American Jewish Fiction: A JPS Guide

E. American Jewish Literary Awards

E. American Jewish Literary Awards Often ridiculous but usually well-intentioned, literary awards exist to promote and celebrate exceptional writing. At their best, these awards benefit just about everyone: authors receive a little cash and a plaque to hang in their studies; publishers paste a sticker on their paperbacks and garner extra sales for one of their books; readers discover a wonderful and deserving new work; and judges enjoy the exercise of their authority. Of course, even a cursory glance back at the winners of any of the world’s most prestigious literary awards reveals that while they have sometimes gone to works of enduring value, the lists have also ignored the most deserving authors or books (Leo Tolstoy, for example, never received the Nobel Prize, even though he was eligible), and included winners who have quickly become obscure. Prizes can’t be taken too seriously. Still, American Jewish literary prizes—of which there have been many—offer us, at the very least, a list of books deemed by more or less qualified judges to be of interest. The lists here include all of the winners of the major prizes awarded by Jewish literary organizations based in the United States. Note that these prizes do not limit themselves to fiction by or about American Jews; they often include, for example, excellent works of Israeli literature in translation. (Note: Years in which awards were not given have been left off of the lists.) National Jewish Book Award for Fiction 1949 Howard Fast My Glorious Brothers 1950 John Hersey The Wall 1951 Soma Morgenstern The Testament of the Lost Son 1952 Zelda Popkin Quiet Street 1953 Michael Blankfort The Juggler 1954 Charles Angoff In the Morning Light 1955 Louis Zara Blessed Is the Land 1957 Leon Feuchtwanger Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo 1958 Bernard Malamud The Assistant 1959 Leon Uris Exodus 1960 Philip Roth Goodbye, Columbus and Five Stories 1961 Edward L. Wallant The Human Season 1962 Samuel Yellen Wedding Band 1963 Isaac Bashevis Singer The Slave 1964 Joanne Greenberg The King’s Persons 1965 Elie Wiesel The Town beyond the Wall 1966 Meyer Levin The Stronghold 1967 Chaim Grade The Well 1969 Charles Angoff Memory of Autumn 1970 Leo Litwak Waiting for the News 1972 Cynthia Ozick The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories 1973 Robert Kotlowitz Somewhere Else 177 Appendix E American Jewish Fiction 1974 Francine Prose Judah the Pious 1975 Jean Karsavina White Eagle, Dark Skies 1976 Johanna Kaplan Other People’s Lives 1977 Cynthia Ozick Bloodshed and Three Novellas 1978 Chaim Grade The Yeshiva 1979 Gloria Goldreich Leah’s Journey 1980 Daniel Fuchs The Apathetic Bookie Joint 1981 Johanna Kaplan O My America! 1982 Mark Helprin Ellis Island and Other Stories 1983 Robert Greenfield The Temple 1984 Arthur A. Cohen An Admirable Woman 1985 Frederick Busch Invisible Mending 1986 Arnost Lustig The Unloved: From the Diary of Perla S. 1988 Philip Roth The Counterlife 1989 Aharon Appelfeld The Immortal Barfuss 1990 A. B. Yehoshua Five Seasons 1991 Chaim Potok The Gift of Asher Lev 1992 Nathan Shaham The Rosendorf Quartet 1993 A. B. Yehoshua Mr. Mani 1994 Alan Isler The Prince of West End Avenue 1995 Rebecca Goldstein Mazel 1996 Evan Zimroth Gangsters 1997 Saul Bellow The Actual 1998 Aharon Appelfeld The Iron Tracks 1999 Steve Stern The Wedding Jester 2000 Philip Roth The Human Stain 2001 Jonathan Safran Foer Everything Is Illuminated 2002–03 Gary Shteyngart The Russian Debutante’s Handbook 2002–03 Dara Horn In the Image 2004 Marjorie Sandor Portrait of My Mother Who Posed Nude in Wartime 2005 Michael Chabon The Final Solution 2006 Dara Horn The World to Come 2007 Meir Shalev A Boy and a Pigeon 178 ˆ Edward Lewis Wallant Award 1963 Norman Fruchter Coat Upon a Stick 1964 Seymour Epstein Leah 1965 Hugh Nissenson A Pile of Stones 1966 Gene Hurwitz Home Is Where You Start From 1967 Chaim Potok The Chosen 1969 Leo Litwak Waiting for the News 1971 Cynthia Ozick The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories 1972 Robert Kotlowitz Somewhere Else 1973 Arthur A. Cohen In the Days of Simon Stern 1974 Susan Fromberg Schaeffer Anya 1975 Anne Bernays Growing Up Rich 1977 Curt Leviant The Yemenite Girl 1980 Johanna Kaplan O My America! 1981 Allen Hoffman Kagan’s Superfecta 1983 Francine Prose Hungry Hearts 1985 Jay Neugeboren Before My Life Began 1986 Daphne Merkin Enchantment 1987 Steve Stern Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven 1988 Tova Reich Master of the Return 1989 Jerome Badanes The Final Opus of Leon Solomon 1992...