ray armandtrout. for much of her lengthy career, she has talked a skeptical eye at the american language. it wasn't the music of words that aroused her suspicions. it was their capacity to sneak in political slab under the radar but her poems certain as she has said to focus on capitalism into consciousness have nothing of the ideological all monitor about. ..

>> she is similarly ambivalent about the very idea of metaphor. on one hand it strikes her as an endless series. an integer, metaphor is a ritual sacrifice that kills the look alike. yet her on poems are constructed out of marvelous yet strictly arranged bits of language and we are more or less start with the mesh of near approximation. she asks, what if there were a hidden calling one thing by another's name. no, but there is. doctors need only immerse themselves. we congratulate her on the

award. [applauding] >> thank you for that introduction. this is great. thank you, and unknown book cri i'm brought a little something. i already said i was grateful. it feels weird to be singled out. last year including those of the other finalists here. i guess i should think steve burke who is a critic who has heard about me.

i should think some of my poet friends and even a fiction writer friends who was reading graphs. i thank the people. basically told me when to stop. stephanie elliott to is here tonight and to is just a tireless and boy and person who helped bring the world, bring the book out into the world and push it out there. i did not, i really didn't expect when i was writing, at least the second half that i will be standing anywhere in

2010, let alone up here. this is extra sweet. thank you, again. [applauding] >> i'm david ulin. it was my pleasure to chair the fiction and this year and to sea full house. so the finalists sets for the fiction prize are bonnie joe campbell for american salvage from when state university press. michele huneven. hillary mantel and jayne anne

phillips. linda wolfe is going to announce the winner and present the citation. >> i am so happy that we are giving the award to hillary mantel. i read rationing myself to a score or so of pages a day to prolong the pleasure the book was given me. then to my surprise from 60 pages to the end i did something i had not done since i was a teenager. this time i finished it. i have wanted this book of galloping with an invention to go on forever. the story of the rise to power

of the brilliant and complicated thomas cromwell, adviser to handed the eight, the book takes the whole genre of historical fiction, turns it on its head, and makes it as fresh and new as the latest of post-modern fiction. history has disparaged cromwell, particularly because of his role in the executions of the catholic thomas moore and the protestant ann boland. but mantel has written his character has been painted as so comprehensively black that any reasonable person would think , as i did, that there must be another side to the story. she finds the other side of the story, and gives this man whose politics were far ahead of his time, a humanitarian and social

radical who is a master of languages and an admirer of latin poetry and adoring husband and father, a man who can speak truth to power, brandish a stiletto, kirk up a gingery il sauce, evaluate the work that an oriental rug and stay loyal to his friends even when the world shunned them. what a man to get to know. but it is not unjust to the revisionist portrait that makes the book so original. it is her style. she is a daredevil who uses the third person to tell her story and despite all awns succeeds in making and as intimate as the eye and a first person is no more. she has its dialogue that once both appropriate and at times boldly sassy and contemporary.

while for the most part she renders cromwell's innermost thoughts and elegant prose at other times she employs the kind of energy short and in which thoughts actually occur. but there is one cromwellian train of thought that ends with today's single word slangy sentence, whatever. and you know what, it will work because mantel is a magician. she has cut all kinds of literary up her sleeve. a triumph of a book. [applauding]

>> i'm not hillary mantel. she says it is a huge honor, and i'm sad to not be here in person to receive it. the best thing that can happen to an author's career is to receive recognition from the critics and the public for what you know is your best work. i have been thinking about thomas cromwell and his life for a long time, long before i was a published writer. waiting for the right time to apply myself to it. five years ago i thought the time had come. as soon as i began i felt, what have i been waiting for. the sequel is under way, and this is the best possible

encouragement. [applauding] >> it is always amazing, isn't it? use it and no room and with the value and to the incredible books, the best of 2009. it is always kind of a thrilling day for board members, and i hope for authors and publishers and all of us who love the culture. i need to take a man to give a congratulations to folks on the board. barbara is our award chair. we would not be here today in the way that we are without her hard work. i also would like very much to turn your program over. the board is listed on the back. you have seen some of us. those board members to have not been on stage, please stand up in the audience. i really want people to see you. in particular i want to honor the people who have served on

our board to are leaving the board tonight but. that includes kevin prufer, jennifer reese, geeta sharma-jensen, lizzie skurnick. these folks have done the yeoman work, and we will miss them. you will miss their camaraderie, there with, their critical brilliance. it has been a joy to be with them. you have had a chance to hear some of the commentary that people wrote about those books tonight in the citations. those were condensed from our series. the 30 books and 30 days. you can read reviews of all of our finalists on the block. we have honored just a handful of wonderful books and our 30. it has been a wonderful year for

publishing. already considering books were 2010. we are very excited about the authors and the work they're doing. many more to come. we hope you'll join us down the streets. there are books or sell in the back. the final step of our celebration is an annual event. this is number 36. thank you all for being here. [applauding] let's hear it for the authors. [inaudible conversations]

>> " >> malcolm garcia, what is "the khaarijee"? >> it literally means the man that comes from outside. with the transmitter and the book would call me. he had difficulty pronouncing my name. >> where were you? >> kabul, afghanistan. >> why? >> i went there shortly after november 11th. i was working at the kansas city star. the editors needed people to go overseas. i've volunteered. i have not worked overseas. i saw it as an opportunity. >> what were you writing about before you went over there? >> daily stories, feature stories, anything from dog of the week to local news. so afghanistan was certainly quite a jump. >> how did that decision change your life? >> well, you know, i did not even know where afghanistan was to be candid. it gave me a perspective. across the globe outside of my

day-to-day 9-5 existence. seeing a culture just radically different from my on in a country that experienced 30 years of warfare. just been devastated. a kind of devastation i had only seen in photographs of world war two and pictures of europe after the allies' victory. in 2003. >> tell us what you did? where were you and what did you cover? >> i have arrived toward the end of november, 2001. i connected with a gentleman who would always correct me. he thought i wasn't pronouncement directly. after calling him breaux. >> how did you connect to him? >> it was by chance. i had an interview. his uncle was part of a de-mining team trying to clear

afghanistan. he spoke english. was working through a translator. i was pretty much on my own. i had to fend for myself. he told me that his nephew could speak english and that he would be able to help. that is how we meant. breaux was a little reluctant and suspicious of me as an outsider. we got together. as i describe he was the sancho panza to my don quiote. he had never transmitted before. we stumbled our way to the country. >> what type of stories were you writing? >> i was really talking about where the country was after the television had left northern afghanistan, what the country was like, how people were attempting to rebuild, the efforts to create a new government, which is now the karzai government. >> how many times did you return? >> since 2001 have been there

seven times. pretty much every year after. >> why? >> i was just sucked in. they captured my imagination. i formed strong bonds. i had a hard time just leaving. i did not feel my time there was done. i had such an impact. coming back to the united states i felt somewhat discombobulated. i had this experience that was radically different from anything that i had known and felt the need to go back there to learn more about the country and also for my own sense of balance. i just feel somewhat lost having done it and coming back to a place that was so different. >> was your reporting done all in the kansas city star? >> initially it was time for the kansas city star. then i started freelancing and began working for smaller magazines such as the virginia quarterly review submitting

personal essays, some of which were about my personal experiences in afghanistan. my thoughts about people and the country. thoughts that normally don't go into a daily story. the more reflective. >> give an example. >> for example, there is one story in the book about some children that bro and i took under our wing. i talk about the process of getting to know them, taking them to lunch every day, and rolling them in school, and the problems i faced when i left and had started this process with them and how to continue that because i created expectations for them that i felt obligated to attend to. >> to was funding all of these trips? >> some were funded out of my pocket. many of them were funded by the newspaper. >> this book, "the khaarijee",

what time does it cover? all seven trips? >> it does. yes. >> what does the ridge. >> the initial chapters are just, you know, my emersion into the country in 2001, and my reaction to that. and then i return in 2002, which was the beginning of the karzai government. the process involved where he was assuming the of the country. then in future years i did and in bed and then followed up when the country started to kind of evolved into the violence that we are seeing now. most recently, and this is an and the book, i covered the election in august. >> where did you stay? >> initially we stayed in the house that was rented by the newspaper chain. then after that i began staying in a hotel called the mustafa

hotel. >> what was it like? >> it used to be a place where you could exchange money. the hotel honor recognized with all all the journalists he could make more money turning it into a hotel. the problem was all the rooms were glass. in winter you froze. it was a very eclectic group. you had all sorts of people. people who were working in aid organizations. >> when did you get a book contract? >> that happened, that was in september of 08. it was serendipity. i had written a lot of these chapters as individual essays, suggested to me to put into a book. a began sending them out through an agent. >> a lot of books on afghanistan and people's experience of there. what makes use different? >> it's of very personal book. adopted into a lot of talking to the of the country.

i approached afghanistan for the very grass roots perspective. i come from a social work background. i talked to people and the street. i talk to these boys. i tried to talk to mainstream afghans and get a sense from them how they feel what is happening to the country no matter what politicians or whomever may be saying. >> what does perot do do in hisy life when you are not there? >> he is working for bangladesh ngo aid organization. he is very satisfied. that is great. we stay in touch. >> so he has seen e-mail connec? does he have his own computer? >> usually goes to an internet cafe. >> where does he live? >> south kaul in a large house with his family, his wife, and

three children. >> a large house. is he a wealthy man? >> i would not say he is a wealthy man. because the whole family lives in the house they all chipped in to support the house. the income there is radically different from ours. his father earns $200 a month and feels that is a good salary. obviously their cost of living is different from ours. i'm not saying they're having an easy time, but the comparison is radically different. >> how did you get around? >> drove. >> what kind of car? >> well, it varied. usually it was a toyota van is the best way i can describe it. pretty beaten up and battered. the driving in afghanistan is sort of like bumper pool. it is not at all like the united states. a lot of honking. by alice thought we were about to have an accident. everybody just converges and shifts around to try to get through. >> how often were you personally

afraid? >> you know, oftentimes i was afraid after the fact. there was a time when we were out after curfew early on in 2001. we were just so frantic to get back. when you get past the checkpoint there was a time when i really did not have time to be afraid. when we finally get through all the mess we had to get to her i've fought back, we had some close calls just now. >> two is on the front of this? >> the picture of an afghan man on a motorcycle on his way to bagram air base. a colleague of mine took the photo from the car. >> how large is the u.s. military presence there? do you see it constantly? >> you do. what you would not see a lot of

these vehicles. you will see some soldiers on the street. a constant stream of military vehicles. you are always aware that there is a military presence. even with the afghans you see a constant stream of security personnel. so you are constantly aware, even if there is not any fighting going on. this is a country and the city under siege. >> where are you living now? >> i am living just outside of chicago. i am a freelance journalist. >> you left the kansas city star? >> i have. >> and i left kansas city. >> i have. >> do you plan on being back? >> i do. i hope to go back this summer. continue falling. continue looking into women's issues. staying in touch with the

country. >> malcolm garcia, his book is "the khaarijee," a chronicle of a war. >> we are here at the conservative political action conference talking with and david pietrusza about his new book, "silent cal's almanack". tell us about the book. >> the book is about our most silent president who is actually

very quotable. what he did was to compress the wisdom of the conservatism and americanism in two of you will chosen words, primarily talking about something of significance to this day, the importance of low, marginal tax rates for creating investments, prosperity, for making the american system work for the average american. when he was in vermont he saw how his father would go of round ticket but tax money. he realized it came from ordinary people. it should be collected wisely and no more than was absolutely necessary. taxation in excess of what was necessary was that. >> how long did it take you to easily gather all of this? >> now, it was not a full-time project. with something at it in my spare time. collected it over the years. oddly enough we would be surprised by this. people would buy collections of

his speeches. in the 1920's they were issued one after another and were very popular. doing the research was fairly easy. assembling them and publishing them in this book but also adding the introductory essays. the people who would be mystified by this topic. talking on biographical issues. there are a lot of anecdotes about him which are pretty amusing with people always like to tell. we threw that in. also we threw in his inaugural address. have faith in massachusetts. people can get a full flavor of what the coolidge intellect and powers of persuasion will like. he rose all the way from aldermen to mayor to state senator to representative, a lieutenant governor, governor, vice president, president. he held more elected offices than anyone else in american history. he worked his way up the wrong. >> he seemed to have a lot of passion about the subject.

is there another project on the horizon? >> i am working on a book about the 1948 presidential election. 1948 tillable. truman, wallace, and strom thurmond. most people will say that tremendously election. what i think is a duel, and long standing between henry wallace and the german of the democratic party and about america in the cold war, domestic communism, foreign policy abroad. it is also the year where this civil rights movement really gets a big boost. truman is fighting against wallace. he has got to get the blackfoot. the south is recoiling from that. there is an awful lot happening that year. >> is coolidge your favorite

president or politician to write about? >> certainly. but also i am a big fan of ronald reagan and kind of grew up loving him from 1964 on. was there all the way at his inauguration, his funeral, when he lost his campaign at liberty island in new jersey. by god i love that man. >> is their a reagan book on the horizon? >> so many people have done it. so many people with greater qualifications. i would not mind doing it. i would not mind it at all. it would be very enjoyable. along the way i have written about a lot of scoundrels, and i would like to write about a man i admire a great deal. >> what are you reading these days? >> actually, what i tend to read, not books about history, but books about the 1920's and 1930's show business and entertainment. after a while a lot of the researching is your reading parts of books on newspaper

articles, microfilm. so for find the kind of turn it off and you go back and you are writing. you are reading a biography of lost cards were d. w. griffith or the silent films. i find that fascinating. i don't know if there is a book there. maybe. you never know. you never know. >> thank you very much for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you all for coming tonight, especially the weather being so beautiful. i would not blame anybody for staying outside as long as possible.