Pulitzer Prize Predictions for Fiction 2021
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Guessing what will win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction isn't easy. There are no finalists, no guidelines, and what rules exist are usually open to interpretation. Maybe that's why it's so fun to try to predict what will happen. Or maybe I'm just crazy. Either way--here are my guesses for what novel or short story collections might be crowned this year's Pulitzer Prize winner.
Brace yourself for the puppy cameo!
NOTE: As if in a perfect April Fool's Day joke, the day I published this video the Pulitzer Board announced that they are delaying the announcement of the winners for this year until June 11 in order to allow for the Board to meet and discuss nominees in person. The predictions still stand.
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Pulitzer Prediction site: www.pprize.com/...
Last year’s prediction video: • Pulitzer Prize 2020 Pr...
Last year’s winner reaction video: • Pulitzer Prize for Fic...
Titles mentioned:
Deacon King Kong, by James McBride
The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett
Transcendent Kingdom, by Yaa Gyasi
Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart
Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhtar
Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam
The Office of Historical Corrections, by Danielle Evans
A Children’s Bible, by Lydia Millet
The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars, by Joyce Carol Oates
Interior Chinatown, by Charles Yu
If I Had Two Wings, by Randall Kenan
Redhead by the Side of the Road, by Anne Tyler
Memorial, by Bryan Washington
Run Me to Earth, by Paul Yoon
Luster, by Raven Leilani
Real Life, by Brandon Taylor
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw
American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins
My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:
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But wait, there's more!
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As if in a perfect April Fool's Day joke, the day I published this video the Pulitzer Board announced that they are delaying the announcement of the winners for this year until June 11 in order to allow for the Board to meet and discuss nominees in person.
I came here to say the same thing. Odd that every other major literary award (and film, television, and music award) has been able to adjust and move forward in a timely fashion, but the Pulitzer board couldn’t seem to get it together!
@@allenbrj I understand the desire to meet in person but the timing for that to be such an urgent priority over getting the prize out in a timely manner feels... odd.
An American author, dealing with American life. I agree Deacon King Kong fits that bill. It's not perfect, but I agree it will likely be in top 3.
In my opinion, the best written book is Homeland Elegies and deserves the prize. I enjoyed Transcendent Kingdom; however, I felt the author "crammed" the the story line in the final chapters and was disappointed how it ended. Shuggie Bain was wonderfully written and reminded me of Angela's Ashes. Thanks for a great video! I enjoy seeing your reviews and recommendations. Cute dog!
Thank you! I just started Homeland Elegies and love it so far. And I’m biased but I think my dogs are very cute indeed!
I’m hoping for the “Homeland Elegies” or “Interior Chinatown” upset.
That would be interesting! Both books sound like worthy winners.
I think The Secret Lives of Church Ladies could be a surprise at least finalist. It has been getting more recognition than just the NBA longlist. I keep seeing Deesha Philyaw share different recognitions that it is receiving and it is currently shortlisted for the Pen/Faulkner award. I just checked out the Paul Yoon book from the library after seeing it on you Asian American authors video. I realized last year going through past Pulitzer winners that I already owned a very good amount of the winners, had even read a couple, so I saw how much the prize lined up with books I'm interested in.
The Pen/Faulkner Award typically has very little overlap with the Pulitzers. To be fair, all other awards are erratic when it comes to the Pulitzer, but the track record is particularly off there. I hope you love the Yoon book!
Thanks a lot for your Pulitzer Prize videos! Saves a lot of time for a guy like me who wants to read up on the latest high quality fiction. And once again - your videos are real gems for book lovers. Much appreciated!
I would be very surprised if the Vanishing Half wins. The writing was good but I felt that there were a few story gaps that left me asking a lot of questions.
I LOVED Interior Chinatown. I think it might win.
I'm reading Interior Chinatown. I'm trying to get "settled in" the plot.
I would love for Homeland Elegies to win! I’ve never read anything quite like it and there is something about it that feels quintessentially American.
I haven't read it yet but I'm excited to get to it and I think a win would be very exciting.
I hope we are pleasantly surprised this year, as last year. The secretiveness of the Pulitzer decision makes this a weird prize for me. I don’t like the way they do it, but it seems unlikely they will care. 😂 I haven’t read Transcendent Kingdom yet, so I’d like to see the prize go to the Church Ladies.
It's a very odd process. The dynamic of having a jury that doesn't actually make the decision is WILD. I would be very, very happy if either Transcendent Kingdom or Church Ladies takes it.
If they try to pick something representative of the year, then Red Pill by Hari Kunzru or Weather by Jenny Offill could have a chance. How much of these Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang could have a chance too. Of those you mentioned I would root for Transcendent Kingdom or Luster. Thanks for the video.
Red Pill, Weather, and How Much of These Hills is Gold are great options that I'm surprised didn't seem to make more of an impression aside from The Women's Prize (Weather) and the Booker (How Much of These Hills is Gold). Any of the three could be a great sleeper contender.
Great video! I’m so impatient to find out who will win 😍
Me too! Getting close!
Love this list and the thoughts behind it! Can't wait to see how you fare in the end!
Me too! We will find out in June.
Well, the night watchman won! Very much well deserved!
I'm happy for Erdrich even if I was less enthusiastic about The Night Watchman.
You have outdone yourself with this video, mister. Bravo! 🥰
I have the Yoon and the Kenan on my shelf and want to get to both of them this year sometime!
Why thank you, sir! I'm thinking about the Kenan but I definitely want to read the Yoon.
I have to admit that I don't follow the Pulitzer Prize closely, so I wouldn't be able to predict as I don't know how they choose. I can say I have read The Night Watchman, Interior Chinatown, Redhead by the Side of the Road, Homeland Elegies and am part way through A Children's Bible, Real Life and Shuggie Bain. I started and abandoned American Dirt and Luster. I am judging this round of the BookTube Prize so to be safe I can't really say which I liked the most or think were the best of these (I will try to remember to come back and comment when my judging round is over), but I will just say that I was quite surprised when The Night Watchman and Transcendent Kingdom didn't make it through the first round of judging! I'm interested to see how this plays out having read at least some of the contenders this year! I haven't yet finished either of Whitehead's books and I have to admit I wasn't the hugest fan of Goon Squad, so I doubt my picks would win anyway! Great food for thought here.
I loved this!
Out of the 'major' contenders this year, I'd love it if Real Life won. However, it does happen to be one of the only ones I've actually read, so I need to catch up! I hope The Secret Life of Church Ladies finds itself on there somehow, I think it would be great.
I'd be happy with anything except Redhead by the Side of the Road winning. I felt like it was, at best, meh. It did absolutely nothing for me and I don't think it was successful.
Three weeks feels so far away!
It does feel far away! If Secret Lives of Church Ladies even makes the finalists, I would be absolutely ecstatic. I would be surprised if Redhead pulls off a second win for Tyler but you never know!
I almost picked up Deacon King Kong from the library this week, had it in my hot little hand but already had more than my quota and decided to wait 'till later to read it. Very interesting!
The Pulitzer announcement got delayed until June 11 so there's still time!
Just stumbled across this channel and I'm addicted to your videos!!!
Thank you so much! That means a lot.
Wow! Talk about synchronicity! On Saturday mornings, I get to enjoy a nice latte and read. I take breaks and watch some of the recent video's of the week put out by my favorite book tubers. Of course, I was watching this video and I did put a few of your guesses that looked interesting that I haven't yet read on the library waiting list. Towards the end of this video, I checked my email and saw that I had received today's daily ebook bargains from BookBub. As you were talking, I was scanning the email and the book that I had clicked on because the topic interested me, was "Interior Chinatown" for $1.99. As I was reading the reviews, you held up the same book and said it might have a chance at winning. I freaked out. I immediately bought the book! (I probably was going to anyway, but the synchronicity was too much for me!) If you have talked about the book before (and you probably have), I don't remember. This was too funny, and I just had to leave a comment!
That's so funny! I haven't read Interior Chinatown myself yet but I love the sound of it and I've heard so many good things. If I read more ebooks I would absolutely jump on that sale as well--thanks for the heads up! I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for the comment!
Thanks for this in-depth take. If you loved Secret Lives, you should definitely read The Office of Historical Corrections. It was excellent.
I wouldn’t be upset if it was the dark horse that came up from behind.
I'm really excited to get to The Office of Historical Corrections. Thanks for the recommendation!
Loved this video! I just friended you on Goodreads - excited to read your book reviews there.
It would be a rather welcome coup if Church Ladies takes the prize! I'm holding out for Transcendent Kingdom, but I will admit this year had a lot of really good literature......and I do appreciate not always knowing who is going to win every award.
I would be SO EXCITED if Church Ladies ended up taking the whole thing. And I agree--it's refreshing not to have the build-up of a longlist and shortlist.
Hi from Ireland, I vote for Night, Sleep,Death, The Stars, Joyce Carol Oates is a unique and always interesting voice. Seems the announcement is postponed till June, which will give the judges plenty of time to digest this novel. Thanks for a great video.
I just saw the news about the delay. Oh well! The predictions still stand, I'm just super early for once. ;-)
"If American Dirt wins, we're gonna riot." 🤣🤣🤣
So many factors to take into consideration here. Maybe Randall Kenan due to his recent passing or JCO because she's not getting any younger, but Charles Yu would be a good and timely contender (as would Cathy Park Hong for nonfiction, by the way), but I'm with you that in my heart, I am pulling for Church Ladies. 🙂
I would be SO EXCITED if Church Ladies won. I've heard great things about Interior Chinatown so I wouldn't be mad at all if it were to win.
Great video! Some terrific books there 😊
Thank you!
Such a great suggest list of books. Personally, I would include Shuggie Bain but to be honest your list contains such great contenders. I absolutely hate sitting on the fence, but this time, I just cannot pick a winner from your list.
There are a lot of great contenders! Shuggie Bain winning would surprise me the most but it's such a good book that I wouldn't be mad at all.
I have no idea what will win and I'm usually a few years behind anyway. Thanks for the video!
I usually have no idea what will win but that doesn't stop me from guessing. ;-)
2:43 "I think we can all agree if American Dirt wins we're all going to riot" 🤣🤣🤣 Agreed. I really did not like that boo. And, it boggles my brain how people are still buying it.
Me too! It's astounding.
Four of these are in my tbr. If one of them wins, I"ll have to add it to my 2021 reading goals since my 2021 goal is to read my unread Pulitzer prize winners (currently reading The Goldfinch).
I hope you're enjoying The Goldfinch more than I did!
A good reminder to pick up Interior Chinatown.
I'm really looking forward to it!
Very enjoyable. Thanks
Thank you so much!
I read Memorial because I read the first chapter in the New Yorker and loved it. The book as a whole disappointed me. Maybe he should stick to short stories.
Well, I didn't like the short stories so maybe that's a bad sign in general.
Your dogs are gorgeous and their names are lovely too. Thanks for explaining about how the judges or board select/argue over a winner. I didn't know about any of that stuff.
Not Shuggie Bain again :'D sick of that novel being considered for prizes lol. Understand why people like but I thought it was dull and overdone personally. Would much rather Real Life won by Brandon Taylor.
Overall, Homeland Elegies sounds like a winner to me!
I'm biased, but I definitely think my dogs are gorgeous.
Guinness!
Love your Pulitzer videos.
Thank you! Guinness loves making cameos.
One of the criticisms I’ve never understood is the idea of something being ‘too digestible.’ It always felt as thought people wanted literature to a code to crack or some challenge that only a select few can overcome and it feels elitist as whole. What is the inherent problem with a story written simply and well, and provides just a birds eye view into the life of people. I feel like The Vanishing Half is such a good learning experience for people, on the front of internalized racism, colorism and being transgender. I’m going to be honest, only people with a distinctive literary background make ‘Passing’ comparisons but the reality is, despite being a classic it is not widely taught in schools, never widely regarded as a MUST READ American classic and really only ever comes up when discussing Black literature and studies. I think for a lot of people The Vanishing Half does what Passing did and I think it’s not some knock against it that it is widely received by so many people like … that is the whole point and I feel like Brit Bennett also never dumbs anything down? The whole story feels authentic and raw, Reese’s journey is complex and layered and I feel like asking Brit Bennett to expound on her trauma as a cis woman is disingenuous. The point of Reese’s story is for us as the readers to see how passing affects the lives of different kinds of people and the weight it has on their lives and I think Bennett is brilliant for framing his story through the lens of his relationship with his friends and with Jude rather than framing it as a story of him at war with his body. That wouldn’t be her story to tell and I’m glad she recognized it. Along with that I don’t really see what more anyone could’ve wanted out of Stella and Kennedy as characters. Stella’s punishment is that she clearly has to live everyday afraid and uncomfortable in her own body and I think what really brings that pain to light is the one line “We don’t play with n-.” Reading that single like really framed every single thing Bennett wanted to do and her use of subtlety in doing it. Yea idk I’m rambling but I feel like when people say something is “too commercial” I feel like that’s just elitist code for “too many people have access too and can understand this work therefore I can’t feel smarter for liking it.”
I agree in many ways. I can say for certainty from my days at Borders that most people buying/consuming books don't want anything heavy, so I developed a deep respect for authors who can write something those people will be willing to digest while also teaching them something about the world. That's a very significant accomplishment and I think it should be celebrated.
The thing is the last time a female writer has won was in 2014. My (metaphorical) money is on The Vanishing Half
That is WILD but you're right! Wow.
I also really enjoyed The Secret Lives of Church Ladies!
It's such a good book!
Interesting list! How is your project going? I would have included Jack by Marilynne Robinson.
My project is going slooooowly so far. I want Gone With the Wind to be the next one I do but it's going to be at least May before I can get to it.
Who do you think will win for music? May be folklore?
I DNF’d Less. I tried to read it twice and I don’t often DNF This is a very interesting video! I vote for Transcendent Kingdom! What an awesome book.
Less is a thoroughly fine book that had no business winning a Pulitzer Prize. That's my hot take for the month.
@@SupposedlyFun I totally agree with that hot take!
@@user-iu4ws6vh5s ::jazz hands::
If Shuggie Bain wins, I'll eat my hat... Fortunately I don't own a hat.
If it wins, I will be happy for it because it's a great book, but I will be very shocked.
JOC all the way.
She's definitely been in the mix for a very long time.
Do any of these judges ever just judge books on literary merit? I must be naive!
Too many subjective elements at play, but it's still fun to follow (for me)!
I don't understand why Nickel Boys won the Pulitzer. It wasn't that good, in my opinion. It will likely be The Vanishing Half. Hi Guinness! I also want to read Homeland Elegies, and I LOVED Shuggie Bain, but I don't think it will win.
I did enjoy The Nickel Boys but it wasn't in my top five (possibly not even in my top ten) for that year.
I preferred the Nickel Boys to the Underground Railroad. I hated that book
@@irena7777777 Noted. I likely won't be reading it.
AJ, which book do you think will win? Which book would you award to the prize to?
@@dtovar2 I haven't read a lot of the books on this year's list. I'm a backlist reader. But from what I've been seeing/hearing on BookTube, I would expect The Vanishing Half to win. But I have no real idea beyond that.
JCO
She's an American literary legend!
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