Book-of-the-Month® Club Announces The 2011 First Fiction Award Winner

NEW YORK, April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Book-of-the-Month® Club (BOMC) announced the winner of 2011 First Fiction Award. The award has been given to Chad Harbach for his novel The Art of Fielding (Little, Brown and Company), an incredibly moving and original debut that introduces a great new American voice in literature. 

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120430/NY96973 )

"Finding and promoting new authors is something we've been doing for eighty-five years here at BOMC," said Deborah Sinclaire, Editor-in-Chief of Book-of-the-Month® Club. "This award is our way of recognizing authors whose debut novels have had a powerful impact on our editorial team as well as our readers."

Author Chad Harbach states, "It's an honor and a thrill to receive the Book-of-the-Month Club®'s First Fiction Award -- especially in a year so crowded with accomplished first books. I'm very grateful to the BOMC for selecting The Art of Fielding, and for introducing new readers to the novel. Thank you!"

"It's an honor to have Chad Harbach's debut singled out by Book-of-the-Month Club® for their First Fiction Award.  Generations of readers have looked to BOMC for suggestions on what to read next; The Art of Fielding will be in fantastic company," said Michael Pietsch, Executive Vice President and Publisher, Little, Brown and Company.

The Book-of-the-Month® Club First Fiction Award is granted annually by BOMC's editorial board to recognize an outstanding first work of fiction in the English language. The First Fiction Award, founded in 1995, honors new novelists who represents the highest standard for fictional writing published in the United States. Past winners have included Push by Sapphire (the inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film, Precious) and Justin Cronin's Mary and O'Neil. (Justin Cronin's The Passage is currently under development as a 2013 film.). The cash prize is granted directly to the author by Book-of-the-Month® Club.

Book-of-the-Month® Club will host a live chat on May 10th at 12 pm EST with Mr. Harbach on their Facebook fan page, www.facebook.com/bookofthemonth.

Over the years, the Book-of-the-Month® First Fiction Award has recognized many new and upcoming authors.  Below is a full of past and present winners.

FIRST FICTION AWARD WINNERS:

2010: The Dead Path by Stephen M. Irwin
2009: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
2008: The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson
2007: The Tenderness of Wolves, Stef Penny
2006: The Observations, Jane Harris
2005: Incendiary, Chris Cleave
2004: no award given
2003: Lucky Girls by Nell Freudenberger
2002: The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Gary Shteyngart
2001: Mary and O'Neil, Justin Cronin
2000: Some Things That Stay, Sarah Willis
1999: God is a Bullet, Boston Teran
1998: Caucasia, Danzy Senna
1997: The Man in the Box, Thomas Moran
1996: Push, Sapphire
1995: Private Alters, Katherine Mosby

Founded in 1926, Book-of-the-Month® Club is an iconic American brand, trusted and respected by book enthusiasts around the world.  Book-of-the-Month® Club offers our members a broad selection of new and existing titles in popular genres such as fiction, nonfiction, entertainment, self-help and more. You can visit Book-of-the Month Club at www.bomcclub.com.  Book-of-the-Month is operated by Direct Brands' affiliate Bookspan. Direct Brands is also home to Doubleday Book Club, Literary Guild and Columbia House.

About the book: In The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach pens a dazzling debut about an errant baseball throw and the ripple effect it has on the lives of five people.

For Henry, the accident fosters feelings of self-doubt that threaten his big-league dreams. Owen, his gay teammate, finds himself caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike, the team captain and Henry's best friend, is forced to reevaluate his future as a ballplayer. Guert, the college president, embarks on a path that threatens his career. And Pella, Guert's daughter, enters a love triangle that could lead to disaster. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, their paths will cross and re-cross, forcing them to forge new bonds and help one another find their true selves.

About the author: Chad Harbach grew up in Wisconsin and was educated at Harvard and the University of Virginia. He is a cofounder and coeditor of n+1.

SOURCE Book-of-the-Month Club