Good Thief Steals the Hearts of Debut Novel Jury

During the reception before last night’s presentation of the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction‘s John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize, we asked René Steinke what it had been like to act as a judge for this year’s award. “It was really exciting to read so many first novels, something I don’t usually have a lot of time to do,” she told us, “and to see how much talent there is out there. And I’m very happy with our winner.” Oooh: Would she tell us which novel the jury had chosen before everybody wandered over to the presentation dinner? She would not, but she did offer a few hints: The novel was “continually surprising” and “moving,” she told us: “it felt like a book that I wanted everybody I know to read.”

Coincidentally, that’s pretty much how we felt after reading the winning novel, Hannah Tinti‘s The Good Thief, two months ago (see our interview). We had spotted Tinti in the crowd during the reception and asked if she, in her capacity as a founding editor of One Story, had ever published short stories by any of the other nominees. “I haven’t, but I would love to,” she told us. “I admire all of them so much.” She’d read each of the other six novels under consideration—sharing them with her mother, a former librarian. (Tinti herself didn’t play favorites, but her mom allowed as how Peter Manseau‘s Songs for the Butcher’s Daughter had made her cry, as she proceeded to eagerly recap the plot to Tinti’s editor, Susan Kamil.)

FSG president Jonathan Galassi was also honored during the awards dinner with the Maxwell E. Perkins Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Field of Fiction. (Disclosure: GalleyCat senior editor Ron Hogan curates a reading series for the Mercantile Library through his literary website, Beatrice, which featured appearances by Sargent nominees Ed Park and Rivka Galchen.)

Nominee Ed Park (Personal Days), flanked by his former Random House editor, Julia Cheiffetz (now at HarperStudio), and his current editor, Jill Schwartzman.

Nominee David Wroblewski (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle) with Kimberly McClintock and HarperCollins vice president of field sales Jeanette Zwart

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting this Thursday, February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Michael Brito (Edelman Digital), and Tim Devane (bitly). Register now.