And the Rooster Goes to…
The Morning News announces the winner of The Tournament of Books. It’s one I haven’t gotten to yet, though on deck after Marianne Wiggins’s Shadow Catcher, which is at bat. The tournament, the judging and the commentary were lots of fun, and I’ve really enjoyed the books I’ve read because of it, and look forward to the ones I haven’t got to yet.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Longtime lurker, first time commenting. I thought I’d drop out of the woodwork to thank you for directing my attention to the Tournament of Books. Like you, I’ve found a bunch of books to add to my reading queue through it, and it was a welcome addition to my daily internet bookish browsing. I don’t want to introduce spoilers into my comments, but I will say that ToB 2008 was the impetus I needed to finally read this year’s second-place finisher, which had been sitting on my nightstand for several months (along with many other neglected books). To avoid saying too much, I will merely say that I would have been concerned about the state of literature if it had been voted the best book of the year. It had its strengths and merits, but ultimately: no. Without having read the other contender, I’d still say it was likely more worthy of the win (which, based on my perusing of the back ToB archives, is a similar mentality one judge had regarding Pynchon’s “Against the Day”).
April 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Steph, thanks for de-lurking. I’d browsed the ToB in previous years but this was the first time I actively followed it and tried (and did not entirely fail) to follow along. I already know who won, and I was not surprised. That book seemed well nigh unstoppable, and it’s what I’m reading next. I know the book you refer to won in the zombie round, but you’re not the first to dislike it–one of the other readers here said she hated it, and it doesn’t sound like something I’d like. I’m going to still try for the winner, Tree of Smoke and Savage Detectives, but the runner up I’ll probably skip.