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The Centaur: A Novel
Random House Publishing Group

The Centaur: A Novel

John Updike

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND THE PRIX DU MEILLEUR LIVRE ÉTRANGER The Centaur is a modern retelling of the legend of Chiron, the noblest and wisest of the centaurs, who, painfully wounded yet unable to die, gave up his immortality on behalf of Prometheus. In the retelling, Olympus becomes small-town Olinger High School; Chiron is George Caldwell, a science teacher there; and Prometheus is Caldwell’s fifteen-year-old son, Peter. Brilliantly conflating the author’s remembered past with tales from Greek mythology, John Updike translates Chiron’s agonized search for relief into the incidents and accidents of three winter days spent in rural Pennsylvania in 1947. The result, said the judges of the National Book Award, is “a courageous and brilliant account of a conflict in gifts between an inarticulate American father and his highly articulate son.”

Pulitzer Prize
White People
Ballantine Books

White People

Allan Gurganus

In these eleven stories, Allan Gurganus--author of the highly acclaimed *Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All*--gives heartbreaking and hilarious voice to the fears, desires and triumphs of a grand cast of Americans.

Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Le chasseur zero
Michel albin SA

Le chasseur zero

Pascale Roze

A novel in which Laura, who lost her father in the Battle of Okinawa, becomes haunted by the roar of a Zero fighter as she moves toward the secret at the heart of her family history. War memory and loss linger as a quiet but persistent obsession.

Prix Goncourt
The Thing in the Gap-Stone Stile (Oxford Poets)
Oxford Univ Pr

The Thing in the Gap-Stone Stile (Oxford Poets)

Alice Oswald

Alice Oswald's first book of poems, The Thing in the Gap-stone Stile is more confident and achieved than many first collections. Previously published in Anvil New Poets 2 , a selection chosen by Carol Ann Duffy, and winner of the 1994 Eric Gregory Award, Oswald already clearly demonstrates a distinct voice. The poems here are extraordinarily beautiful: intensely musical, strewn with emotion, and full of energy and warmth. Influenced by Gerard Manley Hopkins and George Herbert, they speak passionately of nature and love. They have a religious sense of mystery, and try to express the intangible in marvellously vivid language. The second part of the book features an entertaining long poem titled The Men of Gotham , a comical folk-legend about the three men who went to sea to try to catch the moon in a net. Taken together, this is a wonderful first collection by an exceptionally talented young poet.

Forward Prizes for Poetry
Elise Ou LA Vraie Vie
Schoenhofs Foreign Books

Elise Ou LA Vraie Vie

Claire Etcherelli

A social novel about working-class life, love, and the pressures on a woman seeking independence in Paris.

Prix Femina
Tolstoj
Adelphi

Tolstoj

Pietro Citati

Tolstoj is a detailed biography of Leo Tolstoy’s life, thought, and literary achievement. It examines the conflict between creation and religious conviction, Tolstoy’s reflections on social responsibility, and the genesis of his major works, giving readers a comprehensive critical understanding.

Strega Prize (Premio Strega)