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The finalists for the National Book Award were recently announced. Surprise! I haven't read any of them. But that doesn't disqualify me from predicting winners. You can familiarize yourself wit the contenders here.
So let's begin with the fiction award. The nominees are...
Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
Great House by Nicole Krauss
So Much for That by Lionel Shriver
I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita
These are all strong authors with solid bodies of work. Peter Carey jumps out as an established author who hasn't won a major American prize yet (though he has won the Booker prize twice). Nicole Krauss is a critical darling who could use the boost, but I'm going with I Hotel. It's historical, structurally interesting, and covers the late sixties through seventies era, second favorite era next to World War II. Weird fact, Samuel Delany is one of the fiction judges.
More predictions after the jump.
