Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett
Let me begin by saying that I do have favorite books. They are, in no particular order, 'The Last Samurai' by Helen DeWitt, 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand, 'The Company' by Robert Littel and now 'Winner of the National Book Award,' by Jincy Willett. There are some books that come close to this list, 'The Count of Monte Christo' by Alexander Dumas and 'War and Peace' by Leo Tolstoy with other ideas - more than the books - rounding out my list. For example, the idea behind 'Alice in Wonderland' by Lewis Carol is absolutely fascinating to me and the ideas behind Pierce Anthony's 'Xanth' series intrigue the tar out of me as I peruse his latest dime store installment; however, the all time favorite books will probably remain, 'The Last Samurai,' 'Atlas Shrugged,' 'The Company,' and now 'Winner of the National Book Award.'
There is more to the reading and author list than what appears above. For example, I have favorite authors (though their books do not appear on my favorite books list). Robert Jordan, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Ayn Rand, Leo Tolstoy, Robert Persig, etc. These are authors who, when they write something, I am more apt (than not) to almost run out and buy their books - quickly. That's important, not because they've written something that is earth-shattering, but that they write consistently good books (NOTE: there are some authors on the list that are dead).
With all of that said, I want to focus on 'Winner of the National Book Award' by Jincy Willett. 'Winner of the National Book Award' was absolutely, hands down, one of the best books I have read in a few years. The writing was sardonic, yet quick and well written. She uses a lot of 'large' words, which means that if you're not into words, don't have a large vocabulary and/or can't determine meaning from use, you will probably spend as much time looking at a dictionary for meaning as you are reading the book. On top of all that, the entire thing is written in the first person.
Basically the story follows Dorcas Mather as she tells the story of her sisters life, upbringing, their family, how they were born, and ultimately how her sister, Abigail, ended up where she is before the book even started. Dorcas has regretted the release of her sisters book, a book co-authored by one Hilda DeVilbiss, about the rise and fall of the passion between Abigail and Conrad Lowe. Conrad is a hater of woman and a womanizer who really uses women to his end and not because he has any respect for them or cares what they think. He was raised by a sadistic mother who was a Hollywood film star in the 1930's and an inveterate breaker of households. Conrad's father had been married, with children, to another woman in Boston, MA before meeting Conrad's mother - all characters are fictional or at least have been altered enough so that if there is any resemblance to real people it is masked in the fictional extremes these characters have achieved.
On top of all that, Dorcas is holed up in the town Library, where she works as the head librarian, ready to process in the new books, as a hurricane is threatening to walk over the state of Rhode Island. Her sister's book is one of them and she doesn't want to read it, didn't want to see it, felt she could ignore it long enough for it to go away, and ends up spending the day reading the book and telling her side of the story.
Each chapter, in Dorcas' retelling, is a chapter in the book and is often headlined by text from Hilda and Abigail's rendering. As the narration moves forward Dorcas shares what actually was happening at the time, how Hilda had gotten the information wrong, and how, in the end, Abigail was not as innocent of the crime as she was trying to get the D.A. and court system to believe. At the same time, Conrad had what was coming to him, coming to him.
We learn about Dorcas' relationship with Abigail; Abigail's daughter Anna; we learn about Conrad and his disdain for women; about Guy and Hilda, and about the small town of Frome, Rhode Island where all of this is taking place. We learn a lot about a lot of people because Jincy Willett is an amazing story-teller who weaves the entire scope of the story together in a somewhat seamless tapestry that narrates how the story went, what Dorcas felt about it, what Abigail felt about it, how it affected the people around them, and in the end who really mourns for the loss of one life.
'Winner of the National Book Award' is a rather cryptic title (subtitled: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad Weather) that surrounds different characters who are all writers and who are all attempting to win the coveted prize of The National Book Award.
As I read the book it became very easy to get trapped in the narration and the characters. You, at least I, begin to see yourself in the very faces and flaws of each character. Do this, do that, feel this, feel that because, in some cases, it's what's expected of you and in other cases it's what's necessary to survive another day, night, week, month.
By the end of the book the reader is seduced (as is one of the characters) without ever realizing the seduction is actually taking place. 'Winner of the National Book Award' has truly leapt off the page into my consciousness and will be one of those books I return to again and again because of its simple, yet timeless, ability to tell a tale masterfully woven.