Pulitzers

Before I had children and when I read constantly, I would have read all of the books, fiction and non-fiction, nominated for The Pulitzer Prize prior to the nomination announcement, and I would have awaited the official prize announcement in April. Post-children, we have The Pale King, David Foster Wallace's posthumous work, sitting on a nightstand, where it remains in purchase condition, unread, and slightly dusty.

Although I knew The Pale King had been nominated (How could it not have been? The author left the transcript neatly stacked on his desk, where it would easily be found, prior to ending his life after a 20 year battle with depression.), I was oblivious to the other two nominees (Train Dreams by Denis Johnson and Swamplandia! by Karen Russell).   We have William George, and he continues to insist on eating every three hours.  Therefore, a full 24 hours elapsed before I was aware that a prize had not been awarded for fiction.  The publishing world is incensed about this turn of events, although the board has failed to assign awards, in all categories, throughout the years.  For example, no award for fiction occurred during the following years:  1917, 1920, 1941, 1946, 1954, 1957, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 2012.

The New York Times speculates that the unorthodox nature of the works gave the board pause, i.e., Wallace's The Pale King was completed after his death by his editor; Train Dreams was originally published in 2002 and repackaged in 2011.  The rebuttal is that the works should not have been accepted as nominations.  Swamplandia! should be disqualified for title alone.  Admittedly, that last statement is my opinion and not that of the NYT. 

Our household is currently too strained to give this further thought, but, when I finally am able to read The Pale King, I will strongly disagree with the board.