''Charming Billy'', a novel by American author

Alice McDermott Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is an American writer and university professor. For her 1998 novel ''Charming Billy'' she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. McDermott is Johns Hopkins University's Rich ...

, tells the story of Billy Lynch and his lifelong struggle with alcohol after the death of his first love. It won the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

for fiction as well as the

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

, and was shortlisted for the International Dublin IMPAC Literary Award. The novel was published by FSG in 1997 and has since been republished by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

(as a Picador Modern Classic).

References

1997 novels Farrar, Straus and Giroux books National Book Award for Fiction winning works Novels set in New York (state) {{1990s-novel-stub