“Could Biology take place anywhere but New York?” Emily Schultze asks Jacob M. Appel about his new novel, The Biology of Luck, a modern-day take on Ulysses. “No,” Appel replies. “In my psychotic moments I thought maybe I’d put it in Dublin, but then I always came to my senses.”
This week, the National Book Foundation revised the procedures for choosing National Book Award winners. Previously, lists of five finalists were announced in the weeks leading up to the awards. The new template involves “long-listing” ten finalists in each category, to create more buzz about the possible winners, NBF representatives say. The pool of judges will also expand to include critics and booksellers. Does this sound familiar? It should. The NBF has borrowed ideas from the Booker Prize as well as the Oscars. Initially, Morgan Entrekin, the vice president of the NBF board and Grove/ Atlantic Press CEO, caused a […]
