Movie awards and book awards differ in their impact and dynamics, though not in their purpose. Both seek to single out the best in the field. Film awards, it seems to me, are primarily congratulatory, and the mega awards, like the Academy Awards, are ridiculously celebratory. Book awards, with notable exceptions, are quieter. More importantly, the quality book awards flag the works one should read. They promote quality. Book sales pick up, sometimes dramatically, with awards. Perhaps movie ticket sales also leap upon a big win at an award ceremony, but I think the effect is more muted.
One way I source books is to pay attention to key book awards. Last Thursday in New York, the National Book Critics Circle announced its 2008 awards, so I went to the website and skimmed the winners and – something I’ve learned to be even more effective – its short list of finalists. This year nothing much leapt out at me. The NBCC fiction winner is a novel I’m reading right now, Roberto Bolano’s 2666. I’ve thought of reading the NBCC Biography winner, The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V.S. Naipaul by Patrick French, as it has had exceptional reviews, but I’ve never warmed to Naipual’s fiction or nonfiction, so it doesn’t make the list.