Part I – Finalists of the 2014 Pulitzer Awards: Letters, Drama and Music – the Perfect Trio

In Part 1 we will look at the first half of 14 works which were nominated in the books, drama and music category, whose authors became Pulitzer Prizes finalists.

Even if the works and the authors did not get first place, US gambling news and other news sources would like to honor these 2014 finalists. The works were worthy of the standard expected of a Pulitzer Prizes award and so we will acknowledge the work and the authors too.

The 2014 winners

The actual 2014 winners, in the Books category were “The Goldfinch” written by Donna Tartt and published by Little, Brown. Under Drama, Annie Baker wrote “The Flick” and in the History section, “The Internal Enemy: Slavery And War In Virginia, 1772-1832″ by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton). For the Biography section, Megan Marshall nailed the prize with “Margaret Fuller: A New American Life”.

While in the Poetry category, Vijay Seshadri wrote the 3 Sections. The work was published by Graywolf Press. No doubt about it, Seshadri certainly stole the limelight. While In the General Non-fiction “Toms River: A Story Of Science And Salvation” which was written by Dan Fagin also topped the list of last year’s winners.

In the Music category “Become Ocean” written by John Luther Adams and published by Taiga Press and Theodore Front Musical Literature was a Pulitzer winner. But it doesn’t mean that those were the only cream of the crop. The Finalists of the Letters, Drama, and Music also deserve credit and certainly there are loads of punters carrying out betting matches, who think these novelists are outstanding too.

Stories across centuries

First off, in the Fiction section, two books were nominated, which retained their place as finalists. The first is The Son by Philipp Meyer and which is published by Ecco was simply amazing. The all-encompassing story depicts violence over several generations, in a Texas family who worked their way through deadly frontier hazards to become oil moguls in Texas, where land-based and mobile casinos reign among oil rigs.

The second in the category, is The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis. It is a novel whose tale expands a messy 50 years in three continents. It probes American foreign policy before the 9/11 terrorist attack. The book provokes us with certain themes so much so that it forces us to ask ourselves moral questions.

In the Drama category, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence by Madeleine George almost nipped the first prize. The play is brilliantly astute. It mixes several historical moments, between the 19th century and the 21st century, where readers are brought to ruminate on the technological headway that can both unite and destroy people.

When it comes to being ‘drama queens’ Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori have it down pat in their book Fun Home. The theme is a rather touching musical adaptation of a graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. In this adaptation the sexual identity combined with a heady mix of a complicated family life and relationships are explored.

History and politics, a winning combination

Under the History category in Letters, where the book must be a history of the United States although the author may be of any nationality, Jacqueline Jones walked away a happy finalist. Her work, A Dreadful Deceit: The Myth of Race from the Colonial Era to Obama’s America published by Basic Books races across decades, from slavery to the time of the First Black US President in the White House. In this book, readers get to understand how the invention of race, like any other sport, can mark and harm the lives of Americans, just as illegal sportsbetting, which falls out of the realms of US gambling laws can do harm too.

Eric Schlosser wrote a gripping history on how the US manages its nuclear arms, in the book Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident and the Illusion of Safety. Published by The Penguin Press, the book scrutinizes the crucial challenges that could have caused a nuclear war, probably destroying the planet.

In the Biography or Autobiography category, Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World by Leo Damrosch, which was published by Yale University Press describes the fundamental work of the famous and mysterious satirist and his relationship with 18th century Anglo-Irish politics.