A Word About Awards

HONEY IN THE HORN by Harold Davis Award: Pulitzer Winner 1936 Date Read: February 4, 2018 Honey In The Horn is the saga of Clay Calvert's life as he homesteads in the fledgling Oregon Territory. Clay is a sheep hand on the ranch of his stepfather's father and, somewhat accidentally, helps his stepbrother, Wade, escape from jail. This turns Clay into a fugitive and he escapes to the wilderness where Clay joins forces with a horse-trader and his beautiful daughter, Luce. Clay instantly falls for her and they are shortly married. Clay and Luce eventually join up with a group of travelers who are planning to homestead in Oregon. Believing their fortunes lie in Oregon, Clay and Luce set out. When Luce falls ill during the journey, Clay leaves her to go find help and when he returns, she is gone and from what Clay can determine, she has joined her father again. After a particularly harsh winter, Clay moves back west, uniting with Luce again along the way. While I can und...

LAUGHING BOY by Oliver La Farge Award: Pulitzer Winner 1930 Dates Read: June 4, 2009 & September 26, 2017 Laughing Boy, a young Navajo man who is eager to prove himself among his tribe, is skilled in jewelry making and has a passion for racing horses. The Navaho tribe is at an interesting juncture of preserving their historic rituals and culture in a time of profound influence of white ways. At a Navajo event, Laughing Boy meets and is drawn to Slim Girl, a questionable woman that others in his tribe warn him about. His tribe is wary of her because she has attended a white school, funded by the federal government.  After what we would call eloping, Laughing Boy is ultimately betrayed by Slim Girl, yet he is unable to let go. Laughing Boy is a beautiful novel that captures the conflict between an ever-encroaching American way of life due to western expansion and the rituals and customs of the Navajo people. Rich imagery and a sensitivity to the changing landscape...

SCARLET SISTER MARY by Julia Peterkin Award: Pulitzer Winner 1929 Dates Read: December 3, 2008 & September 18, 2017 Scarlet Sister Mary, set in South Carolina, is a fabulous book about a black woman torn between living a respectable and virtuous life, but also wanting to buck convention and follow her pleasure. Readers can tell right away that the man Mary weds, July, is never going to be faithful or a good provider, yet Mary is already pregnant with Unex (short for Unexpected) and is head-over-heels in love with him. Over the years, July comes and goes but Mary has other lovers and other children by other men, never marrying any of them. She earns the scorn of everyone around her, becoming somewhat of a pariah, unwelcome at church or in others' homes. Throughout, however, she always remains true to herself. I am conflicted over this novel for several reasons. I understand that in order to explore these issues, the main character needed to be a woman, particul...

ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis Award: Nobel Prize Winner 1926, Pulitzer Winner 1926 Dates Read: April 23, 2007 & September 13, 2017 Arrowsmith is Lewis' homage to science and the medical profession. Martin Arrowsmith, coming from a small town, finds his way to medical school, where is suspended for insulting his mentor, Max Gottlieb. In the process, he marries one woman and has an affair with another, inviting both to a lunch to leave them to decide his fate. He eventually marries his mistress, Leora, and takes up private practice in another small town. He moves from private practice to a public health official to a doctor in a private hospital to a prestigious research institute. Arrowsmith eventually discovers a phage that can kill bacteria. Lewis was granted the Pulitzer for this work, however, he declined the award because he felt it was not bestowed for merit "...but in obedience to whatever code of Good Form may chance to be popular at the moment." Some...

RABBIT AT REST by John Updike Awards: National Book Critics Circle Winner 1990, Pulitzer Winner 1991 Nomination: NY Times Finalist 1990 Dates Read: August 31, 2007 & August 30, 2017 And so continues the saga of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, who is now in the sunset of his life. With his body slowly failing him, having suffered a heart attack, Harry is having to confront the limitations of an aging body. He is also thrust into a confrontation with his son, Nelson, who's drug habit is in full bloom and having gained control of the auto dealership, has been embezzling money, causing Harry to lose the business. Tragedy and reckoning continue throughout this novel, as Harry faces up to many past decisions that now haunt him. Fortunately for Harry, on his deathbed, he reconciles with his wife, Janice, and his son. In my opinion, what makes these novels so unique is that Harry is so vividly real, with all the poor decision making and flawed relationships of every hum...

RABBIT IS RICH by John Updike Awards: National Book Critics Circle Winner 1981, National Book Winner 1982, Pulitzer Winner 1982 Dates Read: August 21, 2007 & August 22, 2017 Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, in my opinion, is everyman USA. He has matured from a high school basketball star to an average man, living an average life in his average fictional hometown. Having never left Brewer, PA and marrying his high school sweetheart, Janice, Harry has settled into a solid middle class lifestyle that offers few surprises, yet money can't insulate him from the same challenges that plague others -  his wife's drinking, his son's "failure to launch," and his waning sexual prowess.  I cannot argue that Harry is a likable character, simply because he is so damn real. Reading Rabbit Is Rich feels like walking through someone's house when they aren't there and rifling through their nightstand. Should you be doing that? No. Do you get a sense of what...

ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner Award: Pulitzer Winner 1972 Date Read: August 6, 2017 Angle Of Repose is an absolute gem of a novel. Wheelchair-bound historian Lyman Ward, estranged from his family and largely on his own, sets to the task of researching the life of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward. Ward is a fictional character that is based on the actual letters of Mary Hallock Foote, as published in A Victorian Gentlewoman in the Far West. Stegner's liberal use of these letters in his text, albeit with permission, caused many scholars consternation as Stegner blurs the lines between fact and fiction. Nevertheless, the incorporation of these letters helps paint a vivid picture of a fearless woman who takes on uncertainty and rural surroundings with fearlessness and a sense of adventure as their travels took them to Grass Valley, Leadville, New Almaden, Idaho and Mexico. Being a California native, I particularly enjoyed the sections set in California, which painted...