PEN/Faulkner Award 2009
Joseph O’Neill’s novel Netherland (Pantheon Books) has been selected as the winner of the 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. O’Neill’s novel won over finalists Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum for Ms. Hempel Chronicles (Harcourt); Susan Choi for A Person of Interest (Viking); Richard Price for Lush Life (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); and Ron Rash for Serena (Ecco).
I’m often swayed to read a novel when it wins an award or appears on a finalist list. In fact, I’m often reluctant to read something if it hasn’t. Since my time for reading is limited, I always gravitate toward what’s considered “the best.” I think I started using awards as a benchmark after a few unhappy experiences trying to find a book club with tastes similar to mine.
My first book club quickly devolved to a dinner and chat club. I say devolved only in the sense that we stopped being a book club–the group is a wonderful bunch of women, and we still occasionally get together for dinner and nonstop talk. In fact, we still call ourselves a book club. It makes justifying the time in our busy schedules easier. Somehow it sounds more virtuous to say, “I’m going to my book club,” rather than, “I’m having dinner with my friends.”
The book part of that club fell apart mostly over book taste. We had people who wanted to read things like Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus and others who wanted to tackle Bobbie Ann Mason’s Feather Crowns. Some loved Maeve Binchy, others championed Alice Munro. And since we took turns picking the book, we were utterly subject to the taste of the person whose turn it was to choose.
I was also in a group with a moderator who selected books and led the discussion, but that wasn’t particularly comfortable, either. And putting selections to a vote never came up.
I’ve had the best luck with book recommendations in my writing critique groups. Most of the writers in my groups read literary fiction, so our tastes are similar. But I worry a little about that, too. So now I’m looking for ways to open up my reading experiences to different genres.
Responding to a recent post, regular contributor Sarah Busse noted that she thinks we should jettison the idea of genre and read as widely as possible. Hearing that from someone as erudite and accomplished as Sarah was reassuring. I may just pick up an airport novel and dive in.