For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to „Tinkers”, by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press), a powerful celebration of life in which a New England father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were „Love in Infant Monkeys,” by Lydia Millet (Soft Skull Press), an imaginative collection of linked stories, often describing a memorable encounter between a famous person and an animal, underscoring the human folly of longing for significance while chasing trifles; and “In Other Rooms, Other Wonders,” by Daniyal Mueenuddin (W.W. Norton & Company), a collection of beautifully crafted stories that exposes the Western reader to the hopes, dreams and dramas of an array of characters in feudal Pakistan, resulting in both an aesthetic and cultural achievement.

An old man lies dying. As time collapses into memory, he travels deep into his past where he is reunited with his father and relives the wonder and pain of his impoverished New England youth. At once heartbreaking and life affirming, Tinkers is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature.

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Bio:

Paul Harding has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. He has taught writing at Harvard and the University of Iowa. He lives near Boston with his wife and two sons. This is his first novel.

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Jury:

Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, former editor, The New York Times Book Review (chair)

Charles Johnson, professor emeritus, University of Washington

Laura Miller, senior writer, Salon

photo credit: Gary Ottley