McCarthy, Coleman among 2007 Pulitzer winners The 2007 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on April 16, with the choice for the fiction prize finally confirming that Oprah knows what she's talking about. The talk show host's latest book club pick, Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," took home the prestigious prize. "The Road," a post-apocalyptic tale about a man and boy's trek across a desolate, devastated America, isn't exactly normal Oprah fare. However, McCarthy, known for his lyrical language and Western settings, is no stranger to praise, with his previous efforts, including "All the Pretty Horses" and "Blood Meridian," receiving commendations from critics.
Jazz legend Ornette Coleman won the music prize for his latest live recording, "Sound Grammar," which may mark a move away from classical music for the prize. Coleman is considered one of the leading visionaries in jazz history, with his "Shape of Jazz to Come" (1959) regularly ranked as a seminal album alongside "Kind of Blue"(1959) by Miles Davis and "A Love Supreme" (1964) by John Coltrane, who was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer special award.
"The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher" by Debby Applegate won best biography for its exploration of the life of one of the most famous abolitionists of the 19th century, perhaps now allowing Henry to emerge from the shadow of his famous sibling, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" author Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Rounding out the winners for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category are: David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole" for the drama prize, Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff's "The Race Beat" for the history prize, Natasha Trethewey's "Native Guard" for the poetry prize, and Lawrence Wright's "The Looming Tower" for general non-fiction writing prize.
In the journalism category, The Wall Street Journal won the award for public service for their coverage of corruption in corporate America. Other notable winners were Boston Globe reporter Charlie Savage, who won the National Reporting prize for his writing on President Bush's use of signing statements, and the LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold, who won the award for criticism for his restaurant reviews, which the Pulitzer deemed prize-worthy due to his ability to express "the delight of an erudite eater."
The complete list of winners can be found on the Pulitzer Prize Web site.
-by Gregory Connor
