No Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by kennyc

No they should fix their process, participants, and devote time to it to do what they should be doing, selecting the best book published based on their criteria.

And publicise the arguments the final stage "judges" have over the huge selection they are handed to sweat over, and agonise over why their favourite didn't make it to the last ....... 3.
Be more like a proper award then - except for the 3 bit, of course......

[Authorfriendly]

I always found the Booker more credible, and more readable as well

[carpetmojo]

And the process seems to be considerably more transparent .......

[carpetmojo]

Again, some more digging by the splendid Independent, going a little wider than just an award. Not that I'm biased in any way, naturally......

I thought this a really interesting article - doubtless all in the States know these details, but to learn yet more about the machinery behind the book section of the Pulitzer is a bit of an eye-opener from across the pond.
I always had this vision of it as glittering tower of journalistic endeavour, and the same for its book awards, but it seems it is just like all the others - possibly a bit more arcane. [ As if that were possible, sometimes.... ]

It would seem the process is not quite fit for purpose, really, going by this years debacle.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Authorfriendly

I always found the Booker more credible, and more readable as well

Ditto.

I have no problem whatsoever that they awarded no fiction prize this year. I just found it odd that they decided to release the list of finalists in lieu of a winner. That's what created all the speculation: were none of them worthy enough? were they equally worthy and no clear consensus could be reached? what gives?

The decision to announce the books that didn't win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction was the mistake here... not the failure to select a winner.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

I've never paid much attention to the Pulitzer. I didn't even know they had a fiction category. I thought it was solely for reporting.

No, they do all sorts of prizes. There's one for plays, for example.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

The decision to announce the books that didn't win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction was the mistake here... not the failure to select a winner.

Mistake? Presumably they were saying "these were the best of the bunch, but we didn't feel that any of them merited the prize". I may not agree with them, but I guess it's a decision they're entitled to take if that's the way they feel.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Mistake? Presumably they were saying "these were the best of the bunch, but we didn't feel that any of them merited the prize". I may not agree with them, but I guess it's a decision they're entitled to take if that's the way they feel.

You've unwittingly supported my premise by needing to use the word "presumably." No one knows for sure what they were "saying," exactly. They decline to comment further. Of course they're entitled to their decision (or more precisely, a lack thereof), just as I'm entitled to my opinion that it was a mistake to present the non-winners.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You've unwittingly supported my premise by using the word "presumably." No one knows for sure what they were "saying," exactly.

Harry made peace with that unknown. I think the lesson here is you need to work on your zen.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ApK

Harry made peace with that unknown. I think the lesson here is you need to work on your zen.

Wouldn't that presume I'm interested in being more zen-like?

Spoiler:

And Harry's done nothing of the sort. He's explained away the "unknown" with a presumption that makes sense to him... rather than "made peace with it."

No offense intended at all Harry.

[HarryT]

Spoiler:

None taken.

[kennyc]

Interesting op-ed article in today's Denver post by one of the committee:

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci...denverpost.com

[carpetmojo]

Excellent stuff from a horses mouth....

[ApK]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Interesting op-ed article in today's Denver post by one of the committee:

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci...denverpost.com

"The Pulitzer is too prestigious and crucial an award to book lovers, authors and the publishing industry to be sporadically — and unaccountably — withheld."

But then isn't also too prestigious and crucial an award to be given away to a work that doesn't meet it's standard?

I was also thinking, in that article linked earlier where the author seemed to bash the Academy Awards as not choosing the best movie but only a ploy to get people to see movies, that giving a Pulitzer to a work that didn't deserve it, is similarly, only a way to sell books.

I would not be surprised if "couldn't reach a majority" was just a euphemism for "none of them were good enough." Right or wrong, if that were so, would it have been better to say "You won the Pulitzer by default, we didn't think should have one, but we have to give one out, so...." We'd need asterisks by winner's names?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Authorfriendly

I always found the Booker more credible, and more readable as well

Over two billion people are potentially eligible for the Booker -- everyone in the British commonwealth, Ireland, and Zimbabwe. And every English language novel they write can compete.

Only about 300 million people (population of the US) can potentially compete for the Pulitizer fiction award, and only their novels concerning American life are seriously eligible. Maybe our neck of the woods isn't as interesting.

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

I've never paid much attention to the Pulitzer. I didn't even know they had a fiction category. I thought it was solely for reporting.

And not only you.

The Pulitzer fiction award was never such a big deal as the Booker is in Britain. The average US reader of serious novels, however defined, is more likely to know the winners of last year's World Series and Super Bowl than of last year's Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and National Book Award. (I say this as someone who knows none of the four )