First-time novelist Michael Thomas won the 'world's richest literary prize' for his novel, "Man Gone Down." The author (pictured, photographed by Ben Russell) won 100,000 Euros in the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award yesterday.

The Boston native now lives in New York with his wife and three children, and his book faced stiff international competition with 145 titles, nominated by 157 public libraries from 41 countries.

The judges had this statement: "We never know his name. But the African-American protagonist of Michael Thomas' masterful debut, "Man Gone Down," will stay with readers for a long time. He lingers because this extraordinary novel comes to us from a writer of enthralling voice and startling insight. Tuned urgently to the way we live now, the winner of the International Dublin IMPAC Prize 2009 is a novel brilliant in its scope and energy, and deeply moving in its human warmth."