“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the country’s most challenged books. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it — like many authors today.
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” has been a runaway critical and commercial success. When you’ve been David all your life, everything changes “when you become Goliath.”
Matar won a Pulitzer Prize for his memoir, “The Return,” mourning his homeland and his father. In his new novel, he turns to the untranslatability of exile — and friendship.
The award, one of the most prestigious among scholars of American history, honors “scope, significance, depth of research and richness of interpretation.”