Twice now, wow.

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