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2014’s Outstanding Books!

War has always provided material for writers and America’s 21^st Century wars are no exception. The National Book Awards acknowledged that fact last week by awarding Phil Klay the 2014 prize for fiction.

Klay is a former U.S. Marine whose book, Redeployment (Penguin) is a collection of short stories informed by his 13-month deployment in Iraq. It is his first book.

The award for non-fiction went to Evan Osnos for his book,  Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China (Farrar).

Poet Laureate Louise Glück won the Poetry Award for Faithful and Virtuous Night (Farrar) after having been an NBA finalist three previous times.

The Young People’s Literature Award was won by Jacqueline Woodson for Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books: Penguin). Woodson was a NBA finalist twice before.

The National Book Awards celebrate the best of American literature and seek to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America.

See the complete list of winners, runners-up and long list.