Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: McCarthy, Monette take National Book Awards Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 15:23:03 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD McCarthy, Monette take National Book Awards \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT NEW YORK NEW YORK (AP) - The 1992 National Book Award in fiction was awarded yesterday to Cormac McCarthy for "All the Pretty Horses," a novel about a 16-year-old boy who embarks on a journey to Mexico. The nonfiction winner was Paul Monette for "Becoming A Man: Half a Life Story," an autobiography that focuses on the author's personal struggle to acknowledge and celebrate his homosexual identity. In poetry, the winner was Mary Oliver for "New and Selected Poems," a collection dealing with the natural landscape and questions of life and death. The $10,000 awards were presented at a black-tie dinner at the Plaza Hotel. Publisher, author and poet James Laughlin received the $10,000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Mr. Laughlin, who established New Directions in 1936, has published some of the most celebrated and influential poets, novelists, playwrights and essayists of the 20th century. Among them: William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Dylan Thomas, Tennessee Williams, Thomas Merton and Kay Boyle. His New Classics series, featuring reissues of books out of print, helped ignite and sustain interest in James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Henry James, E.M. Forster, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Vladimir Nabokov. The other fiction finalists this year were: * Dorothy Allison for her first novel, "Bastard out of Carolina." * Cristina Garcia for her first novel, "Dreaming in Cuban." * Edward P. Jones for his first collection of short stories, "Lost in the City." * Previous winner Robert Stone, for "Outerbridge Reach." In addition to Mr. Monette, the nonfiction finalists were: * Edward L. Ayers for "The Promise of the New South." * James Gleick for his biography "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman." * Two-time winner David McCullough for his biography "Truman." * Garry Wills for "Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America." The awards have been presented since 1950. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM