Someone (McDermott novel)

Someone: A Novel, is the seventh book of fiction by American author Alice McDermott. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2013, it was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Someone: A Novel
First edition
AuthorAlice McDermott
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date
September 10, 2013
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages240
ISBN978-0-374-28109-0

Critical reception

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  • Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, summarizing that there's "no high drama here, but Marie and Gabe are compelling in their basic goodness."[1]
  • Writing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin praised the novel, stating Someone is a "wonderfully modest title for such a fine-tuned, beautiful book filled with so much universal experience, such haunting imagery, such urgent matters of life and death."[2] Maslin later named Someone to her best of 2013 books list.[3]
  • Publishers Weekly gave Someone a starred review, calling it a "deceptively simple tour de force."[4]
  • The Los Angeles Times claimed, "Just as McDermott manages to write lyrically in plain language, she is able to find the drama in uninflected experience."[5]

Awards

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Year Award Category Result Ref.
2013 National Book Award Fiction Longlisted [6]
National Book Critics Circle Award Fiction Shortlisted [7]
2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Fiction Shortlisted
Maine Readers' Choice Award Longlisted
Paterson Fiction Prize Fiction Shortlisted
2015 International Dublin Literary Award Shortlisted

References

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  1. ^ "Someone". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. ^ Maslin, Janet (October 7, 2013). "Survivor Among a Lifetime of Ghosts". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  3. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 19, 2013). "Janet Maslin's 10 Favorite Books of 2013". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Someone". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. ^ McNulty, Charles (September 13, 2013). "Alice McDermott's snapshots of a woman in 'Someone'". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. ^ "National Book Awards 2013". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2024-11-22.
  7. ^ Florez, Paul. "NBCC Fiction Finalist Alice McDermott in Conversation with Paul Florez". www.bookcritics.org. National Book Critics Circle. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.