The first-ever National Book Awards longlists were narrowed down to five finalists in each category on Wednesday morning, ahead of the awards ceremony on November 20. Half of the contenders are published by Penguin Random House. As of 10:00, four free ebook samplers (titled “The Contenders”) will be available from major retailers, covering each of the awards categories, created and distributed with the assistance of Penguin. The nominees are below; rather than alphabetical order, we have listed them according to their print sales to date, with the biggest sellers listed first. (In fiction, Saunders has outsold the rest of the field combined.)
Fiction
Tenth of December, George Saunders (Random House)
The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf)
Bleeding Edge, Thomas Pynchon (Penguin Press)
The Flamethrowers, Rachel Kushner (Scribner)
The Good Lord Bird, James McBride (Riverhead)
Nonfiction
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief, Lawrence Wright (Knopf)
The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, George Packer (FSG)
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin, Jill Lepore (Knopf)
The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832, Alan Taylor (Norton)
Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields, Wendy Lower (HMH)
Young People’s Literature
Far Far Away, Tom McNeal (Knopf Children’s)
The Thing About Luck, Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum)
Boxers & Saints, Gene Luen Yang (First Second)
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, Kathi Appelt (Atheneum)
Picture Me Gone, Meg Rosoff (Putnam Children’s)
Poetry
Metaphysical Dog, Frank Bidart (FSG)
Incarnadine, Mary Szybist (Graywolf)
Black Aperture, Matt (Louisiana State University Press)
The Big Smoke, Adrian Matejka (Penguin)
Stay, Illusion, Lucie Brock-Broido (published 10/15) (Knopf)