Tournament of Books discussion

Well, Christmas did come early!

The 2013 Tournament of Books Finalists

HHhH by Laurent Binet
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Arcadia by Lauren Groff
How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Ivyland by Miles Klee
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Dear Life by Alice Munro
Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Building Stories by Chris Ware
[Winner of the Pre-Tournament Playoff Round]

Pre-Tournament Playoff Round

Fobbit by David Abrams
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers


Initial response, a lot of surprises. I was hoping to start off with better than 5 books!

Not sure how the play-off works (tho hurts a bit that it's Billy Lynn vs. Yellow Birds, both at the top of my best reads of the year).

wow, cool!! i own a lot of them but they are unread and have only actually read 2 of the books. zoinks! i have a lot of reading to do!!! thanks for posting the list!

edit: i thought i would copy over the judges that were noted too; it's a cool list!!

The 2013 Tournament of Books Judges
Stefan Beck has written for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Sun, the Weekly Standard, the New Criterion, the Barnes & Noble Review, and other publications. He lives in Connecticut.

Kate Bolick is a contributing editor for the Atlantic. Her first book, Among the Suitors: On Being a Woman, Alone, is forthcoming from Crown/Random House, and her Atlantic cover story “All the Single Ladies” is in development with CBS as a TV sitcom. She lives in Brooklyn Heights.

Nathan Bradley is an active-duty Army officer and writer. His work has previously appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and is forthcoming in the Iowa Review. Follow him on Twitter at @inthesedeserts.

Lev Grossman is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Magicians and The Magician King. He's also the book critic at Time Magazine, and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Wired, The Believer, the Wall Street Journal, and Salon, as well as on NPR. And one day it will all disappear.

Jack Hitt writes for the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, and Rolling Stone. He is also a contributor to public radio's This American Life. His most recent book, Bunch of Amateurs, is coming out in paperback this May.

Ron Hogan launched Beatrice back in 1995, and he's been using the internet to tell people what they should read ever since. He lives in Queens.

Elliott Holt’s first novel, You Are One of Them, will be published by The Penguin Press in June 2013. Her short fiction has appeared in The Pushcart Prize XXXV 2011 anthology, among other places. Follow her on Twitter at @elliottholt.

Tony Horwitz is the author, most recently, of Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. His other books include Confederates in the Attic, Blue Latitudes, Baghdad Without a Map, and A Voyage Long and Strange. He is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has written for the New Yorker and worked as a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal.

Saeed Jones received his MFA from Rutgers University, Newark, and is a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee. His work has appeared in Ebony, Guernica, The Rumpus, Lambda Literary, and Hayden’s Ferry Review, among others. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem and the Queer/Art/Mentorship.

Edan Lepucki is a staff writer for The Millions and the author of the novella If You’re Not Yet Like Me. Her short fiction has been published in McSweeney’s and Narrative Magazine, among other places, and she’s the founder and director of Writing Workshops Los Angeles. Her first novel will be published by Little, Brown in spring 2014.

D.T. Max is the author of The Family That Couldn’t Sleep and Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and a rescued beagle named Max.

Dave Pacey, our ToB 2013 Reader Judge, is the proud father of an eight-year-old boy named Owen, an avid outdoorsman, a book collector, a traveler, and, when he's not reading, a dentist.

Rachel Riederer is an editor at Guernica: A Magazine of Art and Politics and a writing teacher at Baruch College. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Mother Jones, The Nation, The Rumpus, and Best American Essays 2011. Her tinier observations can be found on Twitter at @readerer.

Davy Rothbart is the creator of Found Magazine and the author of the essay collection My Heart Is an Idiot and the story collection The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas. A contributor to public radio’s This American Life, he lives in Los Angeles.

Natasha Vargas-Cooper is a longtime resident of the San Fernando Valley and a former union organizer, and has been published in the New York Times, the Atlantic, GQ, and Spin.

Caity Weaver is a staff writer at Gawker and has been published in Mental Floss and The Hairpin.

Charles Yu is the author of three books, including the novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, which was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and selected by Time Magazine as one of the best books of 2010. His most recent book is Sorry Please Thank You. He is always looking for human connection, in a (mostly) non-creepy way.

crap, i have a lot of reading to do.

haha -- that was totally my response too, jess. :)

Had a little more time to absorb the list:

Interesting points: got the YA novel (Fault in Our Stars), non-traditional work (Building Stories), and short story collection (Dear Life)

Of the "watch list" published at the end of last year's tourney, only 7 were on that list.

Seems like lots of high profile snubs: Chabon, Eggers, Ford, Irving, Rowling, Smith, Wolfe... Kingsolver, McEwan and Morrison didn't even make the long list.

I am still absorbing the list (and cross-referencing with my public library & Christmas list). I just noticed Barnes & Noble is the sponsor this year. I like Powell's a lot, so that's disappointing. Does Bring Up the Bodies stand on its own if I don't read Wolf Hall?

bring up the bodies -- it can do, stand on its own. though i do feel it's better to have read wolf hall first.

Thanks for adding 600 pages to my reading list, Jennifer!

I like the judges!

oh - sorry. fwiw, it reads very quickly!!

Three. I've read only three. Worse, actually. I'm two-thirds through the third. Gaaahhhh!

The judges list looks great, though.

And I'm pretty sure I've read the destined winner already. Should Hilary Mantel worry about how well her next rooster will get along with the last one? The younger rooster can be bullied pretty badly by the more established one, I understand.

i wonder about mantel's book though -- it could suffer in the tournament if people have not read wolf hall. while it can stand-alone, it is better with wolf hall knowledge. and this is a unique position from the rest of the contenders.

Jennifer wrote: "i wonder about mantel's book though -- it could suffer in the tournament if people have not read wolf hall. while it can stand-alone, it is better with wolf hall knowledge. and this is a unique pos..."

I do agree. I can't imagine a judge tackling one without the other, though. (Oh, well, I guess I can imagine it. Hmmm.)

I loved both Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, but I really really loved Orphan Master's Son, Song of Achilles and Billy Lynn's Long Half-time Walk. This is a good set of books that will make a fantastic tournament.

I expected a lot less "Wha?!" while reading the list. I guess it's a good thing that some of the bigger names/more-hyped novels got passed over for other things. However, as someone who wastes far too much time reading about reading and books and all that, I figured I'd have a passing familiarity with at least the finalists, if not the entire long list. Instead, several participants are titles completely foreign to my awareness.

This would be less concerning for me had the one book that was unknown to me going in last year not turned out to be the most ridiculously trite piece of self-important garbage (my opinion only, of course) I've read in several years!

Na ja. Time to hit the library and book store, I guess!

Crud. Just realized I left my copy of "Wolf Hall" on my desk at work.

the one book that was unknown to me going in last year not turned out to be the most ridiculously trite piece of self-important garbage

And now I want to know which book you're referring to.

I suppose it's fair, since I put it out there.

I HATED "Lightning Rods."

i hated it too! so much! whew, we almost had to argue about a book.

heh -- the book that took down 1Q84. :) that ruined a lot of people's predictions, eh?

Jess, I'm old enough now to no longer think "I hated it" equates with "It's awful," so I'd not have fought you and even been happy to hear some explanation as to why it's more my problem than that of the book! For real!

That being said, I was not looking forward to feeling dumb about it!

I maintain that the main difference between "Lightning Rods" and "1Q84" is that one was a breezy read with a few laughs and the other was an utter wrist-bender. Without having read the larger book, I feel secure based on all I've read about it that it's the superior piece of work. I don't prefer to have an uninformed opinion on matters such as this, but I don't have to have heard Justin Bieber (and, as far as I know, I've not) to know the Punch Brothers are superior to him musically in all measurable ways.

Ultimately, glad to have a kindred soul on that one. I think its continued success in last year's tournament actually soured me on the event. I kept thinking, "What is WRONG with you people?!"

For me, the difference was that I finished Lightning Rods and only made it 2/3 through 1Q84. There is virtue in knowing when to wrap it up and put it to bed. I have loved a lot of Murakami's work, but not that one.

That match-up ruined my brackets. It never, ever occurred to me that LR would beat 1q84. It was not a remote possibility in my mind, even if we lived in a world with two moons. I was bitter about it for a long time, but I think the upset is also part of the Tournament of Books magic.

You guys remind me that the Goodreads community is half the fun of the Tournament of Books!

I've compiled the availability of this year's books in a google doc. It's not comprehensive - just the vendors I tend to use. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/c...

I've also updated the group's 'Currently Reading' list to the 2013 contenders.

cool, jamie! thanks. i am a bit of a spreadsheet geek, so always have fun seeing what others create!

randall & jess -- how did you feel about the arguments each judge put forward for 1Q84 and lightening rods (you personal feelings about the books aside)? i haven't read either, yet...though i own 1Q84.

Heads-up for Kindle users: Song of Achilles is currently $3.79. Not sure if that's an "everyday" price (doubtful) or on a monthly sale, but if you plan on reading it might want to pick it up before the end of the month!

Jennifer wrote: "randall & jess -- how did you feel about the arguments each judge put forward for 1Q84 and lightening rods (you personal feelings about the books aside)? i haven't read either, yet...though i own 1..."

I'll be happy to engage in this discussion when I'm not about to take my toddler to the gym to (as his mother says) "get his wiggles out" before nap-time!

Ed wrote: "Heads-up for Kindle users: Song of Achilles is currently $3.79. Not sure if that's an "everyday" price (doubtful) or on a monthly sale, but if you plan on reading it might want to pick it up before..."

Great heads-up, Ed! Thank you.

Knowing that, generally, such discounts on books can be found on other vendors, I purchased "Song of Achilles" for my Nook for $3.99 while putting on my socks (yeah, I multi-task like a veteran daddy).

Sooo, the pre-tournament playoff round makes more sense to me now - I just don't know how they are going to go about choosing the playoff winner. However, it appears that all three playoff books are about the Iraq War. I loved Billy Lynn and have Yellow Birds to read, but had no idea what Fobbit was until reading about it on goodreads. Too bad Fobbit is not a cousin of a Hobbit as I don't know that I want to read three books about Iraq in one year. I may hope that Billy Lynn wins and only read one of the other two IF they make it through the playoff.

Hello friends of the Rooster! I’ve been silent the last few months, but have enjoyed reading everyone’s speculation about who will make it in to the tourney…and now it’s for real! And thank goodness it’s early this time. At first I thought, crap, I felt like I had been doing great trying to read as many potential contenders as possible and then come to find out I’ve only read 5. But then I realized that 5 is probably not too bad. Hey, it’s a start.

Of the 5 I have read there was a 2-star, a 3-star, 2 4-stars and a rare 5-star (Bring Up the Bodies, of course). I can’t imagine enjoying any of the other contenders more than BUTB (that acronym seems a bit obscene), but Michelle, I wouldn’t be disappointed if The Orphan Master’s Son went all the way—I was surprised at how much I liked that one.

Glad to see that Diaz and Chabon (sorry to fans of either author) did not make it on the list, as I’m not a big admirer of either, and glad to see Alice Munro on there. And then there were a couple I hadn’t even heard of yet (another thing to love about ToB): HHhH, May We Be Forgiven, Ivyland and Fobbit. McEwan’s latest didn’t even make it to the long list? I haven’t read it yet, but was hoping to see it on the list cuz he’s a favorite of mine.

I abandoned How Should a Person Be about 20 pages in but looks like I will now have to pick it back up again. I fear that it may be a Lightning Rods type of book for me. Phooey.

Yellow Birds will probably be next on my list as I just got it out of the library, but not sure where to go from there…it seemed like I heard a lot of lukewarm reception about Arcadia, so I’m not chomping at the bit for that one…and most of the others seem like they are on equal footing in my eyes, so maybe I’ll go with some known factors (Erdrich and Munro).

Happy reading over the holidays everyone!

Well I have quite a few books left to read to be adequately prepared. I've read five of the finalists. Beautiful Ruins was quite wonderful. Despite the category of YA, I feel as though The Fault in Our Stars was really something special. I read it within days of it's release and now almost a year later, it's words still inhabit and haunt me. I also am yet to read Wolf Hall even though it has been on my "to be read" list for some time. So, that will need to be taken care of before reading Bring Up the Bodies. It's almost as if this list has a per-requisite!

Just caught Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 books an they did pretty well, 8 ToB books!

Bring Up the Bodies, Orphan Master's, Beautiful Ruins, Where'd You Go Bernadette, Billy Lynn (playoff), Fault in Our Stars, Gone Girl, and Building Stories

(The two that didn't make it: Newlyweds and This Is How You Lose Her)

But more interesting, How Should A Person Be? made their *worst* books of the year, so think Kathy might be on the right track that it's this year's Lightning Rods.

Also agree with Kathy, my "huh?" books were: HHhH, Ivyland, Fobbit (had known of May We Be Forgiven, the cover that I've seen is brilliantly simple, white cover with de-canned cranberry sauce)

Interesting as Michelle noted about the Iraq War novel playoff. Would have loved to see Billy Lynn and Yellow Birds square off (even in a first round), both are worthy contenders (and I am sure Fobbit is too, but agree not sure I need another war novel - tho I thought that after Billy Lynn, pre-Yellow Birds).

Song of Achilles is available on Kobo for $3.99. I downloaded the app on my phone for free and it's on my computer as well.

Of the list I have yet to read, I am most looking forward to reading Gone Girl, Fault in Our Stars, and Beautiful Ruins. I have asked for Building Stories for Christmas after I heard a review for it on the Books on the Nightstand podcast. It should be really interesting as I have never read graphic novels.

oh - it's not even 'just' a graphic novel, michelle. it's a box of components that make up the whole and can be mixed and mingled. why i am so keen to get it is because of everything i have heard about how this book is turning the idea of a novel - format and form - on its head.

Jennifer wrote: "oh - it's not even 'just' a graphic novel, michelle. it's a box of components that make up the whole and can be mixed and mingled. why i am so keen to get it is because of everything i have heard a..."

This makes me very leery of the piece. My gut says, "gimmicky." I've yet to get to a point with reading novels where I think it needs conceptual reworking. Just moved it to the bottom of the list, knowing I won't be able to read them all. It and the Heiti book may be early sacrifices to the God of Maintaining Sanity via Reasonable Expectations for Reading Time.

One of the other things I find interesting about the list is that it only includes the Booker winner and none of the long/short listed Bookers. Last year there were 3 Bookers. Yet, I don't think we had many of the Booker nominees on our watch lists either. I guess I was just hoping to see more of tehm since I read so many of the Bookers for a different project. Also interesting, is that all 5 NBA's made either the long or short ToB list. Personally, I did not think Round House was the best of the NBAs. I am guessing it won't last long.

Randall wrote: "My gut says, "gimmicky.""

I might agree with other authors, but when Chris Ware does it, you know it'll be justified. The man has a gift for scope and innovation. I having gotten around to Building Stories yet -- beyond a friend forcing me to pick it up and admire it every time I visit him at work -- but the last few editions of Ware's Acme Novelty Library have shown his talent for bending the comic form while stories that can span entire lifetimes over the course of a few pages.

I'm very excited for this year's tournament . . . Arcadia, I thought, was stunning. I had mixed feelings about Sheila Heti's book, but I can't wait to hear what the judges have to say.

Is it strange to anyone else, though, that there's a pre-tournament run-off that only includes Iraq War books? Isn't there room in the tournament for two excellent books on America's foreign wars? I feel like each book should rise or fall on its own merit (however that's determined), not because it meets or exceeds a particular subject matter quota. Think of the first World War II novels that come to mind - Catch-22, The Naked and the Dead, Slaughterhouse-Five - and what vastly differently worldviews they convey. Why should we have to choose?

Part of what makes the Tournament awesome is that we get to see how literary awards sausage gets made: the strange and arbitrary decisions that allow judges to call one book better than another. In this case, though, if the organizers felt they absolutely had to limit the field to just one war novel, I think I'd rather have been left in the dark.

James wrote: "Randall wrote: "My gut says, "gimmicky.""

I might agree with other authors, but when Chris Ware does it, you know it'll be justified. The man has a gift for scope and innovation. I having gotten a..."

this is my feeling too. ware isn't a gimmicky guy, based on the stuff i know about him. the people i know who have read this are very much traditionalists as far as their literature goes, and all have given high praise for this "amazing" work - meaning both the story and the format.

Michelle wrote: "One of the other things I find interesting about the list is that it only includes the Booker winner and none of the long/short listed Bookers. Last year there were 3 Bookers. Yet, I don't think ..."

i had a small part of my brain wondering if will self's Umbrella would be included. i haven't read it but it seems controversial enough to have created a good debate.

which is how i feel about sheila heti's book being included. i think it's a polarizing book, fro the stuff i have read about it so far. (i own it but haven't got to it yet.)

Is it strange to anyone else, though, that there's a pre-tournament run-off that only includes Iraq War books?...In this case, though, if the organizers felt they absolutely had to limit the field to just one war novel, I think I'd rather have been left in the dark.

I actually DO find it curious. In fact, I had pretty much assumed both "Yellow Birds" and "Billy Lynn's..." would make the field and was hoping they would not be pitted against one another right at the top. This seems almost worse, in a way.

Another curiosity to me is that, following a year where several stories were written about how male authors dominated awards considerations and magazine pages, women wrote a full 2/3 of the books in the 15 books that do not have yet to earn a spot in the field.

On the flip side, it's mostly dudes doing the judging. How patriarchal?

I would find it extremely disappointing if decisions were made on things other than merit, and the novelty of having three war-based novels face-off in a play-in round reeks of such shenanigans.

You can't tell that I am obsessing over this already, can you? My new observance is that How Should a Person Be? was published in 2010. What is up with that?

2010 is the original publication date in canada. it was only released in the u.s. in 2012.

Jennifer wrote: "2010 is the original publication date in canada. it was only released in the u.s. in 2012."

Ohhh, I should have figured that one out. Thanks!

Jennifer wrote: "randall & jess -- how did you feel about the arguments each judge put forward for 1Q84 and lightening rods (you personal feelings about the books aside)? i haven't read either, yet...though i own 1..."

I thought Michelle Orange's decision was great - possibly my favorite of the tournament, even though I was frustrated by it. She brought out a lot of interesting comparisons and I didn't disagree with her criticisms of 1Q84. I also didn't agree with the merits of Lighting Rods, but it was interesting food for thought.

Happy day! We've never received the list this early! Although, 2 books have been added... I started "Round House" today - number 8 out of 18. Shouldn't be a problem completing the list.
There are surprises (wouldn't be TOB otherwise) more from an omission perspective - Chabon, Morrison, Diaz. The Fault in our Stars was one of my favorite reads this year, but I don't see it going all the way in TOB.
I may be too much of a tight wad to invest in Building Stories and the library wait list is long...
Jess and Randall, I agree with you re: Lightening Rods vs. 1Q84. Lightening Rods just didnt thrill me unlike many of the TOB enthusiasts.
Let the TOB begin!!

Jennifer wrote: "randall & jess -- how did you feel about the arguments each judge put forward for 1Q84 and lightening rods (you personal feelings about the books aside)? i haven't read either, yet..."

I just wrote a misguidedly lengthy diatribe against Mark Binelli before launching (again) into DeWitt. Goodreads somehow ate it in its entirety.

In brief, I was so annoyed with Binelli's surprise verdict in light of what he wrote, I removed his books from my TBR queue, even though the subject matter of both are right down my alley (Sacco and Vanzetti/Detroit).

Seemed to me the set up was, "Okay, 'Salvage the Bones' is a little bit heavy-handed, but 'Lightining Rods' is boring and devoid of story." Then, BLAMMO, he picked "Lightning Rods!"

I agreed mostly with what he said about each, but apparently we value books differently, he and I, which means I'd likely hate his writing (my logic?).

Essentially, Jesmyn Ward delivered to me some memorable characters in a compelling story in a vivid setting. Yes, sprinkled with writing workshop gimmickry to a degree (PLEASE stop referencing 'Medea!'), but otherwise a solid read. It did what I want books to do for me.

Helen DeWitt did none of these things. Further, I think she intentionally failed to do these things. I hope she's happy with herself.

does anyone else think it is outrageously unfair that Chris Ware's book is sold out everywhere on the internet? What is this nonsense?

Wow! I asked for it for Christmas and Santa delivered! It looks like it should be back in stock in mid January, which should give plenty of time to be fully immersed by the first of March.

That said, I knew it was expensive, but I had no idea how expensive it really was until just now! Are libraries going to have the book since it comes in so many pieces?

my library doesn't have it and they have no intention of buying it. one librarian told me there are "too many pieces to get lost and destroyed." you're so lucky that your Santa rules!