I'm more familiar with looking at the list of Pulitzer Prize winners for Fiction and thinking, "Hm, I should read that" than thinking, "Hey! I actually read that, and it really was Pulitzer-worthy!" That's the happy case with Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. I read the book earlier this year and was wholly overcome by its beauty and sensitivity and painfully accurate portrayal of humanity. Perhaps not since I discovered Lorrie Moore have I been so taken with an author's way with words and how they use those words to invoke unforgettable characters and situations.
When something I really adore wins a big prize, there a part of me that feels like I've won too. So, in my acceptance speech, I'd like to thank Melissa Bank for her emphatic praise of Olive Kitteridge in an NPR commentary and my friend Randall Brown who, using his iPod Touch in Borders later that same night, helped me find the book because I'd already forgotten the title.
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Randall Brown writes:
I thank you for your thanks. Happy to help out.
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