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The Ambassador Book Award (1986–2011) was presented annually by the English-Speaking Union. It recognized important literary and non-fiction works that contributed to the understanding and interpretation of American life and culture. Winners of the award were considered literary ambassadors who provide, in the best contemporary English, an important window on America to the rest of the world. A panel of judges selected books out of new works in the fields of fiction, biography, autobiography, current affairs, American studies and poetry. The award was established in 1986. Winners included books by such notable authors as
Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
(1988),
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...
(1988),
Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...
(1989),
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
(1989), John Cheever (1992), John Updike (1997),
Don Delillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...
(1998),
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
(1999),Houghton Mifflin list of awards won by Philip Roth
/ref> and
Annie Proulx Edna Ann Proulx (; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award fo ...
(2000).


Recipients

2011 *American Studies - '' The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'', by Rebecca Skloot *Biography and Autobiography - ''The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century'', by Alan Brinkley *Fiction - ''The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg'', by
Deborah Eisenberg Deborah Eisenberg (born November 20, 1945) is an American short story writer, actress and teacher. She is a professor of writing at Columbia University. Early life Eisenberg was born in Winnetka, Illinois. Her family is Jewish. She grew up in su ...
*Poetry - ''Every Riven Thing: Poems'', by
Christian Wiman Christian Wiman is an American poet and editor born in 1966 and raised in the small west Texas town of Snyder. He graduated from Washington and Lee University and has taught at Northwestern University, Stanford University, Lynchburg College in Vi ...
*Special Distinction Award - ''The Memory Chalet'', by
Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt ( ; 2 January 1948 – 6 August 2010) was a British-American historian, essayist and university professor who specialized in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European ...
2010 *American Studies - ''The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War'', by James Mann *American Studies - '' Dancing in the Dark: A Cultural History of the Great Depression'', by Morris Dickstein *Biography and Autobiography - ''Louis D. Brandeis: A Life'', by Melvin Urofsky *Fiction - '' Let the Great World Spin'', by
Colum McCann Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in New York. He is a Thomas Hunter Writer in Residence at Hunter College, New York. McCann's work has been published in over 40 languages, and h ...
*Poetry - ''Mercury Dressing'', by
J. D. McClatchy J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters. Life McClatchy was born ...
*Special Distinction Award - ''Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original'', by Robin D. G. Kelley 2009 *American Studies - ''A Summer of Hummingbirds'', by Christopher Benfey *Biography and Autobiography - ''A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir'', by
Donald Worster Donald Worster (born 1941) is an American environmental historian who was, until his retirement, the Hall Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Kansas. He is one of the founders of, and leading figures in, the field of ...
*Current Affairs - ''The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals'', by
Jane Mayer Jane Meredith Mayer (born 1955) is an American investigative journalist who has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1995. She has written for the publication about money in politics; government prosecution of whistleblowers; the Uni ...
*Fiction - ''Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories'', by
Steven Millhauser Steven Millhauser (born August 3, 1943) is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel '' Martin Dressler''. Life and career Millhauser was born in New York City, grew up in Connecticut, ...
*Poetry - ''Old War'', by Alan Shapiro *Special Award -
Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...
2008 *American Studies - ''Storming the Gates of Paradise: Landscapes for Politics'', by
Rebecca Solnit Rebecca Solnit (born 1961) is an American writer. She has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment, politics, place, and art. Early life and education Solnit was born in 1961 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to a Jewish fa ...
*Autobiography - ''Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties'', by Robert Stone *Biography - ''Edith Wharton'', by
Hermione Lee Dame Hermione Lee, (born 29 February 1948) is a British biographer, literary critic and academic. She is a former President of Wolfson College, Oxford, and a former Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature in the University of Oxford and Pr ...
*Fiction - ''
The Reluctant Fundamentalist ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' is a "metafictional"Madiou, Mohamed Salah Eddine. “Mohsin Hamid Engages the World in The Reluctant Fundamentalist: ‘An Island on an Island,’ Worlds in Miniature and ‘Fiction’ in the Making.” Arab Stu ...
'', by
Mohsin Hamid Mohsin Hamid ( ur, محسن حامد; born 23 July 1971) is a British Pakistani novelist, writer and brand consultant. His novels are '' Moth Smoke'' (2000), '' The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' (2007), ''How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia'' (2 ...
*Poetry - ''Blackbird and Wolf'', by
Henri Cole Henri Cole (born 1956) is an American poet, who has published many collections of poetry and a memoir. His books have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Arabic. Biography Henri Cole was born in Fukuoka, Japan, to an Amer ...
*Lifetime Achievement - John Ashbery 2007 *American Studies - ''The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl'', by
Timothy Egan Timothy P. Egan (born November 8, 1954) is an American author, journalist and op-ed columnist for ''The New York Times'', writing from a liberal perspective. Egan has written nine books. His first, ''The Good Rain'', won the Pacific Northwest ...
*Autobiography - ''The Afterlife: A Memoir'', by Donald Antrim *Biography - ''The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher'', by Debby Applegate *Current Affairs - '' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq'', by Thomas E. Ricks *Fiction - ''The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel'', by
Amy Hempel Amy Hempel (born December 14, 1951) is an American short story writer and journalist. She teaches creative writing at the Michener Center for Writers. Life Hempel was born in Chicago, Illinois. She moved to California at age 16, which is whe ...
*Poetry - '' Averno'', by
Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". H ...
*Lifetime Achievement - Garry Wills 2006 *American Studies - ''A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America'', by Stacy Schiff *Biography & Autobiography - '' American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer'', by
Kai Bird Kai Bird (born September 2, 1951) is an American author and columnist, best known for his works on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, United States-Middle East political relations and his biographies of political figures. He won a Pul ...
and Martin Sherwin *Fiction - ''Liberation: A Novel'', by Joanna Scott *Poetry - ''Migration'', by W.S. Merwin 2005 *American Studies - ''
Washington's Crossing Washington's Crossing is the location of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25–26, 1776 in the American Revolutionary War. This daring maneuver led to victory in the Battle of Trenton and altered the cou ...
'', by David Hackett Fischer *Biography & Autobiography - ''De Kooning: An American Master'', by Mark Stevens *Fiction - ''
Gilead Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> ...
'', by
Marilynne Robinson Marilynne Summers Robinson (born November 26, 1943) is an American novelist and essayist. Across her writing career, Robinson has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, National Humanities Medal in 2012, and t ...
*Poetry - ''Collected Poems'', by
Donald Justice Donald Rodney Justice (August 12, 1925 – August 6, 2004) was an American teacher of writing and poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980. In summing up Justice's career, David Orr wrote, "In most ways, Justice was no different from a ...
2004 *American Studies - '' They Marched into Sunlight'', by
David Maraniss David Maraniss ( ; born 1949) is an American journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for ''The Washington Post''. Career ''The Washington Post'' assigned Maraniss the job of biographer for their coverage of 2008 president ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''Hawthorne , A Life'', by
Brenda Wineapple Brenda Wineapple is an American nonfiction writer, literary critic, and essayist who has written several books on nineteenth-century American writers. Biography Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she graduated from Brandeis University. In 2014, ...
*Fiction - '' The Time of Our Singing'', by
Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel '' The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Frank Bidart Frank Bidart (born May 27, 1939) is an American academic and poet, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Biography Bidart is a native of California and considered a career in acting or directing when he was young. In 1957, he began to s ...
& David Gewanter *Distinguished Achievement Award -
Robert A. Caro Robert Allan Caro (born October 30, 1935) is an American journalist and author known for his biographies of United States political figures Robert Moses and Lyndon B. Johnson. After working for many years as a reporter, Caro wrote ''The Power Br ...
2003 *Fiction - ''
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
'', by
Jeffrey Eugenides Jeffrey Kent Eugenides (born March 8, 1960) is an American novelist and short story writer. He has written numerous short stories and essays, as well as three novels: ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1993), ''Middlesex'' (2002), and'' The Marriage Plot'' ...
*American Studies - ''In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692'', by
Mary Beth Norton Mary Beth Norton (born 1943) is an American historian, specializing in American colonial history and well known for her work on women's history and the Salem witch trials. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emeritus of American History at t ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War'', by T. J. Stiles *Poetry - ''Springing, New and Selected Poems'', by
Marie Ponsot Marie Ponsot (née Birmingham; April 6, 1921 – July 5, 2019) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. Her awards and honors included the National Book Critics Circle Award, Delmore Schwartz Memorial Prize, the ...
*Lifetime Achievement - Edmund S. Morgan 2002 *American Studies - '' Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution'', by Diane McWhorter *Biography & Autobiography - ''
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...
'', by
David McCullough David Gaub McCullough (; July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States ...
*Lifetime Achievement - Hortense Calisher *Fiction - '' Empire Falls'', by Richard Russo *Poetry - ''The Darkness and the Light'', by
Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the World War II, Second World War, in which ...
2001 *American Studies - '' In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex'', by Nathaniel Philbrick *Biography & Autobiography - ''The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst'', by David Nasaw *Lifetime Achievement - Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. *Fiction - ''Angel on the Roof: The Stories of Russell Banks'', by
Russell Banks Russell Banks (born March 28, 1940) is an American writer of fiction and poetry. As a novelist, Banks is best known for his "detailed accounts of domestic strife and the daily struggles of ordinary often-marginalized characters". His stories usua ...
*Poetry - ''American Poetry: The Twentieth Century'', 2 vols., by Hass, Hollander, Kizer, Mackey, Perloff 2000 *American Studies - ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945'', by David M. Kennedy *Biography & Autobiography - ''Morgan: American Financier'', by Jean Strouse *Fiction - '' Close Range: Wyoming Stories'', by
Annie Proulx Edna Ann Proulx (; born August 22, 1935) is an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. She has written most frequently as Annie Proulx but has also used the names E. Annie Proulx and E.A. Proulx. She won the PEN/Faulkner Award fo ...
*Poetry - ''Vita Nova'', by
Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". H ...
1999 *American Studies - '' Slaves in the Family'', by Edward Ball *Biography & Autobiography - ''N.C. Wyeth'', by David Michaelis *Fiction - '' I Married a Communist'', by
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...
*Poetry - ''The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren'', by John Burt 1998 *American Studies - ''American Visions'', by Robert Hughes *Autobiography - ''Burning the Days: Recollection'', by James Salter *Biography - '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'', by
Joseph Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the founders of the United States of America. '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a National Boo ...
*Fiction - ''
Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
'', by
Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as television, nuclear war, sports, the complexities of language, perf ...
*Poetry - ''Black Zodiac'', by Charles Wright 1997 *American Studies - ''Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West'', by Stephen E. Ambrose *Biography & Autobiography - ''Taking on the World: Joseph and Stewart Alsop- Guardians of the American Century'', by Robert W. Merry *Fiction - ''
In the Beauty of the Lilies ''In the Beauty of the Lilies'' is a 1996 novel by John Updike. It takes its title from a line of the abolitionist song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The novel received the 1997 Ambassador Book Award for Fiction. In ''The New York Times'', ...
'', by John Updike *Poetry - ''The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, 1966 - 1996'', by
Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most o ...
1996 *American Studies - ''Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs and Declarations of Independence'', by John Hockenberry *Biography & Autobiography - ''Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography'', by David S. Reynolds *Fiction - ''All the Days and Nights'', by William Maxwell *Poetry - ''Atlantis'', by Mark Doty 1995 *American Studies - ''Speak Now Against the Day: The Generation Before the Civil Rights Movement in the South'', by John Egerton *Biography & Autobiography - ''No Ordinary Time Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II'', by
Doris Kearns Goodwin Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Drea ...
*Fiction - ''The Collected Stories'', by
Grace Paley Grace Paley (December 11, 1922 – August 22, 2007) was an American short story author, poet, teacher, and political activist. Paley wrote three critically acclaimed collections of short stories, which were compiled in the Pulitzer Prize and Na ...
*Poetry - ''Like Most Revelations'', by
Richard Howard Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022; adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was a graduate of Columbia University, w ...
1994 *American Studies - ''Around the Cragged Hill A Personal and Political Philosophy'', by George F. Kennan *Biography & Autobiography - '' W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race 1868-1919'', by
David Levering Lewis David Levering Lewis (born May 25, 1936) is an American historian, a Julius Silver University Professor, and a professor of history at New York University. He is twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, for ...
*Fiction - ''The Oracle at Stoneleigh Court'', by
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...
*Poetry - ''Tesserae & Other Poems'', by John Hollander 1993 *American Arts & Letters - ''Up in the Old Hotel'', by Joseph Mitchell *American Studies - '' Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America'', by Garry Wills *Biography & Autobiography - ''Archibald MacLeish: An American Life'', by Scott Donaldson *Fiction - ''Outerbridge Reach'', by Robert Stone 1992 *American Arts & Letters - ''The Journals of John Cheever'', by John Cheever *American Studies - ''The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev : 1960 - 1963'', by
Michael Beschloss Michael Richard Beschloss (born November 30, 1955) is an American historian specializing in the United States presidency. He is the author of nine books on the presidency. Early life Beschloss was born in Chicago, grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois, ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''Woodrow Wilson'', by August Heckscher *Fiction - ''
A Thousand Acres ''A Thousand Acres'' is a 1991 novel by American author Jane Smiley. It won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. It was premiered as an ...
'', by
Jane Smiley Jane Smiley (born September 26, 1949) is an American novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for her novel ''A Thousand Acres'' (1991). Biography Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a s ...
1991 *American Arts & Letters - ''The House of Barrymore'', by Margot Peters *American Studies - ''A New York Life'', by
Brendan Gill Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for ''Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architectu ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''The House of Morgan'', by
Ron Chernow Ronald Chernow (; born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for hi ...
*Fiction - ''Killing Mr. Watson'', by
Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and CIA Operative. A co-founder of the literary magazine ''The Paris Review'', he was the only writer to have won the Nation ...
1990 *American Arts & Letters - ''The Writing Life'', by Annie Dillard *American Studies - ''Among Schoolchildren'', by
Tracy Kidder John Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945) is an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his '' The Soul of a New Machine'' (1981), about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. He has recei ...
*Biography & Autobiography - '' This Boy's Life: A Memoir'', by
Tobias Wolff Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, T ...
*Fiction - '' Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All'', by Allan Gurganus 1989 *American Arts & Letters - ''At Home: Essays 1982-1988'', by
Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and e ...
*American Studies - '' A Bright Shining Lie John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam'', by
Neil Sheehan Cornelius Mahoney Sheehan (October 27, 1936 – January 7, 2021) was an American journalist. As a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 1971, Sheehan obtained the classified '' Pentagon Papers'' from Daniel Ellsberg. His series of articles rev ...
*Biography & Autobiography - '' Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963'', by
Taylor Branch Taylor Branch (born January 14, 1947) is an American author and historian who wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning trilogy chronicling the life of Martin Luther King Jr. and much of the history of the American civil rights movement. The final volume o ...
*Fiction - '' Where I'm Calling From: New & Selected Stories'', by
Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mil ...
1988 *American Arts & Letters - ''Collected Prose'', by Robert Lowell *American Studies - ''
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
'', by
Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer. Along with Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and Gay Talese, she is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism. Didion's career began in the 1950s after she won ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''Many Masks: A Life of Frank Lloyd Wright'', by
Brendan Gill Brendan Gill (October 4, 1914 – December 27, 1997) was an American journalist. He wrote for ''The New Yorker'' for more than 60 years. Gill also contributed film criticism for ''Film Comment'', wrote about design and architecture for Architectu ...
*Fiction - ''
The Bonfire of the Vanities ''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish as ...
'', by
Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
1987 *American Studies - ''Cities on a Hill: A Journey Through Contemporary American Cultures'', by Frances FitzGerald *American Studies - ''The Cycles of American History'', by
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a s ...
*Biography & Autobiography - ''The Life of Langston Hughes, Volume I: 1902-1941: I, Too, Sing America'', by Arnold Rampersad *Fiction - ''
Roger's Version ''Roger's Version'' is a 1986 novel by American writer John Updike. Plot summary The novel is about Roger Lambert, a theology professor in his fifties, whose rather complacent faith is challenged by Dale, an evangelical graduate student who beli ...
'', by John Updike 1986 *Fiction - ''
Lake Wobegon Days ''Lake Wobegon Days'' is a novel by Garrison Keillor, first published in hardcover by Viking Press, Viking in 1985. Based on material from his radio show ''A Prairie Home Companion'', the book brought Keillor's work to a much wider audience and a ...
'', by Garrison Keillor *Fiction - ''
The Accidental Tourist ''The Accidental Tourist'' is a 1985 novel by Anne Tyler that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 1985 and the Ambassador Book Award for Fiction in 1986. The novel was adapted into ...
'', by
Anne Tyler Anne Tyler (born October 25, 1941) is an American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published twenty-four novels, including '' Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant'' (1982), ''The Accidental Tourist'' (1985), and ''Breathi ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


Ambassador Book Award
official website. American fiction awards Awards established in 1986 Awards disestablished in 2011 American non-fiction literary awards American poetry awards Biography awards