"Strange Voices" and Good: McCann, Stiles Take National Book Awards

Waldrop gets Poetry and Hoose captures Young People's award in a long evening

Barbara Hoffert -- Library Journal, 11/18/2009

• A "golden age," says Eggers
• Nonfiction winner Stiles thanks librarians
• McCann honors McCourt

Publishing is in the dumps, right? Not so, said Dave Eggers, accepting the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation on November 18. "Publishing is in a golden age," he argued, citing the rich diversity and indeed weirdness of publishing today. Introducing Eggers, novelist Samantha Hunt praised him for encouraging "a strange forest of voices" through his work as editor and publisher of McSweeney's. And the voices keep growing. Eggers ended by reminding the audience of his work with young readers, who, he says, are passionate about books.

YA work
Take that, Andy Borowitz. Borowitz opened his gig as host of the National Book Awards ceremony by wisecracking that the hard work done by publishers "comes to nothing." In fact, it comes to a great deal. Nancy Werlin, chair of the Young People's committee, cited the range of the works considered and the energy and passion they represent. The winner of that award was Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice from Farrar, the story of an African American girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks took her stand. Yes, it's a true story, and Hoose directed his praise at Colvin herself, who joined him on the podium.

Poetry
The poetry list was blessedly free of the grand old men (and sometimes women) who have dominated in recent years, instead featuring some edgy new work that should be known by the mainstream. Yes, the winner, Keith Waldrop for Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy (Univ. of California Press), has been plowing the fields for a while, but his work remains out there. His one hope? That the award would encourage people to read poetry.

Nonfiction
Nonfiction chair David Blight commented on the breadth of the books considered by his committee, with topics ranging from dogs to war. Committee member were looking for a book that would last, a book that was big, and a book that was enjoyable as well. They found it in T.J. Stiles's The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (LJ review) from Knopf. Praising the world of publishing, where he once worked, Stiles thanked the copy editors and publicists and, yes, book reviewers and especially librarians. 

Fiction
"To have a book is an enormous privilege," said fiction winner Colum McCann for Let the Great World Spin from Random House. "To have a reader is a tremendous privilege." McCann rode to the awards on the New York subway with his wife and brother, who as he said, represented his two worlds, Ireland and America--also reflected beautifully in his work. McCann dedicated the award to the recently deceased Frank McCourt, ending the evening with the reminder of what National Book Awards and American publishing generally has accomplished.