National Book Award long list in fiction

Marilynne Robinson, Jane Smiley, Richard Powers--it's a strong list, hard to pick a favorite.

September 18, 2014 at 11:29AM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Elizabeth McCracken, a finalist in 1996 for "The Giant's House," is on this yea's long list.
Elizabeth McCracken, a finalist in 1996 for "The Giant's House," is on this yea's long list. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Someone leaked the National Book Award long list to Huffington Post yesterday evening, and the New York Times published it, and so I did too, on Facebook, but here's the list again, this time with links to the Star Tribune reviews, where available.

And what a strong and interesting list! A couple of story collections, a debut novel (written by a rock star), a novel set in the future, a novel set in the past, the last in a trilogy. And unlike the nonfiction list, which had only one woman, this one is evenly divided.

The short list will be released Oct. 15 and the winner will be announced in November. Long lists for poetry, young people's literature, and nonfiction were released earlier this week.

Here goes:

Rabih Alameddine, 'An Unnecessary Woman,' Grove Press

Molly Antopol, 'The UnAmericans,' W.W. Norton & Company (short stories)

John Darnielle, 'Wolf in White Van,' Farrar, Straus and Giroux (debut novel)

Anthony Doerr, 'All the Light We Cannot See,' Scribner​

Phil Klay, 'Redeployment,' The Penguin Press

Emily St. John Mandel, 'Station Eleven,' Alfred A. Knopf

Elizabeth McCracken, 'Thunderstruck & Other Stories,' The Dial Press

Richard Powers, 'Orfeo,' W.W. Norton & Company

Marilynne Robinson, 'Lila,' Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Strib review runs in October)

Jane Smiley, 'Some Luck,' Alfred A. Knopf (Strib review runs in October)

about the writer

about the writer

Laurie Hertzel

Senior Editor

Freelance writer and former Star Tribune books editor Laurie Hertzel is at lauriehertzel@gmail.com.

See Moreicon

More from No Section

See More
FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.