2008 Life of the Mind Awardees

See also: 2006 Winners | 2007 Winners

Marigrace Angelo
Alex AuBuchon
Brian Bohling
Anna-Lise Burnette
Sara Delheimer
Kori Furcolowe
LeighAnne Hurst
Morgan Judish
Alex Khaddouma
Spenser Powell
Azamit Seyoum

This year's selection:
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls

 

“Sharing incredible, painful experiences in no-nonsense prose, Walls has, as The New York Times Book Review notes, ‘succeeded in doing what most writers set out to do—to write the kind of book they themselves most want to read.’” —Bookmarks Magazine

“Just read the first pages of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and I defy you not to go on. It's funny and sad and quirky and loving. I was incredibly touched by it.” —Dominick Dunne, author of The Way We Lived Then: Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper

“Jeannette Walls has carved a story with precision and grace out of one of the most chaotic, heartbreaking childhoods ever to be set down on the page. This deeply affecting memoir is a triumph in every possible way, and it does what all good books should: it affirms our faith in the human spirit.” —Dani Shapiro, author of Family History