And the Pulitzer goes to...

I think every journalist with even an inkling of ambition would love to win the Pulitzer prize. The award is prestigious, it's rewarding monetarily and professionally, but even more importantly to me would be the opportunity to report on a Pulitzer-worthy assignment. These aren't the news stories that you write in an hour. These are the stories that journalists research, interview, and write for months (if not a whole year). I hope to one day be working on that type of article.

Here is something you might not have known about the Pulitzer prize (I was unaware of this until recently), each year one work of American fiction is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Since 1918, American authors ranging from Hemingway to Faulkner to Updike have won this coveted prize.

from Amazon.com

A couple of months ago I wrapped up reading War and Peace, which is no small feat. It was one of the best books I've ever read and I ended up being immersed in a tale that I doubted (for whatever reason) would hold my attention. Naturally, after reading War and Peace, I was ready for something lighter, and shorter. I find it difficult selecting books to read sometimes, and being one who is obsessed with lists, I turned to an idea put forth by my public library's website. Read through the Pulitzer Prize winner list. So I am.

Before I started this "project" I had read an abysmal 5 books from the list of 84. I believe this has more to do with me having a passion for Russian and European literature, and less to do with me being so grossly under-read (I just keep telling myself that). Anyway, in the past couple of months I've read 6 more from the list and I plan to read all 73 more.

From Amazon.com

And what have I learned so far? Well, a few things actually. One is that Hollywood is so grossly unimaginative that it, too, turns to the Pulitzer list for screen plays (winners include The Hours, The Shipping News, The Age of Innocence).

Two, back in the 1910s and 20s people were obsessed with the automobile, naturally, but spent a lot of time making fun of those who drove them. Several books I've read so far have the eager-adopter auto drivers enduring taunts from passerbys screaming, "get a horse!" Who would have known!

From Amazon.com

Three, I can actually really truly enjoy William Faulkner. I'm not ashamed to admit (ok, I'm a little ashamed) that previous attempts at reading Faulkner have failed miserably. Either I get so caught up in not understanding the dialect (reading the unfamiliar words out loud to figure out the English version) or I just get lost in the stream of consciousness writing. But! Mr. Faulkner wrote a book in the last year that he was alive called The Reivers that is truly a comic masterpiece (as the back of the book described) and was so easy and enjoyable to read. The story just flew by and had me giggling the whole way through.

Four, Ignatius Reily from Confederacy of Dunces (another Pulitzer winner) had to be a direct descendant of Georgie Amberson Minafer from The Magnificent Ambersons. Georgie is less absurd and much tamer than the New Orleans French Quarter character, but their lives and ideas are pretty much one and the same.

And this is what I'll be reading for the next year or so. Every once in a while I may update all of you on my journey and describe other tidbits that I learn along the way. So what's on your to-read list?