I love it when a book I've actually read wins a prize. This time it's Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemings of Monticello, which I thought pretty terrific both for its story and for its historical methods. I noted it on this blog last spring, and there was some vigorous commentary, and even AG-R herself, in the midst of a busy book tour, took note. Congratulations!!
Slate magazine says the Pulitzers are a joke -- too many categories, too little integrity in the judging. It is odd when three history books win the "History" "Biography" and "General Non-fiction" categories, when any of them might almost be entered in any of the categories. All the winners listed here.
