By Linda Lombroso
Readers were so crazy about Robert K. Massie’s “Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman” that the biography shot up The New York Times bestseller list last winter.
Now the American Library Association has honored Massie, who lives in Irvington, with the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.
The award, established this year, recognizes the best books for adult readers published the previous year. Finalists in the nonfiction category, along with Massie, were Manning Marable for “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention” and James Gleick for “The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood.”
Massie, a Pulitzer Prize winner, says he was stunned to learn he’d won the medal, which is awarded by a panel of librarians. Winners were announced Sunday during the ALA’s annual conference in Anaheim, Calif. “It wasn’t a patsy list (of contenders), and to be honest, I was astonished,’’ says Massie. “I mean I know what I’ve written, but that it would somebody as experienced and cognizant as this panel of librarians who chose it, it was very surprising and very pleasant.”
In the fiction category, the medal went to Anne Enright for “The Forgotten Waltz.”
The American Library Association also awards the Newbery and Caldecott Medals for children’s books. This is the first time the ALA has offered awards for adult trade fiction and nonfiction books.
Massie also offered his suggestions for biographies to add to your summer reading list in Sunday’s book roundup. Check out Massie’s recommendations, plus book lists from eight other local authors at http://lohud.us/MpgUCj.
Photo: Xavier Mascarenas/The Journal News
