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Read this book, take action on your 401(k)
Storytelling festival at library in Akron
Jacovich returns in 14th mystery
These books offer the basics for bond investing
Story depicts loving family's sacrifice
'Diary of a Punk' is candid memoir of ex-Clevelander
Most Read Stories
Cavs sign Gibson to 5-year deal
Killing of Twinsburg officer is described
Officers mourn Miktarian as brother
'We lost a brother. We're hurting'
Concert fees are simply bait, switch
Mourners line procession route for slain officer
Scouts go back to old cookie bakers
Blogs:
Akron Law Café:
Privity in Peril
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Morning Notebook
Balanced Ledger:
… more baseball
Patrick McManamon:
An online conversation …
Browns Bulletin:
Bell and Rucker being unsigned not unusual
Cleveland Browns:
Browns training camp schedule
Cleveland Indians:
Cliff Lee overcomes his own demons this All Star start.
Akron Aeros:
LaPorta’s true character revealed in collision at plate
Akron Zips:
Northwest’s Klatt commits to Michigan State
Varsity Letters:
Wadsworth’s Cline signs at Mount Union
Kent State Sports:
Jarvis on Maxwell watch list
Ohio Politics:
Obama Focused On Women In Ohio
All Da King's Men:
Wanted: One President, No Experience Required
Blog of Mass Destruction:
6 Degrees of Executive Privilege Separation
Akrocentric:
Charles Taormina discusses "Acceptance of Individual Authors," self-publishing resources
Akron Gamer:
Midnight Madness
BokBluster:
Go With the Flow
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Are there caves to explore on Lake Erie's islands?
Olympic Dreams - Running:
Back to Phase One
Sound Check:
John Mayer at Blossom
Tia's Trends:
The Montague's and Their Chocolate Factory!
National book critics tap 'Brother, I'm Dying' as best autobiography
By Hillel Italie
Associated Press
Published on Saturday, Mar 08, 2008
NEW YORK: Stories from the island of Hispaniola were winners Thursday night at the National Book Critics Circle awards: Dominican-American Junot Diaz took the fiction prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Edwidge Danticat of Haiti was cited in autobiography for Brother, I'm Dying.
The general nonfiction prize went to Harriet A. Washington's Medical Apartheid, while the winner in biography was Tim Jeal's Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer. The poetry award went to Mary Jo Bang for Elegy, and the criticism winner was Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise.
Diaz, whose novel tells of a young, obese Dominican immigrant and his tragicomic quest for love, was on his way to Venezuela on Thursday night for personal reasons and his award was accepted by Sean McDonald of Riverhead Books. He joked that ''some distinct shouting'' could probably be heard all the way from Caracas, or at least the muffled sounds of ''the vestigial part of his brain being blown.''
Danticat known for such fiction as The Dew Breaker and Krik? Krak! said she was a bit out of place in nonfiction, telling her fellow finalists that ''I feel like I'm visiting your category'' and promising ''to speak well of this world'' when she got back to writing fiction.
Jeal spoke of the many years working on his book about the famed explorer Henry Stanley, a process he described as ''mammoth'' and ''irksome.''
Bang offered a more personal memory. She recalled a sixth-grade play in which she was to portray the season of spring and ''slink across the stage in diaphanous scarves.'' The play was canceled after a parent protested, thinking Bang would only be wearing scarves.
So, on Thursday, she thanked the critics for ''restoring my moment on stage.''
Two honorary awards also were presented. Literary critic Sam Anderson of New York magazine received the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, and Emilie Buchwald, co-founder of the Milkweed Editions publishing house, won the Ivan Sandrof Life Achievement Award.
NEW YORK: Stories from the island of Hispaniola were winners Thursday night at the National Book Critics Circle awards: Dominican-American Junot Diaz took the fiction prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Edwidge Danticat of Haiti was cited in autobiography for Brother, I'm Dying.
Get the full article here.
Inside Ohio.com
F.Y.I.
It's Hobo Weekend in Summit County
Hobo-themed events Friday through Sunday at Deep Lock Quarry Metro Park in Peninsula

