Colin McEnroe Show: Is It Okay That There's No Pulitzer For Fiction This Year?

There's been a lot of talk lately about the failure of the Pulitzer board to award a prize in fiction this year, and so today we're taking an in-depth look at that. If it did nothing else, this unusual step taken by the committee got people talking in a very animated fashion about contemporary American fiction. People are trotting out their own favorites from last year and arguing about who really should get to make decisions like this one.

But one of the other questions worth asking is: What do we seek in great fiction?

In 2002, when picking "Empire Falls" by Richard Russo over "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen, the board clearly favored the pure storyteller over the author trying to encapsulate a moment in American culture. Making us happy trumped making a point.

But what does it mean when nothing wins? Is it just a flaw in the process or a commentary on the state of American letters?

Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.

Thanks to guest announcer Lori-Beth Muñoz. If you want to play the role of Chion Wolf for a day, e-mail colin@wnpr.org.