Ian Frazier Wins His Second $5K Thurber Prize

By Jason Boog 

IMG_3170.JPGLast night the inaugural winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor repeated his funny-writing win–Ian Frazier won the 2009 Thurber Prize for his book, “Lamentations of the Father.”

Frazier–a longtime New Yorker writer–won the prize in 1997 for his book “Coyote vs. Acme,” and has now become the first writer to win the prize twice. The runners-up were: Sloane Crosley for “I was Told There’d be Cake,” Don Lee for “Wrack and Ruin,” and Laurie Notaro for “The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death.” In the photo are pictured, from left to right: Notaro, Frazier, and Crosley.

Here’s more about the award, from the release: “The annual prize is
presented by Thurber House, the national literary center for writers
and readers, based in the boyhood home of author, humorist and New
Yorker
cartoonist James Thurber in Columbus, Ohio…it is the nation’s highest recognition of the art of humor writing. The award carries with it a $5,000 prize and a commemorative crystal plaque for the winning author.”