Monette Wins National Book Award
Los Angeles writer Paul Monette, whose autobiography chronicled the struggles and triumphs of coming to terms with his homosexual identity, has won the National Book Award in nonfiction for “Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story†published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Monette, who said he believes he is the first person with AIDS to win the award, told the black-tie literary crowd at the awards ceremony and dinner in New York on Wednesday: “The lightning rod of history that has struck my generation of gay men has struck me. My writing has kept me alive.â€
Cormac McCarthy, who was not present, received the fiction award for “All the Pretty Horses,†the story of a boy on a journey to Mexico, published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Mary Oliver won the award for poetry for her “New and Selected Poems†(Beacon Press).
Publisher, author and poet James Laughlin received the National Book Foundation Medal for his contributions to literature.
The winners received $10,000 cash awards and bronze commemorative sculptures.
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