Denis Johnson’s wife is now up. She is assuring us that Johnson “is on assignment. Legitimate.” She is now reading an acceptance speech.
“Naturally, I’m very grateful to the National Book Foundation for this award and I’m very sorry to miss this one chance to dress up in a tuxedo.”
“And Cindy, who have I forgotten? To all the judges who voted for Tree of Smoke, thank you so much.”
“I’d like to thank God.”
That’s pretty funny — that last line.
The presenter this year is Francine Prose, also the chair of the judges.
Lebowitz said that, given the laundry list of Prose’s achievements, she “has the envy of Joyce Carol Oates.”
She is boasting about what a pleasure it was to read the books. She talked every few weeks with her fellow panelists. “I often thought this was how writers talk about books. And I often thought that I wish everybody talked about books this year.” She is forced to name these authors alphabetically.
And the fiction winner is Denis Johnson!
He has a deep Brooklyn accent. He means business. He is thanking a lot of people.
Above all, Phyllis Grann — “a great editor, a force of nature.” The spotlight is on her.
“These people, ladies and gentleman, turned my finished manuscript into a hardcover books in three weeks.”
Wow.
“One of the great things about being a newspaper reporter is that you get paid to get an education.”
He tried to set out his record in “simple declarative sentences.”
David Shields is presenting the Nonfiction Award.
Shields is walking slowly up to the stage. He does want to keep us in suspense. Particularly after Hass’s protracted speech. And he is READ-ING THE BOOK TIT-LES SO SLOW-LY. We’ve been here for four hours. Come on, dude. Will it be Hitch?
“How did the panel choose these five books? We got along famously for the first several months. We made the usual jokes about how we could make it up to our respective mail carriers.” (He’s not getting laughs. And now he’s blundered another joke — “under the weight” — uh.) And the bland manner he puts into “When it came to crunch time….” Okay, now I’m longing for Hass to get on the stage again.
“To quote the poet, writing is fighting.” Which poet? “And the book that we judge to matter the most, that we thought mattered the most…”
Doesn’t this man realize that there are reporters here on deadline?
But the nonfiction winner is Tim Weiner’s Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.
[12/30/07 UPDATE: A reader writes in to inform me that David Shields has a stutter and that his slow-speaking style came about because of this.]