"Those who saw him hushed."
-- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.
This won the National Book Award last year. I am reading it as my National winner pick for the Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge.
I had originally picked Them by Joyce Carol Oates as my National choice, and Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler for my Pulitzer winner, but I decided to switch. I just read Olive Kitteridge for my Pulitzer winner and decided to stick with the short-stories-as-novel idea with my National pick. They tie in with The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter for my double dipper choice.
Now I am finally making progress on my own challenge. It's about time.