Prize Season

National Book Critics Circle Award Finalists Announced

Katherine Boo, Zadie Smith, Robert Caro among the names.

The usual suspects—Katherine Boo, Zadie Smith, Robert Caro, Daniel Mendelsohn—are among the finalists for the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award. Many of them are in different categories (Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers is in nonfiction, Smith’s NW is in fiction, Caro’s Passage of Power is in biography, and Mendelsohn’s Waiting for the Barbarians is in criticism) so they won’t have to go up against each other, but they’ll have to beat out plenty of great books to win. This year’s Balakian award for excellence in reviewing goes to The Nation and The New Republic critic William Deresiewicz, and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar will receive a lifetime achievement award for their work in feminism. The winners will be announced on February 28, 2013.