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Three Penguin Group (USA) Books Are National Book Critics Circle Awards Finalists

Mon, 01/14/2008

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The National Book Critics Circle organization announced the finalists for its prestigious annual awards this past Saturday and three Penguin Group (USA) books were among the finalists:

Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead) in the Fiction Category

In addition to this prestigious nomination from the NBCC, to date, Junot Díaz has also received many other honors. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was named the #1 best book by Time magazine and was chosen by New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani as one of the top books of the year. Junot Díaz also won the 2007 John Sargent Prize for First Novel, given by the Mercantile Library Center. In addition, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao appeared on nearly 40 national and regional "Best Books" round-up lists for 2007, including being named the #2 on Amazon.com Editors' top fiction and literature list; one of the top 10 books of the year by People magazine; best novel by New York magazine in their end of year culture issue; featured as a "Best Book" in Entertainment Weekly's "best and worst" of 2007 issue; was one of the Top 10 Books of 2007 on Barnes&Noble.com; and was one of Hudson News' 10 Best Fiction titles of the year. The book was also named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. In addition, it was heralded as a best book by newspapers all across the country, from The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times to The Boston Globe and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Julia Alvarez, Once Upon a Quniceanera (Viking) in the Criticism Category

In addition to this NBCC recognition, Once Upon a Quniceanera was also named an Amazon Editor's Pick on the "Top 100 Books of the Year" list and was named a "Best Book of 2007" by the San Francisco Chronicle and Chicago Tribune.

Claire Tomalin, Thomas Hardy (The Penguin Press) in the Biography Category

In addition to being named an NBCC award finalist, Thomas Hardy previously was a 2007 finalist for the British Book Award in the biography category and was on The New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year list. Thomas Hardy also appeared on "Best Books of 2007" lists in such publications as The Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor as well as "Favorite Books of 2007" lists in such publications as Seattle Times, and Chicago Tribune.

The award winners will be announced in New York City on Thursday, March 6, 2008, at the New School University's Tishman Auditorium.

The National Book Critics Circle, founded in 1974, consists of nearly 700 active book reviewers who are interested in honoring quality writing and communicating with one another about common concerns. The centerpiece of the NBCC's activities is its annual awards, honoring the previous year's best books in six categories: fiction, general nonfiction, biography, autobiography/memoir, criticism and poetry.