Evening star., 1960-03-27

which often fails to make
the best-seller lists, and for
the encouragement Of new
writers.
The Winners
The fiction award went to
Philip Roth, q 27-year-old
short story writer. for o no
vella and five stories In q
volume called GOODBYE,
COLUMBUS, Q Houghton
Mifiin Fellowship book; the
nonfiction prize to Richard
Ellmann for his deeply pene-
trating and widely praised
biography, JAMES JOYCE
(Oxford University Press)
and the poetry award TO
Robert Lowell, q previous
Pulitzer Prize winner, for
LIFE STUDIES, published BY
Farrar, Straus q Cudahy.
There undoubtedly win be
less controversy about the
:1:onfiction prize than win b
stirred up By the fiction
award.
His First Book
Mr.. Roth, born in Newark,
N. j., Is Q graduate Of Buck
nell University, with . post
graduate degree from the
University of Chicago. He
was an instructor at the
latter university and was
granted leave to finish
Goodbye, Columbus" his
first book.
He has been in Rome on q
Guggenheim fellowship and
few back to New York to re-
ceive the national book award
for fiction at the ceremonies
at the Hotel Astor WedneS-
day night.
Mr.. Roth's short stories
have appeared mostly IN the
smaller and more literary
publications, such as the Chi
cago Review, the Paris Review
and Commentary. though he
has had stories in the New
Yorker and Esquire.
The title story Goodbye,
Columbus" is o novella Of q
modern type, and yet it could
not be called exactly avant
garde. The book contains a
delightfully."- humorous and
penetrating story called DE
fender Of the Faith" a story
of some Jewish men in the
Army and q dilemma Of their
religious exactions, which
some followed explicitly and
others were willing to relin-
quish. This story was re-
printed in two short story
collections, taking second
prize in the 1860 o. Henry
Memorial Prize Stories.
Stepping Stones
Mr.. Roth is finishing q
novel and he regards his
short stories more as his in
PRODUCTION as q writer, al
though he is far from dis
carding or low rating this
form Of fiction and probably
will use 1t again.
The fiction jury appointed
this year by the National
Book Committee consisted Of
two practicing novelists. Kay
Boyle. and three others
known more as editors and
critics - Alexander Laing,
William Peden and Charles j.
Rollo.
In bestowing the fiction
prize on Goodbye, Colum-
bus" the book awards for
the second successful year
singled out a book Of stories
for this industry-wide ac-
clamation. Last year the nc
ton award went to Bernard
Malamud for q well-written
but sparsely sold book Of
short stories, THE Magic
Barrell."
Disappointment
Those who thought the fic-
ton prize for 1860 covering
books published in 1950
might go to such q solid
achievement and phenomenal
seller as Allen Drury's politi-
cal novel, advise and Con-
sent" were again disap-
pointed.
Novels previously chosen
by book award juries have
run to the sketchy (New
Yorker writers and the ESQ
teric. You'd have to go back
to 1856 for q best-seller.
That year John O'Hara was
honored for "Ten North
Frederick"
Boost for Short Story
In giving the acSolade to
Philip Roth, the 1850 Jury
turned aside such fine literary
achievements for 1859 as
Bernard Wolfe's fiotional ac-
count Of Trotsky's last days,
1.-THE Great Price Died.;
Walter Sullivan's highly
original first novel, THE
Long, Long Love-" and Will
liam Faulkner's "The Man.
sion," one Of the Nobel prize
winners best novels. Faulk-
ner. however. received two
previous book awards, for "A
Fable" in 1855. and for his
collected short stories in 1851.
In any event, the book