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Author Catches a Whale of a Prize
The Guardian reports that the 2009 Samuel Johnson Prize--the UK's top nonfiction honor (make that honour)--and £20,000 went to author Philip Hoare for Leviathan a genre-busting consideration of the world's largest mammals from diverse perspectives including history, natural history, literature, and economics.For most of his life the author has been immersed in the study of his subject:
his first actual encounter with a killer whale at Windsor safari park.
Hoare now frequently travels to Cape Cod as a volunteer on a humpback
whale identification programme."
Hoare's Leviathan faced some stiff competition on the Johnson Prize shortlist which included Liaquat Ahamed's Lords of Finance,
Ben Goldacre's Bad Science, David Grann's The Lost City of Z, and Richard Holmes's The Age of Wonder (set to release on July 14). [The Guardian]
Hoffman Overtweets from Critical Review
Author Alice Hoffman didn't take too kindly to Roberta Silman's critical review of her latest novel The Story Sisters which ran in last Sunday's Boston Globe. Hoffman didn't just sit there and stew, she blew off some steam by tweeting about it. The LA Times reports that the author fired off 27 Twitter posts, but later apologized for her uncharacteristic outburst. Amazon customer reviews of the novel have been generally positive. [LA Times]
--Lauren
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