It seems like just about everybody in New York publishing dropped in on the National Arts Club for the announcing of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes nominees. (Look, if you think I’m going to type them all out, think again, especially since Critical Mass spared me the effort.) In the top row, prize director Kenneth Turan, science reporter Robert Lee Hotz, and editor James O’Shea look on as Book Review editor David Ulin greets the crowd, about half of which I got in the bottom row. If you know any of those faces, fill in the caption, and don’t forget to check out all my photos from the evening.
O’Shea talked briefly about whispers across the blogosphere that the Times was about to cut its literary coverage. “That rumor is untrue,” he insisted, and the Times remains “deeply committed” to covering books, although he didn’t specifically refute the story about a combined book review/op-ed section. So make of that what you will, considering that he emphasized that “we are working on some innovative plans.”
No real surprises among the nominees, I thought, although I did get a sardonic little grin when Jess Walter‘s The Zero was defined in the mystery category as a HarperCollins title. It just goes to show Judith Regan was right; they never gave her credit for the really good books she published when she was there. I almost felt like shouting “REGAN BOOKS!” in her memory, but I was sober enough to restrain myself. (OK, fine, the imprint doesn’t even exist anymore, but still.)