National Book Award Winners

Young People's Literature:
Jeanne Birdsall, The Penderwicks (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Poetry:
W.S. Merwin, Migration: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press)
Non-Fiction:
Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking (Knopf)
Fiction:
William T. Vollmann, Europe Central (Viking)

I usually feel compelled to read the fiction winners of these yearly contests, but I don't often get around to it. Truthfully, Vollmann's book does not sound very compelling. But I might have to read now the Didion book, because of this and the NYT review of the book.