Top Six

We were pleased to see two Mississippi writers among the six finalists for the Best of the National Book Award nominees.  The Collected Stories of William Faulkner and The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty were among the titles named the best National Book Award winners from the prize's 59 years, as determined by 140 previous judges, winners and finalists. 

While the finalists were selected by professionals, citizen readers have been invited to visit the National Book Foundation's website and cast their vote for the all-time best.  Other nominees include Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and two more story collections, The Stories of John Cheever and The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor.

So many story collections here.  It echoes our sentiments, posted early this summer, that the short story is the perfect literary format for American readers.  We're continuing to find worthy new collections, which we'll report on soon, and we just learned that Skip Horack, author of The Southern Cross, one of our great finds this summer, will stop by to sign and read at Turnrow on December 5.

In the meantime, catch up on reading these National Book Award finalists and cast your vote.  A complete list of National Book Award winners can be found here.