Welcome back to my home library. Last time we were here we looked through my Pulitzer Prize collection. This time, let's peruse my collection of NBA winners. No, not basketball teams, but rather the National Book Award winners for Fiction. The National Book Award, or NBA, has been around since 1950. Their mission is to acknowledge and celebrate the best of American Literature.
Let's go inside shall we...
Let's go inside shall we...
Photo above showcases all of the NBA winners I own...all First Editions First Printings and several are signed.
A total of 75 novels have won this exceptional award, from Nelson Algren's inaugural win The Man With The Golden Arm to the latest champion, Adam Johnson's Fortune Smiles.
Authors who have won the NBA multiple times: William Faulkner (1951, 1955), Saul Bellow (1954, 1965, 1971), Wright Morris (1957, 1981), Bernard Malamud (1959, 1967), Philip Roth (1960, 1995), John Updike (1964, 1982), and William Gaddis (1976, 1994). Impressive, to say the least!
Dual winners of both the Pulitzer and NBA (for the same Novel):
*1971: Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow
*1974: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1993: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
* Pulitzer shortlisted, no award given that year
Out of the 75 novels awarded the NBA for Fiction, I own a total of 72. I am only missing Goodbye, Columbus, The Color Purple, and The Shipping News.
Here are just a few of the signed ones I own...
A total of 75 novels have won this exceptional award, from Nelson Algren's inaugural win The Man With The Golden Arm to the latest champion, Adam Johnson's Fortune Smiles.
Authors who have won the NBA multiple times: William Faulkner (1951, 1955), Saul Bellow (1954, 1965, 1971), Wright Morris (1957, 1981), Bernard Malamud (1959, 1967), Philip Roth (1960, 1995), John Updike (1964, 1982), and William Gaddis (1976, 1994). Impressive, to say the least!
Dual winners of both the Pulitzer and NBA (for the same Novel):
*1971: Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow
*1974: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
1993: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
* Pulitzer shortlisted, no award given that year
Out of the 75 novels awarded the NBA for Fiction, I own a total of 72. I am only missing Goodbye, Columbus, The Color Purple, and The Shipping News.
Here are just a few of the signed ones I own...
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A sample of the signed NBA novels I own. Out of the 72, 15 are signed. (Oddly the exact number of signed Pulitzer winners)
- The Adventures of Augie March (1954)
- Morte D'Urban (1963)
- Herzog (1965)
- Mr. Sammler's Planet (1971)
- Chimera (1973)
- Dog Soldiers (1975)
- Going After Cacciato (1979)
- World's Fair (1986)
- Paris Trout (1988)
- Middle Passage (1990)
- Mating (1991)
- Charming Billy (1998)
- In America (2000)
- Three Junes (2002)
- Fortune Smiles (2015)
I have read 15 of the National Book Award for Fiction novels thus far...
Here is a quick list and rating for each:
The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren: ***
From Here to Eternity by James Jones: ****
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy: ****
Herzog by Saul Bellow: ****
The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder: *****
Paris Trout by Pete Dexter: ****
Mating by Norman Rush: ****
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy: *****
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth: ****
Waiting by Ha Jin: ****
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen: ****
Tree Of Smoke by Denis Johnson: *****
The Round House by Louise Erdrich: *****
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride: ****
Redeployment by Phil Klay: ***
Interesting, mostly 4 stars, and only one 3 star so far.
My 3 Favorites:
The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren: ***
From Here to Eternity by James Jones: ****
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy: ****
Herzog by Saul Bellow: ****
The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder: *****
Paris Trout by Pete Dexter: ****
Mating by Norman Rush: ****
All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy: *****
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth: ****
Waiting by Ha Jin: ****
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen: ****
Tree Of Smoke by Denis Johnson: *****
The Round House by Louise Erdrich: *****
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride: ****
Redeployment by Phil Klay: ***
Interesting, mostly 4 stars, and only one 3 star so far.
My 3 Favorites:
- All The Pretty Horses
- Tree Of Smoke
- The Round House
Which National Book Award winners have you read?
Which ones do you recommend?
Once again, Thank you!
Which ones do you recommend?
Once again, Thank you!
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