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Riverhead author Junot Díaz has won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The announcement was made officially this afternoon at the 92nd annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music at Columbia University, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which Riverhead Books published on September 6th, went on to become one of the most critically-acclaimed novels of 2007. The book received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction last month, won the Mercantile Library Center's John Sargent Prize for First Novel, and was a 2007 New York Public Library "Book to Remember." In addition, Díaz's novel was named a best book of 2007 by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times, New York Daily News, and a host of other top dailies. It was also chosen as one of the top 10 books of the year by Time, People and Entertainment Weekly, among others.
In her review for the New York Times, Michiko Kakutani wrote: "'Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' is a wondrous, not-so-brief first novel that is so original it can only be described as Mario Vargas Llosa meets 'Star Trek' meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West. It is funny, street-smart and keenly observed.. An extraordinarily vibrant book." Time magazine called it "astoundingly great" and "the novel of the year."
The Award, for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, comes with a $10,000 cash prize, and will be presented at a luncheon on Thursday, May 29th at Columbia University.
In 2006, March by Geraldine Brooks (Viking/Penguin) won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 2005, Ghost Wars by Steve Coll (The Penguin Press/Penguin) won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.
Pulitzer, 
Fiction, 
Junot Diaz, 
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 
Riverhead, 
American Life, 
award, 
best book, 
Penguin Books, 
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