The Mercantile Library Center for Fiction recently announced the shortlist for the 2008 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. The annual award is named after the former president and CEO of Doubleday; funded by his family, the prize is worth ten thousand dollars. The seven shortlisted novels are:
The Story of Forgetting (Ecco) by Stefan Merrill Block
Atmospheric Disturbances (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Rivka Galchen,
Dervishes (Picador) by Beth Helms
Songs for the Butcher's Daughter (Free Press) by Peter Manseau
Personal Days (Random House) by Ed Park
The Good Thief (Dial Press) by Hannah Tinti
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Ecco) by David Wroblewski
Junot Díaz, winner of last year's prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Riverhead), will present the award to the winner at a ceremony in New York City in December.
