The New York Public Library Announces 25 Best Works of Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry for 2004

"Books to Remember" Selections Celebrated in Special Presentation at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library

New York, NY, March 18, 2005-- Profiles in Courage, by John F. Kennedy; The Mandarins, by Simone de Beauvoir; and Long Days Journey into Night, by Eugene O’Neill. These are a few of the titles that were on the first "Books to Remember" list published in 1956. The New York Public Library announced its selection of 25 Books to Remember for 2004 at a special presentation in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library, at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, on Friday, March 18, at 9:30 a.m. Works representing all genres -- including fiction, nonfiction, poetry and short story collections -- were celebrated at an event that was attended by several distinguished authors whose works are featured, including Neely Tucker, author of Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoir (Crown); Robert Sullivan, author of Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants (Bloomsbury); and Timothy Tyson, author of Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story (Crown).

The "Books to Remember" list has a long-standing reputation of featuring a selection of the best in newly published works. Among this year’s choices are Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir, by Nick Flynn (W. W. Norton), an edgy and inventive memoir about the poet’s early life without his estranged father and their unlikely reunion at a Boston homeless shelter; Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story, by Timothy Tyson (Crown), a powerful examination of southern race relations, based on Tyson’s investigation of a 1970s lynching in his hometown of Oxford, N.C.; and Soul City, by Toure (Knopf), the story of a utopian African-American city brimming with pop-culture and social satire.

The diversity of this year’s picks would satisfy any reader’s tastes. They encompass an array of writing styles that are sure to please, including a comedic novel, political memoir, social satire, sweeping histories, and a travelogue. Other entries include: The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Penguin) about a young booklover in Barcelona who finds murder, metaphysics and madness among the secrets of a forgotten novel in this engrossing epic from Spain. The Tyrant’s Novel, by Thomas Keneally, (Doubleday), in which Alan Sheriff is given the impossible task of being the official poet and scribe of his Middle Eastern country by his Great Uncle. In A Bit on the Sides: Stories, by Wiliam Trevor (Viking), characters grapple with various forms of love and regret in these richly developed stories set in Ireland. (The full list can be viewed here.)

Selecting the Best
Selection criteria for the "Books to Remember" list include literary excellence, uniqueness of concept and command of subject matter. The selection committee consists of seven librarians from The New York Public Library's Branch and Research divisions. They begin by reading hundreds of book reviews. Self-described "passionate readers with little in common," the group has an appreciation for the complexity and skill that writing demands. Lively discussions and debates follow as the merits of each book is weighed. Finally, each book on the short list is read by all committee members; a final vote decides which 25 contenders will make the list.

"Books to Remember," now in its 49th year, is published by The New York Public Library’s Office of Adult Services. It is an annual list of books chosen by specialty librarians for their distinct and lasting contribution to literature and/or to knowledge for the general adult reader. The booklist is available free at all 85 branches of The New York Public Library.

Selected titles appearing on this booklist may be available in recorded, braille or large print versions. For more information, please contact the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library, 40 West 20th Street, New York NY 10011-4211, (212) 206-5400, (212) 206-5458 (TTY).

Contact: Debbie Bujosa, 212-704-8600