Do Book Prizes Owe Us a Winner Every Year? A Deep Dive into the Pulitzer Prize Controversy of 2012

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With the pending announcement of this year’s Pulitzer Prize, I thought it would be fun to look at the infamous Pulitzer announcement from ten years ago when there were three finalists but no winner was chosen. Why? Let’s find out! Expand for more information 👇
This video was inspired by a comment from Kiran Reads: / @kiranreader
Links 💻
My full blog post about this: supposedlyfun.com/2022/05/05/...
Michael Cunningham’s article about what happened (Part 1): www.newyorker.com/books/page-...
Michael Cunningham’s article about what happened (Part 2): www.newyorker.com/books/page-...
Lev Grossman’s article about the lack of a winner: entertainment.time.com/2012/0...
PPrize predictions for 2012: www.pprize.com/Discussions.php...
Further Viewing 🎥
My 2022 Pulitzer Predictions: • Pulitzer Prize Predict...
Last Year’s Winner Reaction: • Pulitzer Prize for Fic...
What Is the Great American Novel? • What Is the Great Amer...
1937: Is Gone With the Wind Racist? • Is Gone With the Wind ...
1986: Is Lonesome Dove the Great American Novel? • Is Lonesome Dove the G...
1988: Beloved and the Ghosts of Slavery: • Can America Reckon Wit...
2018: What Type of Book Deserves to Win Book Awards? • What Type of Book Dese...
Time Stamps ⏰
What Happened? 03:48
The Pulitzer as a Literary Award and its History of Not Selecting a Fiction Prize: 08:03
Why Was This a Big Deal? And How Did it Happen? 13:02
Do Book Prizes Owe Us a Winner Every Year? 19:33
The Finalists: 23:52
Other Contenders Published in 2011: 30:54
What Should Have Won? 33:31
The Finalists 📚
The Pale King, David Foster Wallace
Train Dreams, Denis Johnson
Swamplandia!, Karen Russell
Other Options 📚
The Tiger’s Wife, Téa Obreht
The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt
Open City, Teju Cole
The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka
Ten Thousand Saints, Eleanor Henderson
The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides
Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward
#Pulitzer #PulitzerPrize #PulitzerPrizeForFiction
My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:
www.blurb.com/b/10189765-my-m...
But wait, there's more!
Email: supposedlyfungreg-at-gmail.com
Storygraph: app.thestorygraph.com/profile...
Instagram: / supposedlyfun
Twitter: / supposedlyfun
Website: supposedlyfun.com/

Опубликовано:

5 май 2022

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Комментарии : 63

@thecinematicmind 2 года назад

I say if a year of a Book Awards doesn’t occur, it should be a retrospective award like the Lost Booker Prize.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

That would be a really fun idea!

@mradcaqbdb 2 года назад

I would estimate that 98% of what I know about the Pulitzer Prize for fiction I have learned from you. I had never heard of Train Dreams, but now I am going to hunt down a copy. I’m all about short fiction. I would call it hubris for the board to decide it wasn’t going to bother picking a winner. Not cool. I still hate this two-tiered system they have. I just picture the great white overseers. Kind of like a Supreme Court going rogue.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

It's definitely a bizarre system that can cause a lot of drama. I hope you enjoy Train Dreams!

@marytumulty4257 2 года назад

This was a great presentation on the decision making process of the Pulitzer Prize board. Thanks for the synopsis of “Train Dreams”, I just added it to my ever expanding perpetual Book Wish List. It sounds like my jam and I am surprised that I was unaware of it earlier. “Train Dreams” was not a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award either. Louise Erdrich won for “The Roundhouse”. It’s interesting that over the years there were so few books that were awarded both awards. Even the finalists for each seldom overlapped. It’s as if the books are in two completely different realms.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I hope you enjoy Train Dreams if and when you get to it. I just reread it and still liked it a great deal. The National Book Award and the Pulitzer rarely align and it is definitely fascinating to see how they diverge. The NBA is an award I would say has done a great job embracing diversity in recent years.

@jeremyl2594 8 месяцев назад

I absolutely think there should be an award given every year for the best book. Even when there are thin years

@SupposedlyFun 8 месяцев назад

I agree!

@colechamberlain1825 2 года назад

This is the most fun I’ve had on RU-vid maybe ever! I love your Pulitzer videos.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

Thank you so much! They can be a lot of work but I really enjoy doing them, so it means a lot that people might like following along.

@athertonca 2 года назад

I am loving these Pulitzer Prize videos from you! I am so excited for Monday! Thanks for mentioning Train Dreams. I was able to download the audiobook from Hoopla via my public library. I am thrilled that Will Patton, my favorite narrator, is narrating the book. I have made a deal with myself that I can listen to it now as long as clean the house concurrently. I look forward to your reaction video to the 2022 Pulitzer winner, assuming there is one. 😮

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

Thank you for letting me know that Will Patton narrates! I looked and the audio with him is on Scribd. I may do that quickly before starting my next audio. If there isn’t a Pulitzer winner this year I’m going to blame you. 😉 😂

@adamhasideas6813 Год назад

Such a well spoken video. I learned a lot by listening to what you had to say about the Pulitzer controversy in 2012. I have read 27 of the Fiction Pulitzers so I'm pretty interested in what you have to say about it.

@SupposedlyFun Год назад

Thank you!

@readandre-read 2 года назад

This was fascinating, and now I want to know what happened in the other "no reward" years. Adding Train Dreams and the upcoming Less sequel (yay!) to my list.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I hope you like Train Dreams! I'm contemplating rereading it this weekend since it's so short.

@kiranreader 2 года назад

ty for the shoutout! glad my lil comment was able to inspire this great video!! i learned so much and would love more vids like this!! your pope example also really made me laugh 😂😂 it's' a bold, provocative move to not name a prize winner... but i think there should always be a winner. it's important to have a book that represents the year even if it's not going to become part of the canon

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I agree--I get that they concern themselves with finding future classics but that's so hard to do that they might as well let it go and pick the books they like.

@KierTheScrivener 2 года назад

I find this so interesting. I love your discussion on it

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

Thank you so much!

@bookofdust 2 года назад

One of my organic reading goals that emerged out of the first months of the year was reading a novella or very short novel each month. Part of this was a correction on my part as I’ve been dismissive of shorter works to the point I would not even record them on GoodReads regardless of how good they were, so I felt I owed them their due. In doing a deep dive to find titles for the year Train Dreams emerged as one of the best and was continuously on the top of every list. It was fantastic, I was blown away by it, especially as the subject matter was nothing I would have normally been drawn to except for the genre of Historical Fiction itself. It’s a perfect little gem and reassured me that this was a stellar reading goal for the year exposing me to new works I wouldn’t normally have picked up. It certainly deserved a place in that pantheon and I think time has been on its side proving that. Incidentally, I did read The Art of Fielding that year, which was way outside my reading zone, but it was well hyped and it caught my attention. The whole time I was reading it I kept thinking “I’m reading a book about sports!” unbelievable as that sounds, and more improbable really liking it. The good will that it bought and unusual subject matter to me surpassed any flaws that it may have had since it was such a unique situation. I remember it fondly, if not as outstanding.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I liked a lot of what The Art of Fielding did--or at least a lot of the things it aimed for. I wish Harbach would publish another book because I think he has great potential. It was definitely a debut novel, but one with great ambition and style. Train Dreams and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan are my favorite novellas, I think. I would say you've given yourself a worthy project.

@bookofdust 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun It was Small Things Like These that tipped the balance into the goal. And yeah, I’m much more forgiving of writers of debut novels, especially if they are doing something a bit different.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@bookofdust Small Things Like These is exquisite.

@jeremyl2594 8 месяцев назад

I also liked The Art of Fielding

@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf 2 года назад

I also read the articles by Michael Cunningham recently and found them to be so interesting, especially in the way that they shed so much light on the selection process for the shortlisted three. I can’t understand why the prize wasn’t given and I definitely want to read Train Dreams.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

Cunningham's articles are FASCINATING to me. I'm so glad you agree! It really is inexplicable that Train Dreams was RIGHT THERE and the Board didn't grab it.

@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun it baffles me that they wouldn’t either pick one of the three or at least ask for an alternative suggestion from them! I feel sorry for Cunningham and his fellow judges reading 300 books only to be told there was no winner.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@AliceandtheGiantBookshelf If I remember correctly, the initial backlash blamed the jury. Part of Cunningham's articles, then, was to set the record straight that they had done what was expected of them. I'm glad he spoke so eloquently.

@loriroemer1122 2 года назад

This was a lot of fun. I haven't decided yet if there should be an award every year or not. Going to ponder.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I look forward to your thoughts!

@dqan7372 2 года назад

Enjoyed this. Award committees certainly have no obligation to choose a winner, but not awarding anything seems like a huge missed opportunity, a petty self-inflicted wound. They could at least declare a tie and recognize the finalists--with some fanfare--as "books of merit". I like it when my favorite receives recognition, but ultimately I find my interest waning after any shortlist announcement. This makes me wonder--do short lists mostly come from organizations that only award one prize? Short lists for Pulitzer and Nobels would probably be too much of a good thing, diluting the brand.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

The National Book Award gives five awards and each has a longlist, a shortlist, and an ultimate winner. But five categories that are all book related probably isn't too hard for them to handle.

@jenniferlovesbooks 2 года назад

This is so interesting, I wasn't aware of any of this. I am keen to read some Denis Johnson now.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I hope you enjoy him! Train Dreams is perfect and short but if you want something larger, his novel Tree of Smoke is supposed to be fantastic.

@jenniferlovesbooks 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun thanks, my library has both and also the short story collection you mentioned 😊

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@jenniferlovesbooks It's been about twenty years since I read Jesus' Son but I remember loving it.

@jackwalter5970 2 года назад

No book should be a finalist if the judges don't think it has a chance of winning. It's not like we are owed a winner, it's that not being able to choose a winner reflects badly on the organization.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I agree that it made the Pulitzer organization look bad. I don't think they saw that coming and hopefully, they won't let it happen again.

@annegibson6072 2 года назад

I am so excited for Monday. I think I have read both the fiction and nonfiction winners. We will see.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

That would be quite a feat! We'll see what happens.

@krc5210 2 года назад

I just wanted to respond to your recommending the Wilde book. I used to work in a library and people often asked for recommendations. If I knew the kind of books they liked that was easier of course but if I had no clue I would rec'd what I liked. After recommending The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald two women never asked me again. HA. Just ordered Train Dreams.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I've never read Penelope Fitzgerald so maybe I'll take your recommendation (I promise to still talk to you, though 😉). I hope you enjoy Train Dreams.

@jacksontalley1983 2 года назад

I really enjoyed Swamplandia!, but I was very surprised to see it as a finalist. I enjoyed The Art of Fielding but agree, too many issues to warrant the prize.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I'm the same--I liked Swamplandia! but wouldn't have nominated it.

@DanielDagris 2 года назад

Agreed: Train Dreams for the win. I also loved The Sisters Brothers (and considering the Pulitzer's appetite for humor, I'm surprised it didn't chart). It's painful that the Largesse of the Sea Maiden didn't make it into the top three in 2019 (an impressive grouping already), but having read the three, Largesse is still my favorite. I started reading the winner for fiction and all finalists, from newest to oldest, and am now have one left in each 2017 and 2016. I can say so far, that at least one finalist resonates with me more than the winner. In the 5 year span of 2017-2021, for me, Less was the only winner to have been a more satisfying read than both finalists. I'm very curious what your thoughts are on the finalists vs. the winners.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I was sad that Largesse of the Sea Maiden didn't at least make it as a finalist, too. That was their last chance to reward Denis Johnson! Oh well. The last time I read all three of the finalists was 2019 (Overstory, Great Believers, and There There). In that case, I would have gone with The Great Believers. It's rare for me to have read all of them--I'm usually missing at least one. You have to go back to 2000 before there's another year where I've read all of the finalists.

@DanielDagris 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun I agree on that year--The Great Believers was the strongest of the three. If you find yourself interested, I highly recommend reading last year's finalists. A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth is now one of my favorite short story collections, and Telephone (the version that ends with an A at the end of the ISBN) was an excellent page turner with some incredible moments that most authors don't accomplish in such short books. The only other finalist I recommend from the last 6 years of groupings is The Dutch House (didn't blow my mind, but very good).

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@DanielDagris Thank you--that's very helpful. Last year's finalists sounded very interesting but I haven't found the time to get to them yet. I'll have to try to prioritize them.

@janethansen9612 2 года назад

As a non American this was a really interesting discussion on the Pulitzer. (I hated Infinite Jest and DNFd it half way through. David Foster Wallace is not for me)

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I’m worried the same would be true for me and David Foster Wallace.

@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 2 года назад

I can't be the only one to curse silently when you said you wouldn't speculate about books picked as ringers to ensure a chosen book won. This was a wonderful bit of storytelling. I found it fascinating to hear all the background and history. I read The Sisters Brothers and thought it was tremendous fun but not a future classic. Now I feel I should read something by Denis Johnson.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I haven't read Jesus' Son in about twenty years but remember loving it. Train Dreams is short and exquisite but if you want something longer, Tree of Smoke is supposed to be fantastic (I forgot to mention this in the video, but Tree of Smoke was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist. It lost to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao). To be honest, looking through the list of winners and finalists on Wikipedia, I can't see a year where it would have been obvious that a jury was stacking the deck. It may be something people just assume would happen.

@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun short and exquisite sounds ideal. I have to ration my chunksters as I am a greedy reader.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711 Good choice! I hope you like it.

@mradcaqbdb 2 года назад

@@SupposedlyFun Not even Tinkers? 😂

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

@@mradcaqbdb 😂 That year all three finalists were at least relatively obscure, so it would seem that the jury for that year was really into a sense of discovery.

@jorgem71962 2 года назад

I have to agree "The Marriage Plot" is not a good novel.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I enjoyed Middlesex and Virgin Suicides but yes, Marriage Plot is not good (to me).

@jacquelinemcmenamin8204 2 года назад

How’s the headache situation? Hope you’re doing better.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I started a new medication last weekend and I don't want to jinx anything but it seems to be doing the trick! Thank you for asking.

@nealwriter 2 года назад

Theories abound as to why no book was awarded the Pultizer in 2012. I for one was annoyed by this. My belief is that a book needs to be awarded each year as a marker for the literary achievments, great and small, of that year. The Oscars award a Best Picture every single year regardless of whether it was a banner year in films or a weak year. Something's got to stand for that year. I'm not a fan of gaps.

@SupposedlyFun 2 года назад

I agree that regardless of what the overall literary quality of a given year is, it should be possible to name something. It might not become a classic, but it would at least represent the year.