NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ling Ma's sharp and surreal 鈥淏liss Montage鈥� and Beverly Gage's sweeping biography of the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, 鈥淕-Man,鈥� were among the winners Thursday night of the .
Ma's story collection won the prize for fiction, with the judges praising her 鈥渟ometimes startling鈥� portraits of racism and xenophobia, and her gift for pulling readers 鈥渋nto a world where everything has been called into question.鈥� Last week, 鈥淏liss Montage鈥� received the .
Gage, whose book earlier in the day was honored by the New-York Historical Society, won Thursday night for best biography. 鈥淕-Man鈥� has been widely praised as a thorough and nuanced take on one of the country's most polarizing figures, and was cited by the critics circle for weaving together Hoover's life and the 鈥減aradoxical national story involving American anxieties over security, masculinity, and race.鈥�
Other works awarded by the N小蓝视频C included Isaac Butler's 鈥淭he Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act鈥� for nonfiction, Hua Hsu's 鈥淪tay True" for memoir, Cynthia Cruz's 鈥淗otel Oblivion鈥� for poetry and Timothy Bewes' 鈥淔ree Indirect鈥� for criticism. Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov's 鈥淕rey Bees,鈥� translated by Boris Dralyuk, won for best translated book, and Morgan Talty's 鈥淣ight of the Living Rez鈥� was named best debut work.
Honorary awards were presented to former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo for lifetime achievement, and Jennifer Wilson for excellence in reviewing. The Toni Morrison Achievement Award, for 鈥渋nstitutions that have made lasting and meaningful contributions to book culture,鈥� was given to San Francisco's City Lights bookstore. Barbara Hoffert, an editor at Library Journal and former N小蓝视频C president and board member, received the critics circle's Service Award.
The N小蓝视频C was founded in 1974 and has hundreds of members around the country. Past winners of book critic prizes have included Alice Munro, Robert A. Caro, Isabel Wilkerson and the current
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
