SPY BOOKS WIN AWARDS
Two books about espionage – one fiction, one-non-fiction – took top prizes at the National Book Awards last night.
“Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA,” by Tim Weiner, was the winner of the award for non-fiction. The book by the New York Times reporter was published by Doubleday.
“Tree of Smoke” by Denis Johnson, a novel set during the Vietnam War, took top honors in the fiction category. It is published by Farar, Straus and Giroux.
In the poetry category, “Time and Materials,” by Robert Haas, published by Ecco/Harper Collins, was the winner.
The fourth category, Young People’s Literature, was won by Sherman Alexie’s “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, published by Little, Brown & Company.
The awards were announced at the Marriott Marquis last night.
In accepting his award, Weiner commented on the CIA’s long history of missteps. “It should be the goal of intelligence to know the world, but when that didn’t work, we set out to change the world to fit our own prejudices,” he said. “Democracy is still open enough to see a glimpse of what we wrought.”
Fiction winner Johnson was in Iraq on assignment and sent his wife Cindy Lee to the podium to accept in his absence.
“To all you readers out there – praise God there are still so many of you out there,” she said.
Joan Didion, winner of the 2005 National Book Award in nonfiction for the searing memoir “The Year of Magical Thinking,” was the National Book Foundation’s 2007 choice for the Medal for Distinguished Contributions to American Letters.
Didion, 73, known for such nonfiction works as “Slouching Toward Bethlehem” and “Salvador” and several novels, was honored for “her distinctive blend of spare, elegant prose and fierce intelligence.”
“The Year of Magical Thinking,” which probed the turmoil following the sudden death of her husband and longtime literary collaborator John Gregory Dunne and her path to healing, brought Leibowitz wide critical and popular acclaim.
It was later adapted for the stage in a one-person play starring Vanessa Redgrave.
Also pulling in a lifetime award, for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community, was Terry Gross, host and executive producer of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air.”