Talk:National Book Award for Fiction

Untitled

This list is split from National Book Award in a sense. That article history, discussion (Talk:National Book Award#children), and discussion edit history may be relevant here.

Hardcover and paperback awards

I have rearranged the 1980 to 1983 listings to distinguish the hardcover and paperback awards by layout and other markup.

Do the paperback awards belong here? The 1980 to 1983 winners had been losing finalists for 1979 (two) and 1981 (two) awards in their first editions. In a sense the paperback awards one to three years later were consolation prizes.

Of course the paperback awards did distinguish their winners and they may be notable. Some books were losing finalists twice, such as Norman Mailer The Executioner's Song for 1980 hardcover and 1981 paperback. But I don't believe paperback editions of the hardcover winners were considered for a second award. Why would 1980 hardcover winner William Styron Sophie's Choice drop out of the top five in consideration for the 1981 paperback award, behind Norman Mailer The Executioner's Song? --P64 (talk) 16:42, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Let me report from work on 13 paperback awards in several nonfiction categories 1980 to 1983 (History, Auto/Biography, and General Nonfiction; complete markup at User:P64/FSF/National Book Award#1980 and after).

There were 57 nominations including 55 books with first editions at least two years earlier (almost all two to four years before the award year); only two "originals" meaning that first editions were published in the preceding year (either paperback originals or paperback reprints in the calendar year of the first edition). The two so-called originals:

• 1981, History (ppb), Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States
• 1983, General Nonfiction (ppb), Joanna Stratton, Pioneer Women: Voices from the Kansas Frontier

Those two were losing finalists. Several of the nominees had been losing finalists as first editions one or two years earlier.

(continued) By my count, same limited selection of categories, five of the 13 winning paperbacks had been losing finalists as first editions; one had won the National Book Award in another category ([[Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard, Contemporary Thought 1979 and General Nonfiction (ppb) 1980). Some other first edition winners were nominated as paperbacks. --P64 (talk) 20:20, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

--P64 (talk) 20:11, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Double winners 1973 to 1975

The 2009 book-a-day blog at NBF does not explain procedures but does list losing Finalists and Judges for each award. The multiple awards 1980 to 1985 are tacitly explained by subcategory names for the losing finalists, such as "Fiction Finalists that Year" and "First Work of Fiction Finalists that Year" (1985). For 1973 to 1975, the blog entries for both winners include identical lists of losing "Fiction Finalists that Year" and "Fiction Judges that Year" without any mention of the other winner. --P64 (talk) 17:49, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

These three awards were split. I have provided that much explanation by ref contemporary NYTimes and deleted tags {{clarification needed}}. --P64 (talk) 00:16, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

78 fiction awards in 60 years

The book-a-day blog in summer 2009 celebrated "77 Fiction Winners" in 59 years, extended by one entry for 2009 nine months later (2009). Total 78 in sixty years.
(Today there are 79 thumbnail cover images displayed, ending with the 2010 winner that is not covered in the blog.)

For the same sixty years 1950 to 2009, we now cover 67 winners including unexplained double winners 1973 to 1975 (three), hardcover and paperback winners 1980 to 1983 (four). We do not cover 1980 mystery, western, and science fiction (five) or 1980 to 1985 first novel/first work of fiction (six). Total 78. --P64 (talk) 18:05, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

P.S. As part of the 77 in 59 celebration, the six Best fiction award winners were selected by vote of writers associated with the Foundation. The one Best of the National Book Awards was selected by visitors to the NBF website (one vote per email address). Four of the six were short story collections rather than novels and two were paperback editions of books that were losing finalists in their first editions!

• 1951: Collected Stories of William Faulkner (collection)
• 1953: Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
• 1972: Flannery O'Connor The Complete Stories (coll.) --Best of the Best
• 1974: Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow
• 1981 ppb: The Stories of John Cheever (coll.)
• 1983 ppb: The Collected Stories of Eudora Welta (coll.)

We do not yet cover this anywhere. --P64 (talk) 18:24, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

Incorrect info, as supported by references

The 1974 co-winners are stated incorrectly, and I don’t know how to fix this in the template offered. The references list the correct info. Could someone please help me fix? 2601:241:8981:3210:40A7:A4C4:BD2A:5297 (talk) 04:38, 10 October 2022 (UTC)