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National Book Awards -- Not "Now"
Published: 11/20/2008 11:23 AM
Last Modified: 11/20/2008 11:23 AM

Well, just learned that Oklahoma novelist Tim Tharp's "The Spectacular Now" did not win the National Book Award for Young People's literature. It went instead to Judy Blundell for "What I Saw and How I Lied," which -- like Tharp's book -- was nominated for the award prior to its official publication.

Still, that Tharp's book was nominated for the award is quite a coup, and the book itself is most deserving of praise and attention. As we said in our review Sunday, "The Spectacular Now" can be seen as a 21st century response to "The Catcher in the Rye" -- it is very easy to imagine that Tharp's Sutter Keely could become as famous a character as Holden Caulfield.

On the other hand, poet Mark Doty, who was in Tulsa recently for the Nimrod Writers Conference just days after the National Book Award nominees were announced, took the prize for Poetry, for his book "Fire to Fire."

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ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

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Past Articles By James D. Watts Jr

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2/12/2013		Review: Signature Symphony reprises '100 Years of Oklahoma Music'
2/11/2013		Tulsa Symphony's concert salutes diverse American music
2/10/2013		Cherokee artist weaves messages into baskets
2/10/2013		Tesla Quartet set for Tulsa residency next week with variety of activities
2/10/2013		Jim Murphy wins 2013 Anne Zarrow Award
2/10/2013		LBJ chronicler Robert Caro to speak at TU on Tuesday
2/9/2013		Theater review: Playhouse makes "Barefoot in the Park" believable

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