“The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka is one of five finalists in the fiction category for the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
The finalists in 10 categories were announced Tuesday. The 32nd annual prizes will be awarded April 20, the night before the Festival of Books, at USC’s Bovard Auditorium.
Otsuka’s novel, a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award, depicts the experiences of Japanese “picture brides” from their arrival in America to the outbreak of World War II.
Also nominated in the fiction category are “Ghost Light” by Joseph O’Connor, “The Cat’s Table” by Michael Ondaatje, “Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories” by Edith Pearlman, and “Luminarium” by Alex Shakar.
In the graphic novel category, “Garden” by Yuichi Yokoyama was nominated along with “I Will Bite You! And Other Stories” by Joseph Lambert, “Celluloid” by Dave McKean, “Finder: Voice” by Carla Speed McNeil, and “Congress of Animals” by Jim Woodring.
In Yokoyama’s book, a group of friends attempts to enter a garden just beyond a wall. When they succeed, the garden is no Eden, but rather a massive landscape of machines, geometric forms and nonorganic objects. To his signature vivid visual style, Yokoyama has added more dialogue than in past works, fleshing out the characters and allowing them equal billing with his spectacular architectural creations.
The other book prize categories are biography, current interest, first fiction, history, mystery-thriller, poetry, science & technology, and young adult literature.
For more information, visit http://events.latimes.com/bookprizes/.