Anthony Doerr wins Pulitzer Prize forfiction
NEW YORK — Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See,” an emotional and intimate World War II novel that has been one of the top-selling literary works of the past year, has won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Pulitzer judges Monday cited Doerr’s “short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology.” Doerr’s book alternates between a blind French girl and young Nazi soldier, with radio a means of resistance and propaganda.
Doerr, fittingly, was in Paris when the award was announced. A resident of Boise, Idaho, Doerr needed more than a decade to complete “All the Light We Cannot See,” more time than the war itself. He told The Associated Press there were days when he thought he “would never finish the book,” which has been on best-seller lists for months, and was especially surprised by his Pulitzer since the story “contains no Americans.”
The $10,000 prize is given “for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.”
“Obviously, it’s wonderful,” the 41-year-old Doerr said of the Pulitzer, adding he was enjoying ice cream with his family when his editor called to share the news.
Fiction finalists included Richard Ford for “Let Me Be Frank with You,” post-Hurricane Sandy stories featuring his longtime protagonist Frank Bascombe, the main character of his 1996 Pulitzer recipient “Independence Day.”
