Four days, 40 nominees — and now, a clear idea of which writers have a shot to win the 2017 National Book Awards.
The National Book Foundation unveiled its longlists of nominees in stages this week, releasing a new set of 10 nominees each day. The rollout concluded Friday with the list of fiction contenders.
Frankly, any attempt to give the dozens of nominees their due in such a limited space would be foolhardy — so we'll simply remind you that you've still got some time to read as many as you can. The next round of finalists will be unveiled on Oct. 4, and the winners will be announced on Nov. 15.
Find the nominees below, with links to any reviews or interviews NPR has conducted, where available.
Fiction
Elliot Ackerman: Dark at the CrossingDaniel Alarcón: The King Is Always Above the People: StoriesCharmaine Craig: Miss BurmaJennifer Egan: Manhattan BeachLisa Ko: The LeaversMin Jin Lee: PachinkoCarmen Maria Machado: Her Body and Other Parties: StoriesMargaret Wilkerson Sexton: A Kind of FreedomJesmyn Ward: Sing, Unburied, SingCarol Zoref: Barren Island
Nonfiction
Erica Armstrong Dunbar: Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona JudgeFrances FitzGerald: The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape AmericaJames Forman Jr.: Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaMasha Gessen: The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed RussiaDavid Grann: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBINaomi Klein: No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics and Winning the World We NeedNancy MacLean: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for AmericaRichard Rothstein: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated AmericaKevin Young: Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News
Poetry
Frank Bidart: Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2016Chen Chen: When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further PossibilitiesLeslie Harrison: The Book of EndingsMarie Howe: Magdalene: PoemsLaura Kasischke: Where Now: New and Selected PoemsLayli Long Soldier: WHEREASShane McCrae: In the Language of My CaptorSherod Santos: Square Inch HoursDanez Smith: Don't Call Us Dead: PoemsMai Der Vang: Afterland
Young People's Literature
Elana K. Arnold: What Girls Are Made OfRobin Benway: Far from the TreeSamantha Mabry: All the Wind in the WorldMitali Perkins: You Bring the Distant NearJason Reynolds: Long Way DownErika L. Sánchez: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican DaughterLaurel Snyder: Orphan IslandAngie Thomas: The Hate U GiveRita Williams-Garcia: Clayton Byrd Goes UndergroundIbi Zoboi: American Street
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