The winner of the Guardian First Book Award for 2008 has been annnounced:
"Resounding Guardian first book award victory for
The Rest Is Noise,
Alex Ross's much acclaimed history of 20th century music is undisputed winner of the 2008 prize."
Ooh, you're good, kiwidoc...
My brother bought me this for my birthday but I still haven't quite dared to start it....
Thanks for highlighting this.
The Rest Is Noise looks good, and I haven't heard of it before. (Why haven't I heard of it before?)
Fantastic! I've already ordered it for my uncle for Xmas.
I have had this book for a while - it has been quite a prominently displayed book in the non-fiction section of my local. I just haven't tackled it yet.
Here is Alex Ross talking to the Claire Armitstead of the Guardian if you are interested.
Message edited by its author, Dec 5, 2008, 7:44am.
#2 Flossie: I don't think you need to read it all straight through. A chapter every so often would be quite sufficient.
An Elegy for Easterly, the collection of short stories by
Petina Gappah is this year's winner of the Guardian First Book Award. It is a collection of short stories set in Zimbabwe; here is an excerpt from the book's cover:
"In her spirited debut collection, the Zimbabwean writer Petina Gappah brings us the resliience and inventiveness of the people who struggle to live under Robert Mugabe's regime. She takes us across the city of Harare, from the townships beset by power cuts to the manicured lawns of privilege and corruption, where wealthy husbands keep their first wives in the "big houses" while their unofficial second wives wait in the "small houses," hoping for a promotion.
"Despite their circumstances, the characters in
An Elegy for Easterly are more than victims—they are all too human, with as much capacity to inflict pain as to endure it. They struggle with the larger issues common to all people everywhere: failed promises, unfulfilled dreams, and the yearning for something to anchor them to life."
Today's
Guardian features several articles about the book and Ms. Gappah, who is an international trade lawyer living in Geneva, and includes a video of the award ceremony and an audio excerpt of the author reading one of the stories.
Petina Gappah's An Elegy for Easterly wins Guardian First Book Award 2009 I'm really intrigued by this - I read
An Elegy for Easterly earlier this year, and although it was good, it was a bit uneven. Some stories were really powerful, but there were weak spots.
On the other hand, she's really impressive in person - I heard her speak at the Edinburgh Book Festival (along with
Brian Chikwava, actually!). She's hoping her first novel will be published next year.
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