49 years ago...

The National Book Awards, as noted previously, is running through its award-winning titles, and just published a piece on the 1960 winner, Philip Roth's Goodbye Columbus. It was Roth's first book, winning possibly the most prestigious literary prize available right out of the gate. (He was recipient of the Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from that same group for his body of work in 2002.)

In addition to reading the appreciation of Goodbye Columbus, it's fun to poke around the other corners of 1960. Other nominees included John Updike, Robert Penn Warren, James Jones, William Faulkner and Shirley Jackson. Stiff competition! And that year Allen Drury's Advise and Consent won the Pulitzer. We could use a year like 1960 again.

Enjoy the article in full.