It's a puzzle why the Pulitzer Prize Committee failed to choose a winner in books this year for the first time since 1977. While people often expect snubs in the world of entertainment such as the recent Academy Awards, they didn't see this coming in the world of books. The three finalists were Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, Swamplandia! by Karen Russell, and The Pale King by the late David Foster Wallace. Unfortunately, a consensus could not be reached by those who had the last word.
ROBERT BOYERS, a professor of English at Skidmore College, wrote in an Op-Ed piece for the New York Times
...The year 2011 was rich in fiction, a year when major books were brought out by writers not included on the list of finalists. I can only wonder why the jurors were not asked to submit to the Pulitzer board a second list of three plausible candidates for the prize, given the importance of these prizes to the industry. No one will suppose that, of all 300 titles considered by the jurors, only the three named as finalists would have seemed worthy to the larger community of readers and writers.
From Reuters: Book Lovers React Bitterly
Chairwoman of the Pulitzer fiction panel Susan Larson told National Public Radio that the jurors had read some 300 books and were "shocked ... angry ... and very disappointed" that the Pulitzer board couldn't pick a winner. "I think we all would have been happy if any of books had been selected," she said. ...Ann Patchett, author of "Bel Canto" and a founder of Parnassus Books, criticized the effect on the industry, coupled with a Justice Department lawsuit against Apple and five major publishers that will likely to lead to cheaper e-books and a dent in publishers' profits. "I can't imagine there was ever a year we were so in need of the excitement it creates in readers," Patchett wrote in an op-ed piece for Tuesday's New York Times.
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