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April 16, 2007

AS THOUGH A ROOSTER WASN'T ENOUGH ...

Cormac McCarthy has won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize for The Road.

FICTION
For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).
Awarded to "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy (Alfred A. Knopf).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "After This" by Alice McDermott (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and "The Echo Maker" by Richard Powers (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).

Posted by TEV at 12:30 PM in Prizes, Prizes and More Prizes |

Comments

I think he deserved it more for The Border Trilogy (especially The Crossing), but what the heck - no need to be picky in the face of such an esteemed award - not to mention ten grand, though I'd wager CM reaped more in royalties from sales after being selected by Oprah. All in all, a great month for McCarthy, and literature as a whole.

See you at the LA Times Book Fest!

Posted by: Cal Godot | April 16, 2007 at 01:51 PM

The worthiness of The Road notwithstanding, the Pulitzer organization--which has a long and tepid history of celebrating the middle-brow aesthetic--failed to even recognize Pynchon's latest with the dubious medallion of runner-upism. I checked to see if perhaps the publication date of Against the Day had fallen outside of the deadline parameters and discovered that indeed it had, by a month, but even so the Pulitzer's website advises books to be published after October 15 to be submitted in galley form. Maybe Pynchon and his editors, knowing all-too-well the institutionalized banality of the Pulitzers, didn't honor that organization with a galley (I hope that it was so); but however it was played, the Pulitzer committee failed to redeem itself from the notoriety of its 1974 decision to withhold its prize in fiction rather than condescend to pin it on the strangeness that was Gravity's Rainbow. However one feels about Pynchon, he can't be ignored.

And so the Pulitzers remain your mother's stylist's award.

Posted by: ImpeachChurchill | April 16, 2007 at 01:52 PM

I don't understand your comments about my mother's stylist. I dropped her off at the salon this afternoon and he seemed very nice, though we only met briefly. I am sure he enjoys Cormac McCarthy as much as the next guy. Hope this helps!

Posted by: Jack Pendarvis | April 16, 2007 at 02:04 PM

My mother's stylist was very meticulous and worked through all 1,100 strands of hair. She did her best, consulting every obscure hair reference manual available, but not even she, with her nimble fingers and her expert team of researchers, could do much with my mother's hair in the end.

While the hair may not be national material, there's still hope on the county fair front.

Posted by: ed | April 16, 2007 at 03:05 PM

But...but... I thought BR Meyers said McCarthy was a hack who no one actually liked and would be forgotten quickly....

Posted by: Cal | April 16, 2007 at 04:58 PM

BR Myers changed stylists.

Posted by: ed | April 17, 2007 at 06:45 AM

Who is BR Meyers?

Pynchon doesn't do the Pulitzer. I'm sure he's not sorry he didn't win, even if his publisher did submit the book (which they most likely didn't).

My hair stylist likes McCarthy and recites whole passages from Blood Meridian while styling my red hair.

I wonder who does Pynchon's hair. Or McCarthy's.

Some people, eh?

Posted by: Cal Godot | April 19, 2007 at 03:09 PM

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