John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize Shortlist Announced

You're probably saying, "What's the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize, and do we really need another book prize?" Maybe there are too many book prizes out there, but this new prize has already picked a couple great winners. Last year's winner, Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, went on to win the Pulitzer prize. The very first winner was Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics, a wonderfully unique novel that found its way onto the New York Times's Best 10 Books of the year list.

The (very accomplished) shortlist for this year includes:

• The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Merrill Block
• Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
• Dervishes by Beth Helms
• Songs for the Butcher's Daughter by Peter Manseau
• Personal Days by Ed Park
• The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti
• The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski