May own the world, but he don't own us

While you were arguing about the National Enquirer's claim to journalism... The Pulitzers came out! The relevant winners:

Fiction -- TINKERS by Paul Harding
Drama -- "Next To Normal" by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (well, at least I've heard of this one)
Nonfiction -- LORDS OF FINANCE: THE BANKERS WHO BROKE THE WORLD by Liaquat Ahamed
Biography -- THE FIRST TYCOON: THE EPIC LIFE OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT by T.J. Stiles
Poetry -- VERSED by Rae Armantrout
General Nonfiction -- THE DEAD HAND: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE COLD WAR ARMS RACE AND ITS DANGEROUS LEGACY by David E. Hoffman

I think the lesson we've learned here is that your odds of winning will be better if you write a nonfiction book about rich and/or powerful white dudes. (Yeah, what else is new.)

Your 2009 National Book Award Winners

Colum McCann won for his novel LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN; the nonfiction winner was T.J. Stiles for THE FIRST TYCOON: THE EPIC LIFE OF CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. Flannery O'Connor's collected stories garnered her the Best National Book Ever Award (not its official title). Epic prediction fail!

Also, Keith Waldrop, professor at the best school ever, took home the poetry prize, and YA honors went to Philip Hoose's CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE, about an African-American woman who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus a year before Rosa Parks did.

To be discussed:
1. Does embracing the biography of a rich entrepreneur mean America's animosity towards captains of industry has ended?
2. The buzz on the YA category was whether David Small's STITCHES should have been included in that category or was more properly an adult book. Should publisher W.W. Norton be kicking itself? Why or why not?
3. Will Thomas Pynchon ever come out now after this epic snub?