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Art Seidenbaum Award For First Fiction
The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, established in 1991, is a category of the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize awarded to authors' debut books of fiction. It is named for the Los Angeles Times' critic Art Seidenbaum who was also an author and editor. Works are eligible during the year of their first US publication in English, though they may be written originally in languages other than English. Recipients References {{Los Angeles Times Book Prize English-language literary awards 20th-century literary awards 21st-century literary awards International literary awards Awards established in 1991 First book awards Los Angeles Times ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller (category added in 2000), poetry, science and technology (category added in 1989), and young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ... (category added in 1998). In addition, the Robert Kirsch Award is presented annually to a living author with a substantial connection to the American West. It is named in honor of Robert Kirsch, the ''Los Angeles Times'' book critic from 1952 until his death in 1980 whose idea it was to establish the book prizes. The Book Prize program was founded by Art Seidenbaum, a ''Los Angeles Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leaving The Atocha Station
''Leaving the Atocha Station'' (2011) is the debut novel by American poet and critic Ben Lerner. It won the 2011 Believer Book Award. Story The first-person narrator of the novel, Adam Gordon, is an American poet in his early 20s participating in a prestigious fellowship in Madrid circa 2004. The stated goal of his fellowship is to write a long narrative poem highlighting literature's role in the Spanish Civil War. Gordon, however, spends his time reading Tolstoy, smoking spliffs, and observing himself observing his surroundings. He also pursues romantic and sexual relationships with two Spanish women, lying to them and others to elicit sympathy and avoid responsibility. He tells several people that his mother has recently died, recounts a friend's experience of a failed attempt to rescue a drowned woman as if it was his own, and uses his (sometimes feigned) lack of Spanish fluency to falsely suggest that his thoughts are too profound and complex to convey outside of his native l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret Lives Of Church Ladies
''The Secret Lives of Church Ladies'' is a debut short story collection by Deesha Philyaw. The book consists of nine stories about Black women, church, and sexuality and was released on September 1, 2020 by West Virginia University Press. It was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction and received The Story Prize, the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize, and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Plot The collection consists of nine stories that explore the intersection of sexuality and Christianity. Black women protagonists appear in each story. Topics covered include infidelity, casual sex, and lesbian relationships. Background The title refers to the catch-all term for church-going women that Philyaw learned growing up. These women were prim, conservatively dressed, and those "who make[] sure not a hair is out of place, never speak[] out of line, and does all the right Godly things." Philyaw stated in an interview with ''Richmond Free Press'', "I see the book as cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Old Drift
''The Old Drift'' is a 2019 historical fiction and Science fiction novel by Zambian author Namwali Serpell. Set in Rhodesia/Zambia, it is Serpell's debut novel and follows the lives of three interwoven families in three generations. It won the 2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award as well as the Arthur C. Clarke Award Plot The novel is a saga that follows three families: one Zambian, one Italian, and one Indian. These families are intertwined by the actions of the novel's first narratorPercy M. Clark who is based on a real man from Cambridge, England, who moved to Zambia (then Rhodesia) in the early 20th century as one of Europe's many colonists across the African continent. In the novel's first chapter, Percy details some of his encounters as an early settler in The Old Drift, a settlement near Victoria Falls. He details the settlement's changing name, its growing population, and his racist views of the native Zambians. On one such occasion, Percy's actions at a bar one night cause a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
There There (novel)
''There There'' is the debut novel by Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange. Published in 2018, the book follows a large cast of Native Americans living in the Oakland, California area and contains several essays on Native American history and identity. The characters struggle with a wide array of challenges, ranging from depression and alcoholism, to unemployment, fetal alcohol syndrome, and the challenges of living with an "ambiguously nonwhite" ethnic identity in the United States. All of the characters unite at a community powwow and its attempted robbery. The book explores the themes of Native peoples living in urban spaces (Urban Indians), and issues of ambivalence and complexity related to Natives' struggles with identity and authenticity. ''There There'' was favorably received, and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. The book was also awarded a Gold Medal for First Fiction by the California Book Awards. Plot The book begins with an essay by Orange, deta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Incendiaries
''The Incendiaries'' is a 2018 novel by R. O. Kwon, published by Riverhead Books. The novel was inspired by Kwon's own loss of faith in God at the age of 17, and it took her 10 years to finish. The novel follows a young woman who is indoctrinated into a cult on her campus as told by three characters: Phoebe Lin, the woman who is recruited, John Leal, the man who recruits her, and Will Kendall, a fellow student who loves Phoebe and struggles to understand her choices. Plot Three people meet at Edwards University in Noxhurst, a fictional town in upstate New York: Phoebe Lin, the American daughter of two South Koreans, John Leal, a mysterious half-Korean Edwards drop-out who knows Phoebe's father, and Will Kendall, a poor white Californian who is a former evangelist. Phoebe grew up as a young piano prodigy but after mastering a challenging piece by the composer Libich and being complimented on it she realizes that her ambition will never match her talent. She abandons her ambition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asymmetry (novel)
''Asymmetry'' is the first novel by American author Lisa Halliday, published in February 2018 by Simon & Schuster. The novel has received critical acclaim with ''The New Yorker'' calling it "a literary phenomenon" and ''The New York Times'' including it in the list of "15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century." Barack Obama included the book in his list of best books from 2018. The cover of the first edition locates the novel on Manhattan's Upper West Side by displaying the distinctive turret of 271 West End Avenue at 72nd Street. Plot The book is composed of three parts that take place over different periods of time in the 2000s. Part 1: Folly The 25-year old Alice, who works for a publishing company, starts an affair with a famous writer, Ezra Blazer. They both live and work in New York City, and the story follows their affair over time, as many world events happen in the background, most noticeably the start of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Idiot (Batuman Novel)
''The Idiot'' (2017) is the semi-autobiographical first novel by the Turkish American writer Elif Batuman. It is a bildungsroman, and concerns a college freshman, Selin, attending Harvard University in the 1990s. Plot Selin Karadağ is a freshman studying linguistics at Harvard University. She meets an older Hungarian mathematics student, Ivan, in a Russian language class and the two begin corresponding over email, and occasionally spend time together in person. While Selin and Ivan at times seem interested in each other romantically, neither know how and when to express their feelings. The summer after her freshman year, Selin travels to Paris with her college friend Svetlana, and then to Hungary to teach English in a remote village, a job she accepts partly to be closer to Ivan. At the end of the summer, Selin returns to Harvard and Ivan goes to California to pursue graduate mathematics. Reception ''The Idiot'' was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Fiction. According to the lite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Absolute Darling
''My Absolute Darling'' is the 2017 debut novel by American author Gabriel Tallent. Plot Julia "Turtle" Alveston, age fourteen, lives in California with her sociopathic father, Martin. He is convinced of impending catastrophe, forcing her to learn survivalist skills. Turtle is thus highly proficient with firearms. The extent of Martin's physical and sexual abuse of Turtle is revealed as the plot progresses, though Turtle's Stockholm syndrome cause her to make excuses for his behavior. Although Turtle's teacher suspects the abuse, Martin threatens to kill Turtle if she tells anyone the truth. Turtle meets two teenage boys; they become her first real friends. After Turtle's grandfather, her only other living family, dies, Martin disappears for several months, leaving Turtle to provide for herself. When he returns, he brings a young girl named Cayenne, age nine or ten, whom he took at a gas station. One night, Turtle rebuffs her father's attempted rape by cleaning and loading her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Her Body And Other Parties
Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer ** ''H.E.R.'' (album), 2017 * HIM (Finnish band), once known as HER in the United States Songs * "Her" (Megan Thee Stallion song) * "Her", a song by Stan Getz from the album ''Focus'', 1961 * "Her", a song by Guy from the album '' The Future'', 1990 * "Her", a song by Swans from the album ''Omniscience'', 1992 * "Her", a song by Pigeonhed from the album ''Pigeonhed'', 1993 * "Her", a song by Tindersticks from the album ''Tindersticks'', 1993 * "Her", a song by Aaron Tippin from the album '' What This Country Needs'', 1999 * "Her", a song by Musiq from the album '' Soulstar'', 2003 * "Her", a song by Eels from the album ''B-Sides & Rarities 1996–2003'', 2005 * "Her", a song by Tyler, the Creator from the album ''Goblin'', 2011 * "Her", a song by Poppy from the album ''Flux'', 202 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nix
''The Nix'' is a 2016 novel, the first by Nathan Hill. Plot The Nix is an American epic novel in 10 parts that follows community college professor of English, Samuel Andresen-Anderson who is struggling to find meaning in his life in the years following his failure to write a book which he was already paid an advance for. He was abandoned by his mother at a young age. Samuel seeks comfort in junk food, an acerbic inner-monologue, and a Second-Life-style internet game called ''Elfscape'' and generally struggles to find motivation or self-respect. One day, Samuel discovers that the mother who abandoned him has become a radical leftist activist who is under arrest for assaulting a public figure. When his editor (still after him for the writing for which he was given an advance) persuades Samuel to track down his mother, Samuel must confront and discover the various serpentine, complex, and at times, humorous figures and sub-plots from his youth to arrive. The book captures vario ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolf In White Van
''Wolf in White Van'' is the first novel by the American author and singer-songwriter John Darnielle. ''Wolf in White Van'' tells the story of Sean Phillips, a reclusive game designer whose face has been severely disfigured. One reviewer characterizes Sean as someone "steeped in video games, bad sci-fi movies, and Conan the Barbarian comic books". Machado, Carmen Maria"The Monstrous And The Beautiful Dance In 'White Van'" NPR.org. Published September 12, 2014. The plot, which is told non-chronologically, alternates among Sean's childhood, adolescence, and adulthood to describe the circumstances surrounding the incident that disfigured him. A fictional play-by-mail role-playing game called ''Trace Italian'' figures prominently in the novel. The novel has been described as a "meditation on the power of escape,"Gilsdorf, EthanBook review.''New York Times''. Published November 7, 2014. exploring the escapist qualities of fantasy fiction and role-playing games, particularly as a way ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
