>The winners of the National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced (but not yet on the blog as of a few minutes ago). According to Publishers Weekly, the winners are:
Fiction: Roberto Bolaño, 2666. FSG
General Nonfiction: Dexter Filkins, The Forever War. Knopf
Biography: Patrick French, The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul. Knopf
Autobiography: Ariel Sabar, My Father’s Paradise: A Son’s Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq. Algonquin
Criticism: Seth Lerer, Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History from Aesop to Harry Potter. University of Chicago Press
Poetry: August Kleinzahler, Sleeping It Off in Rapid City. FSG, and Juan Felipe Herrera, Half the World in Light: New and Selected Poems. University of Arizona Press
Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing: Ron Charles
Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award: Pen American Center
>I don’t know anybody who’s read “2666.” Except maybe the judges for NBCC, who are always biased, it seems, against Norte Americanos. I tried reading this tome but decided it would be less painful to have a dental procedure minus an anesthetic.
sharon mauldin reynolds
>I haven’t read it myself, but I know people who have and they’ve all raved. I find the length a little intimidating, but the edition I have is in 3 volumes so I’m hopeful I can tackle it soon.
As for the NBCC bias of which you speak: Really? Look back through past winners and I think you’ll find that not to be quite true (he said, as a member of NBCC).