I saw a post early this week by Janice Harayda at One Minute Book Reviews that reminded me it is Pulitzer week.
I like her philosophy of book reviewing. In her post, Famous Pulitzer Losers – 10 Great Novels That Didn’t Win the Fiction Prize and Which Books Beat Them, Janice compares books that didn’t make the cut, to those who won.
Yet when I read her list, I have to scratch my head and think, “Are there really any losers?”
Here are a couple of samples:
1962
Loser: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Winner: The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O’Connor
1952
Loser: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Winner: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
1928
Loser: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Winner: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
She also did another recent post that caught my eye about John Cheever who won a Pulitzer in 1979. Remember reading his short stories last year in Taos along with Susan Cheever’s memoir, Home Before Dark?
You can see the rest of the Pulitzer winners at The Pulitzer Prizes. I don’t know if I feel better or worse knowing many classic books miss by a hair. But then, we can’t all be winners.
I wonder what Joseph would think?
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
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