The posthumously published diary of John Cheever, a volume of literary criticism by John Updike and a memoir by Philip Roth were among 25 books that have been nominated by the National Book Critics Circle for its 1991 awards.
Meeting in New York, members of the book critics board singled out Cheever, who died in 1982, for ”The Journals of John Cheever,” which were edited by his son, Ben.
Also nominated in biography/autobiography was Roth, whose memoir,
”Patrimony,” dealt with the author`s harrowing relationship with his father.
Other nominees in the category were: Robert Kanigel for ”The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan”; Diane Middlebrook, ”Anne Sexton: A Life”; and Art Spiegelman, ”Maus II.”
A winner last year in fiction for ”Rabbit at Rest,” Updike was nominated in criticism for his collection ”Odd Jobs.”
Also cited in criticism were Norman Cantor, ”Inventing the Middle Ages”; J. Hoberman, ”Vulgar Modernism”; Louise J. Kaplan, ”Female Perversions”; and Lawrence L. Langer, ”Holocaust Testimonies.”
The nominees in fiction were: Louis Begley, ”Wartime Lies”; Gish Jen,
”Typical American”; Richard Powers, ”The Gold Bug Variations”; Norman Rush, ”Mating”; and Jane Smiley, ”A Thousand Acres.”
The nominations in the remaining two categories are:
General non-fiction: Susan Faludi, ”Backlash”; Thomas Geoghegan,
”Which Side Are You On?”; Melissa Fay Greene, ”Praying for Sheetrock”;
Jonathan Kozol, ”Savage Inequalities”; and Dennis Overbye, ”Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos.”
Poetry: Diane Ackerman, ”Jaguar or Sweet Laughter”; Albert Goldbarth,
”Heaven and Earth”; Allen Grossman, ”The Ether Dome & Other Poems”;
Philip Levine, ”What Work Is”; and Adrienne Rich, ”An Atlas of the Difficult World.”
The winners will be announced on Feb. 13.
