“The Orphan Master's Son” by Adam Johnson wins Pulitzer Prize for fiction

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 2013 Pulitzer Prizes were announced by the Pulitzer Prize Board at a ceremony at Columbia University, The Hollywood Reporter said.

In books, the fiction prize went to The Orphan Master's Son (Random House) by Adam Johnson. The novel tells the story of an orphan who grows up in North Korea, allowing Johnson the rare feat of telling a story in a country few outsiders know much about.

The prize jury praised the "exquisitely crafted novel" for carrying the reader "on an adventuresome journey ... into the most intimate spaces of the human heart."

Last year, the Pulitzer Board declined to award a fiction prize, generating controversy in the publishing community. It later leaked that the judges recommended a winner to the board, which makes the final decision, but the board declined their suggestion.

Devil in the Grove (Harper) by Gilbert King won in general nonfiction. The book tells the story of how Thurgood Marshall, who would become the first African-American Supreme Court justice, got involved in a case in 1949 involving four black men falsely accused of rape.

Tom Reiss' The Black Count (Crown) won in biography or autobiography. The jury called the book about the real-life inspiration for the Count of Monte Cristo "a compelling story of a forgotten swashbuckling hero."

The history prize was awarded to Embers of War (Random House) by Fredrik Logevall, a study of the Vietnam War praised for being "a balanced and deeply researched history."

This is the 97th annual awarding of Pulitzers for excellence in journalism, letters, drama and music. The selections are made by the Pulitzer Prize Board and administered by Columbia University. Winners are honored at a luncheon May 30. In addition to the gold medal, they receive $10,000.