Pulitzer Predictions

I know you know how much I love the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  If you don't know, you can read about my love here.  How devastated was I last year after being denied my favorite literary prize?  Inconsolable.  I went on a bit of a nonfiction, revenge binge.  So here's hoping that this year the fiction jury doesn't let me down.

As they have every year since 2008, the folks at Pulitzer Prize First Edition have started on their prediction list.  In 2011, they correctly predicted that A Visit From the Goon Squad would be the big winner.  And last year they had 2 of the 3 finalists on their final prediction list.

The final predictions don't come out until March (the prize is awarded in April), but they have put together a preliminary list that is up now.  Here is where it currently stands:


1. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
2. A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
3. The Round House by Louise Erdrich
4. Magnificence by Lydia Millet
5. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
6. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
7. This is How you Lose Her by Junot Diaz
8. Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie
9. The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
10. Home by Toni Morrison
11. San Miguel by T. Coraghassan Boyle
12. In One Person by John Irving
13. Schmidt Steps Back by Louis Begley
14. Mudwoman by Joyce Carol Oates
15. Canada by Richard Ford

The early list and the final prediction list usually vary quite a bit, so be sure to check back in March for the last word.  I will say, I know a lot of Third Place booksellers who would be very pleased to see Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk take home the big win.